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“Are you holding up okay?” Bex whispers, pulling my gaze off where King is inspecting Aillard’s pile and mine simultaneously. She nibbles on her bottom lip, her nervous energy somehow calming my own.
“I’m fine, sweetheart.”
“Are you really or are you just saying that to get them to back off?”
My lips twitch. My girl knows me so well, even after all these years. “I am fine,” I confirm. “Glad this entire thing is almost done. I don’t like my name in the media for reasons other than what I specifically plant there. I don’t like that they came after you, taking away some of the things you enjoy, by catching you in the crosshairs of this clusterfuck.”
“I’m a big girl. I can handle a little heartbreak about my volunteering hours being cut back.”
“I know. Doesn’t mean I like it when it happens though.”
“Fair enough.” She leans her shoulder into me, prompting me to wrap my arms around her. “I know it’s a little last minute, but with everything going on, it slipped my mind. Would you like to join us for Thanksgiving if you don’t already have plans?”
“What time?”
“Around three.”
“Sure.” I squeeze her body closer to mine, my dick getting hard at her proximity even though now isn’t the time. “How about that morning we join my family? The Ravenscroft’s don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving in a traditional sense. For the most part we just grab brunch together and call it a day. We’ve never been huge on holiday’s, unlike your family.”
“Well if you have it your way, you’re basically weaseling your way into my family,” Bex grins. “Don’t think I don’t see you trying to butter up Nana Noel. She knows what you’re doing too.”
“That’s because I don’t want to be on the receiving end of horse shit,” I lie. Truth be told, I would love to be considered her family, but I know we’re nowhere near the same level of commitment King is at with Emilia. While I can see us heading in that direction easily, I like that we’re taking our time this go around. We’re laying the foundation for something stronger than anything we could have otherwise and that takes time which is perfectly fine by me.
24
“Adapting to changes can be hard, but for my family, I’m willing to do anything.” - Bex
My eyes ping pong back and forth between where my legal pad is on my lap and where my father is pointing on his computer monitor in front of him. I’m trying really hard not to let my eyes glaze over since I need to know this information, but I woke up way too early with Thorin’s tongue in my pussy at an obscene hour before I had to get ready for my first official workday with my father.
“Am I going too fast?” Dad asks, leaning back in his chair when he realizes he’s lost my interest.
“I think my mind is a little preoccupied,” I tell him honestly. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, but every time I try to focus on things I need to do before our holiday break, my mind keeps spinning back to Thorin’s scandal. Or, I should say more accurately,Donner’sscandal now that the entire world knows he’s been implicated.
Dad pushes his chair away from his desk, causing me to shuffle my own chair so we don’t collide. “Alright, then let’s take a break. How about we go over basics, and once this media storm is over, we focus on going deeper?”
Bless him for taking my emotional state into consideration for once. “Yeah, that will work.”
Before I can move to get up from my chair and head back to my office, Dad narrows his eyes at me. “We should talk.”
Wariness settles into my bones. Even though we’re trying to find our feet and be on good terms, it’s going to take time for the instinctive reactions I have about him to ease. “About what?”
“For one, the therapy sessions we can schedule together for family counseling. Noel told me to pick a time and place and she’ll be there, so the only work schedule we need to worry about is yours.”
Oh. Well that doesn’t sound too bad. “Sure.” I set my legal pad down and pick up the tablet on the floor to pull up my schedule. “This is what I have scheduled for the whole month. Anything highlighted in pink is volunteer services,” I explain. “If it falls during one of those, it’s fine.”
Dad takes the tablet I offer him and sets it down next to his keyboard, but doesn’t make a move to look back at his monitor. “I’d also like to discuss how your relationship is going.”
My mouth tumbles open, a squeak escaping, but my mind draws a blank on why in the world Dad would be interested in this kind of conversation. It’s not like he doesn’t already know everything currently going on in my life thanks to his interference when everyone began blackmailing me.
“To begin,” Dad further comments, “I’d like to apologize for how things came off in the beginning when Aillard was here, threatening to remove his funding. I felt backed into a corner, and I honestly didn’t know what he wanted with you. When it became clear he wanted you to take a meeting to discuss Thorin, I wasn’t sure what my options were at that moment.”
“So you threw me under the bus.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
The fact he readily admits it dampens my outrage. It’s hard to hold onto the anger and grudge when he’s legitimately trying to mend things and heal with me. The air escapes my lungs in a long exhale. “Apology accepted,” I say instead of letting my anger get the better of me. Truth is I’m not angry at him for what he did to protect the charities from thriving, I’m angry at what he did my entire life. And that’s not something we can heal easily, which is the reason he’s offering therapy.
“I guess I’m trying to determine where I should be with Thorin,” Dad explains. “I want to be on your side, first and foremost. But that means understanding your relationship so I can back you fully this time instead of letting you down again.” Dad pauses. “Is he…treating you right?”
