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Just…silence.
And then a few hours later, he came to us, letting us know that our presence would be expected at dinner.
I hadn’t expected Dylan to bring Vic here though.
Father knew about her, of course, he knew about almost everything that went on inside this house. But this was still the first time she had met him.
Other times, Dylan had made sure to bring Vic around when Father wouldn’t be in the house. Or at least that’s what I thought he was doing. After all, Father had never been interesting in our personal lives besides what we were doing to upkeep his oh-so-impressivelegacy. Inviting people over while he was here would just annoy him.
When the sound of the door slamming open and shoes squeaking across the floor hit my ears, I straightened. My eyes immediately went to Father.
“Right,” he said, his eyes shifting to the open door that gave him a perfect view into the hallway connecting the living room and entrance. “Let’s talk about it on Monday. I have some guests.”
Without waiting for the person on the other line to respond, Father hung up and placed his phone on the dining table.
I saw the moment when he laid eyes on her. Saw how the skin around his mouth grew taut. How his gaze narrowed. I couldn’t tell if it was disappointment or something more dangerous. For a moment, I thought he stopped breathing, but it was gone as soon as it came on.
“Welcome,” Father said, a smile spreading across his face. His mask was firmly in place, and if I wasn’t so worried for Vic, I may even appreciate the change of pace her being here had brought.
“Dad, Victoria, Victoria, Dad. You can call him Hiram,” Dylan said and made a show of walking her to the table and holding out her chair for her.
Vic gave my father a tense smile, her gaze locking on to his. The intensity of it gave me pause.
Normal people in her position would pause, especially when faced with an alumni like my father. He was well-known, and given the history of her family, it was unlikely that she didn’t know who the fuck she was staring down.
Fear shot through me.
I was normally at the end of my father’s wrath, but I sure as hell didn’t want Vic to be his target.
But the news earlier that day seemed to loosen him up, and all he did was return her smile and sit down.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” she said, her voice sickly sweet.
“Hiram,” he said. “There are no such formalities between families like ourselves. Did your parents tell you we knew each other?”
We were interrupted by our personal chef bringing out our meals. Vic sent the girl a smile as she placed a plate down in front of her before turning to my dad.
“I know a little,” Vic admitted. “Though my parents don’t talk about the games much anymore.”
Father nodded, “Last I heard, they had chosen jobs outside of the games, is that true?”
When Vic hesitated, I shifted. Dylan didn’t so much as look at her, too focused on devouring the food in front of him.
“Seems more like a reunion than meeting the girlfriend,” I commented.
Father’s eyes shifted to mine, the command there was obvious.
Don’t you talk back to me.
“It’s fine,” Vic said, her foot coming to brush across mine. But instead of it being like a kick, her movement was soothing, as if she could tell I was defensive on her behalf.
“My parents left the games behind for good,” she said, taking a bite of her own food. “Though am I to understand there is something exciting happening about your role in them?”
Father positively puffed at this. His eyes glimmered in the light, and his hand swept out to grab the cup of wine at his side.
“I got promoted to Architect,” he said, sending her a mock cheer even though none of us had anything but water in our glasses.
“Congratulations,” she said and leaned forward. “Anything juicy you can tell us? Maybe help prepare us for the next games?”
