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“Come have a drink with me.”
The request is so bizarre that I don’t answer right away. What the hell? Who is this man and is he an alien?
“What?”
He clears his throat. “Come have a drink with me.”
“Why?” I blurt. This is the man who didn’t even want to speak to me over the phone while I was in hiding, and now he wants to have a drink with me? “Are you high?”
My father’s eyes narrow and he shakes his head. “Drugs are for the weak. I just want a moment alone with my son.”
The way he says that last word makes my heart thump unevenly in my chest and I can do nothing but nod and follow him down to his office, an ornate space filled with paintings and books and an oversized mahogany desk. It’s ridiculous and so unlike my apartment that it makes me crack a smile.
How we ended up so different is beyond me.
He gestures toward a gaudy golden couch, and I sink down into it. It creaks under me and I arch an eyebrow at my dad.
“This is an ugly as fuck couch.”
“Better than the Cheetos one you have in your apartment. At least it doesn’t smell like old chips.”
His retort makes the first genuine laugh spill out of my mouth. “Touché. Although, I didn’t know you’ve ever been to my apartment.”
“Of course I have. And Skylar has reported back. He’s given me a lot of details about how you live.”
I roll my eyes and take the drink he’s poured me, an expensive amber liquid that I sip at, pretending not to choke. My father takes the seat opposite me and crosses a leg over the other, his pants perfectly pressed and his shoes almost gleaming in the light.
How the two of us are related is beyond me. I wonder about this on a daily basis.
“How are you doing?” he asks after a moment of silence.
I snort and take another long gulp of the strong whiskey. I choke and sputter, wiping my hand across the back of my mouth.
“Fine.”
“Are you really? Because I see the way you look at Skylar…”
I shake my head and fumble with my words. I don’t think my dad would really put a bullet through Skylar’s brain, but I don’t want to risk it. You never really know with my dad. He’s slightly insane.
“He’s just a bodyguard. Nothing more.”
My father watches me with piercing eyes. “Is that so?”
I nod, refusing to speak lest something true comes out.
“You don’t need to lie to me, son.”
“I’ve heard you say that to people before, Pops. And they always end up dead.”
He smiles at me and takes a long sip of his drink. “No one is dying, especially not the man who saved my son’s life.”
I watch him intently, not quite sure who this man sitting in front of me is, but he’s different in some way. Not as distant, not as hard.
“Are you possessed?”
He laughs loudly. “No, just an old man trying to get to know you. This whole thing has made me realize that I’ve made some mistakes in my life…”
His words trail off and he sighs, looking off into the distance. “Never was good at loving someone. I wasn’t sure if I ever could. And I thought if it did exist, it died with your mother. But almost losing you…I realized that I have so much more in my heart than I realized.”
