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“No,” Dad barks. “You did it wrong.”
My stomach knots as Maria swallows nervously.
“Yes, maybe I did,” she instantly concedes even though three of us sitting around his table know she didn’t. She wouldn’t dare.
“This isn’t good enough,” he scoffs, shoving his plate back.
Maria flinches, waiting for whatever is going to come next.
Millie, who’s sitting beside her—Dad is obviously at the head of the table—hasn’t dared to look up once.
She hasn’t spoken a word since we walked through the door. It’s always that way under this roof, and I fucking hate it.
My little sister is so full of life and sass. Yet, everything changes the second she steps through the front door here. Years of being ignored, and abandoned by the one person she should be able to rely on has left her mute.
She learned long ago that he wasn’t interested in anything she had to say, so she just… stopped.
Maria is great. She tries her best, but even she’s stopped being able to get through to her.If Dad isn’t here, they’ll chat. But the second his presence is felt, Millie locks down.
We all wait with bated breaths as Dad stands there staring down at Maria.This isn’t the first time this has happened, and I doubt it’ll be the last.
The worst outcome would be flying fists, the best that he storms out.
Although I’m sure that while that might be the best for Millie and me. For Maria, we all know that his wrath will come later. When they don’t have witnesses.
A shudder rips through me at the thought of what he does to her behind closed doors.
Dad’s volatile anger means he’s as quick with his vicious words as he is his fists. Something I know all too well first-hand.
“This is my only day off this week,” he seethes. “All I wanted was to have a nice meal with my family. But you fucked it. Totally fucked it. This was all you had to do this week. Cook and look pretty. And you couldn’t even manage that.”
His chair topples back as he stands abruptly. A whimper comes from Maria before he picks up his plate and launches it toward the wall.
It shatters on contact as his roast dinner coats the cream and gold wallpaper.
Then with another barbed word in Maria’s direction, he storms from the room.
The second the back door slams, alerting us to his departure, she lets out a cry before also running from the room.
“And that’s our cue to leave. Grab your bag, Mills. We’re done here.”
Not needing to be told twice, Millie silently jumps up and all but runs out of the room and toward the front door.
There was a time that we’d hang around to make sure Maria was okay and to help clean up, but those times are long gone.
By the time I get to my car, she’s already in the passenger seat sobbing into her hands.
It breaks my fucking heart, and only fuels my determination to ruin that fucking cunt for everything he’s done to us.
27
RAINE
“Hold up, Teddy.” I cut across the perfectly tended grass, making a beeline for the boy still holding my phone hostage. “We need to talk,” I rasp, trying to catch my breath.
It’s early Monday morning and I’ve been waiting for him to appear.
I want my phone back and I don’t plan on letting up until he gives it to me.
