Page 2 of React

It couldn’t have been anything to do with me,I thought to myself as I narrowed my eyes in a questioning glare at Ellen. The only times I’d made it into papers lately had been small mentions of spotting me in clubs. I had alerts set up on myself for this very reason. Barcelona had been fun, but I hadn’t done anything that would have him pulling his hair out.

Ellen didn’t answer the questioning glare, just gave a half hearted shrug as she took her seat behind the desk again. It wasn’t until she’d stepped aside that I’d noticed we weren’t alone in the small waiting area. One of the two plush waiting chairs was occupied. Hands gripping a newspaper hid the man from view and I found myself questioning where people even found newspapers to read these days. Usually cell phones were all the newspaper anyone needed. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I could see the pant legs of an expensive suit and a pair of equally expensive shoes that made me think this would be a short meeting. There was obviously someone Robert would deem more important waiting to see him and I tried to silently express this to Ellen who just rolled her eyes and nodded her head at the door, telling me to get my ass in gear.

That was when another thought froze me in place. “He’snot here is he?” I asked.

I could handle only one asshole of a man today, and, if my father was taking that slot, I had no energy to devote to ignoring his ass kisser of an assistant, Dominic Parker. The man had been with my father from the start, and, while he was only 31, he carried the air of entitlement that had taken all the other men close to my father much longer to master. He must have been born a shifty weasel. It wasn’t just the way Dominic was treated like the son Robert had always wanted, but he loved to rub my face in it. If he got the attention, he had to make sure I’d heard about it. The golfing trips, business lunches, and endless amounts of vomit inducing ass-kissing made me want to push Dominic Parker into traffic and dance across whatever remained.

Ellen knew at once who I was talking about and shook her head with a small smile. “No, Lake. Dominic is busy with Harper getting reports ready for a meeting your father has later today.”

I blinked at the unfamiliar name. “Who is Harper?”

The silver-haired woman waved a dismissive hand and rolled her eyes. “She’s the second assistant Robert took on a year ago when he began needing the extra help. Dom swore he could handle it all, but Robert insisted.” She pursed her lips at me and I fought the chuckle in my throat. The look she wore told me Dominic had probably pitched a fit and then brooded when he hadn’t gotten his way. Ellen disliked Dominic as much as I did, but it was for the simple fact that he was unkind to me, and while she might have made allowances for my father doing that, she didn’t take kindly to it from his sniveling assistant.

“Now, get in there before I have to push his afternoon meeting back and deal with his brand of tantrum,” she whisper yelled as she shooed me with her hands.

Blowing past the newspaper guy, I opened the door to my father’s office without knocking. The familiar scent of wood polish and old books hit me in the face with the force of a truck and I stopped just inside the room and willed the emotional wave away. The scent of his office always transported me back to that sad teenage girl, clinging to her last parent after sudden tragedy had completely ripped her world apart. The twinge of pain in my heart hurt, a physical reminder that my walls only held this shit in; it didn’t bury it or keep me from being locked in with it all.

“Nice of you to finally stop by,” came the clipped voice that was the audio equivalent of ice water tossed in my face. And the judgemental up and down of me that Robert cast from his position behind his obnoxiously overpriced desk had my blood boiling all over again. I may have just gotten off a plane, but I looked damn good and put together in my black pencil skirt and sky blue blouse. I looked downright modest and far more like a politician’s child than I could have. I might have toyed with the idea of showing up in leggings and an oversized t-shirt for a moment or two but that was it!

“Wasn’t like you left me much of a choice when you send armed men after me.” The words were casual but the jutted hip and crossing of the arms I gave him told him what I’d thought of his little power move. The look he shot me from behind the laptop in front of him was one I’d never seen before. If I didn’t know him and his complete apathy for anything regarding me or my life, I would have thought it was concern. But it was replaced quickly with a look of irritated question as he raised an eyebrow. “The driver who looked like he’d be more comfortable on the road in the Middle East instead of navigating around D.C.? Not to mention the army ranger action figure you tasked with making sure I made it from the garage to your office door. And here I thought you were my father, not my warden.”

“Stop being dramatic, Lake,” Robert said with a roll of his eyes. “I know it’s a difficult task for you, but I’m sure you can manage for a few minutes.”

I felt that familiar boil of rage bubble in my belly and took a slow breath to calm it. It was the same as always with Robert. He reduced me down to a petulant child and I reacted to attempt to get a rise out of him. Any acknowledgement of me was better than nothing, even if it was negative. God, I was such a pathetic little girl still. Every step I’d taken to dig myself out of the mess I’d made of my life in my youth still disappeared the second I was being taken to task in his office again. I needed to get out of this room and this damn city to remember who I’d made myself.

“A few minutes is all you’re getting, old man. I need to get home soon, anyway. Having some friends over to my place for the weekend before we’re off to Hong Kong.” I crossed the room confidently, pretending his narrowed look of disapproval meant nothing as I sat across his obnoxiously large desk in one of the ornate visitor’s chairs. He hadn’t asked me to sit, but he never did. Crossing my legs, I pulled my cell from the pocket of my bag and began scrolling through the missed messages that had piled up in the time it had taken me to get to this hellish room. I pretended he wasn’t there and continued to answer texts. Annoyance would win out and he’d spill whatever had prompted his summons that he couldn’t be bothered to tell me through a damn phone call.

“That won’t be happening, Lake. Hong Kong is off and so are any other trips out of the country for a while.” His tone was as cold and detached as usual, but the words halted my fingers as I looked up at him.

“Excuse me?” I made no attempt to hide the clipped tone or the glare of my own that told him I was long past taking his orders. Who the hell did he think he was to order me around? Sure, technically he was my father, but he’d shown no parental backbone since my mother had died. “I’m an adult and don’t need your permission to go anywhere.”

“You travel on my dime and your age has nothing to do with your maturity.” He turned his laptop around to face me where an article featuring me in Barcelona was staring back. The picture was my main focus as two men were almost carrying me out, and I had my head thrown back in laughter. I knew how it looked and didn’t even need to read the text under the picture to guess it was another statement about the drunk Lake Harrington being escorted out of a club. That’s not what had happened at all, but I wasn’t going to refute the article. I allowed it because honestly, that petulant child within me loved that it would grate on his nerves. “As made evident by your last run in with the media.” He nearly slammed the laptop closed as his eyes narrowed at me from his rigid position across the desk. “You will remain in the U.S. as close to the home in The Hamptons thatIpay for, until…”

If looks could kill, we would have both dropped dead on the spot. I was shooting his signature glare right back at him as I leaned slightly forward in my chair. “Until what?” Honestly, it sounded like he was attempting to ground me. I wasn’t sure if this was actually the case because the closest I’d ever been to a grounding was what I’d seen in television shows and movies.

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, looking almost like the man I’d known before my mother had died. For the first time since stepping into the room, I noticed he didn’t look as put together as he usually did. He seemed tired in a way I’d never seen. Robert ran a hand down his face and looked me over for a moment before he sat back in his chair. “Until the threat to you has been handled.”

Of all the endings of that declaration could have had,thatone had not crossed my mind. A shudder of icy fear skittered down my back at his words. I’d never been threatened before. Sure, I’d grown up around the old money trust fund kids who were sharp tongued and pretty much made me want to threaten them, but even dealing with internet trolls and intruding paparazzi hadn’t come to threats against me. Attempting to keep my voice strong and unaffected, I asked through clenched teeth, “What are you talking about?” The slight tremor on the last of my question was proof that my bluster was just that.

“Parts of my work have become… complicated.” He said giving only the same small amount of concern back. “A few weeks back, some concerning mail was delivered to my office. No return address but a clear message. Someone doesn’t like the work I’ve been doing with private security in the Middle East and they had no issues about letting me know.” He waved a dismissive hand as if he was sharing a bit of boring bad news about the weather. “I’ve gotten threats before and didn’t find them all that interesting at first, but when the direction changed from me to—” His words halted abruptly as he looked at me, darkness clouding his dull green eyes as he was clearly remembering the content of those letters. “Well, they became worrisome and directed at you. So I reached out to a former colleague who put me in contact with a private security agency that I trust to keep you out of harm's way until the investigation is complete and the anonymous party has been handled.” His words held no emotion as he told me all of this, as if I was a piece of property and Robert was making sure no one trespassed on his land.

I held onto the icy indifference of his tone to keep my own emotions from rising to the surface. Someone had been threatening my life because of him? Not only was the revelation unfair, but it was enough to set panic screaming through my veins. I had no idea what Robert even did as a former senator and I’d never cared to learn. Now, I was wondering if I shouldn’t have paid more attention to make sure I wouldn’t end up as collateral damage in one of his business dealings. I was in some form of danger because of him, and childish indignation roiled in my stomach. I had nothing to do with Robert Harrington, and it was incredibly unfair for me to reap the shitty consequences of his actions.

How had my life devolved into this very moment? Last night I’d been in my condo, choosing outfits for a trip I’d been so excited about. As I’d been scrolling through dress options on my phone, someone had been threatening my life to my father. My father, who I was pretty sure wouldn’t have cared about my wellbeing beyond how the optics made him look. They must have been bad enough to get him summoning me with the word “emergency”.

“What kind of threats? Let me see them.”

“No.”

It wasn’t a new word coming from his lips, but it hit me like a slap to the face all the same. How could he refuse to show me what was being said about me only moments after slamming paparazzi lies in my face? I couldn’t protect myself if I didn’t know what I was dealing with. “Yes,” I snapped back. “If the threats are about me, I have every right to see them and to know what I’m up against.”

“You’re not up against anything. I’ve hired someone to make sure nothing happens to you or me, and that’s all that matters.” The finality in his tone would have made a weaker person cower, but I wasn’t weak. Not when it came to facing this man.

“Bullshit!” I couldn’t help the outburst as terror slid through me like a dark slime. The fact that he was holding back meant that it was worse than I’d originally thought, and, as usual, Robert Harrington was keeping me at a distance and being vague to suit his own agenda. Holding information back from me was another power play, and he was making it clear that he held all the power, just like he did when he reminded me that his money paid for my lifestyle. Which was also bullshit.

“Control yourself, Lake,” he said with a bored tone as he reached for the intercom on his desk. “Ellen, please send Lieutenant Mullins in.”

I opened my mouth to unleash a torrent of rage. How dare he tell me to control myself! He couldn’t drop a bomb like this and expect me to hold the same cold indifference that seemed to be second nature for him. The anger-fuelled words died on my lips as I heard the heavy wooden door open and turned to look over my shoulder at who was interrupting our little family reunion. Immediately I clocked those expensively tailored legs belonging to a man I’d assumed was one of my father’s gray haired, doughy old work friends, but this man wasn’t old at all.

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