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“Does it look like I’m playing House to you?” I fling my arms wide. “I haven't even seen her in two days because I've been busy tracking down information."
“I saw the bill for the engagement ring. We'll be lucky if she doesn't pawn it for a down payment on her new life.”
“I had no idea we were short on cash,” I drawl. “If you’re worried about our finances, I’ll get it back from her and re-gift it to the next woman.”
That’s a fucking whopper of a lie. I’ll melt it down before I see it on any finger aside from hers.
But it doesn’t matter. This isn’t about the money for my father.
It’s about control. His loss of it, specifically.
“I’m worried that you’re getting lost in your own con, Ivan.” He leans forward, his fingers drumming slowly on the tabletop. “When the time comes, you need to be able to cut the bait and reel it in. You need to be able to get out of this unscathed, whether your little slut does or not.”
“Don’t call her that.”
I’m shaking with the force required to stay sitting. To not drag my own father out of his chair by his throat.
Yasha edges towards the door, but Otets doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. “What did you say?”
I look at him, my voice louder now. “I won’t sit here and let you disrespect her.”
My father smirks at me, but there is no warmth in it. No joy.
Only a sense of retribution.
“I won’t let this game go on much longer, boy.” He waves another warning finger, his nostrils flaring. “Get your shit together and be prepared to cut that girl loose for the greater good. If you can’t, I’ll do it for you.”
He stands and storms out, leaving me sitting there with a single thought burning in my head.
I’d like to see him fucking try.
Yasha escorts my father out, then returns and collapses into the leather chair across from me with a sigh. “Fuck.”
“What? I thought that went well.”
He scowls at me. “Be serious, Ivan.”
“That’s usually my line.”
“Because you’re usually being an uptight ass about nothing,” he says. “This is not nothing. Thepakhanis pissed.”
I wave a hand in the air. “You don’t have to be afraid of him.”
“I’m not afraid of him; I’m afraid for you,” he says. “There’s a difference.”
I hear Cora’s voice in my head.Be careful.
For all Yasha’s fuckery, I’ve always known he cares. I know I can count on him. The fact that Cora has now joined ranks with him in bothering to worry about me is something I can’t quite grasp.
“Don’t waste your time with either. I’m fine.”
“You’re fine right now,” Yasha counters. “What I’m worried about is what happens when this is over. I’m worried what will happen when—if—you have to cut the bait.”
My father took his rainclouds with him, but I feel another storm brewing as I turn to Yasha. “I won’t have to do that.”
He holds up his hands in surrender. “I hope not. Cora is good for you. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to her.”
Even the suggestion has me tightening my fists. “Then let’s make sure it doesn’t.”
