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I was speechless.
My heart was racing, viciously pounding against my chest. For what felt like a solid minute, I couldn’t speak.
I wasn’t sure where to start. I couldn’t tell if he was letting me know he wasn’t pressing charges since he didn’t mention rape, or if he was but was too disgusted to say the word.
Swallowing thickly, I finally found my voice. “Did she ask how I dislocated it?”
Dad hesitated. “I told her we’d gone out to lunch and were walking back to the car when another car came flying around the corner and almost hit you. I yanked you out of the way too hard and dislocated it.”
I blinked. “What did Madeline say?”
“You’re the golden ticket to the Olympics. What do you think she said?”
I flinched, hating the insensitive tone in his voice. “I don’t understand. She didn’t ask any more questions? She was okay with me coming back so soon?”
“All she said was that as a parent herself, she would have done the same thing.”
My lips pursed together. I really didn’t understand. It almost felt like he was being passive aggressive, and that was something I didn’t have the energy for.
“I will not discuss any more with you. Remember the rules, and do not engage in anything with him. One slip and he’ll be behind bars for a very long time. Just because you’re legally allowed to have sexual relations with him doesn’t mean there aren’t other charges that can’t be tied into it and considered.”
“What?” I whispered, frowning.
Dad hung up, and I hadn’t spoken to him since that day.
Instead, I lay wide awake for the rest of the nights thereafter, racking my brain, trying to figure out what had happened.
But more importantly, why.
“My theory is your dad told the police you were seventeen. He’ll later say he forgot you just had a birthday because he wasn’t thinking clearly after seeing you covered in blood. He’ll put on a show and they’ll buy it. They’ll also drop the charges because you’re legal and you’ll never press any,” Avery said. “As long as the state doesn’t pick it up, which they shouldn’t since you’re considered an adult and it’s really like a waste of time for them, Daddy doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”
I was momentarily speechless and a bit proud of Avery for coming up with that.
“Not bad. But what about the simple battery?” I asked, so curious to see what she’d say next.
Avery mused over the question. “You’ll say you both had agreed to keep your relationship a secret and that your dad was shocked to see you guys intimate. He can’t say it’s not consensual, it was when you turned sixteen. Your dad’s emotions got in the way and he lost it because he didn’t want to see his only daughter hurt.”
I was actually starting to wonder if this could really work. In a sense it was fairly accurate, not too far a stretch of the truth, really.
“Who hit who?” I asked, preparing for questioning in advance.
Avery muttered, “Fuck. Do you want to throw your dad under the bus or not?”
I sulked back. A pulsing throb began in the side of my neck. The tension was back.
“No. No, I don’t know. Damn it.”
I needed a moment.
My mind was running wild. I would never do that to my dad regardless, and it made me feel bad knowing he had already done that to me. My heart was pounding viciously against my ribs, and my palms were sweating. Was this what a panic attack was?
Feeling a little warm, I stood up and started pacing the floor. My fingers threaded through my hair and got stuck in a few knots. I tugged on the strands a bit too aggressively and yanked some hair out. I needed air.
I didn’t know how I was going to recover from this—the miscarriage and arrest—or if I ever would. I needed the comfort of someone, anyone with empathy, but I wanted it only from Kova. Avery had said during one of our long discussions on the phone that my emotions were going to be out of whack because of my hormones from the miscarriage. She wasn’t wrong. My stupid emotions were flying high and blind and anyone with a voice could take them down.
I hadn’t showered when I got home from practice. Instead, I’d jumped straight into business and got on the phone. I was sticky with sweat and coated with chalk in random places on my body. My calf had gunk on it from the stuff Ethan used during the blading, and I needed to take a handful of pain relievers because the stabbing ache in my arm was waking up. The side effects were the last thing I cared about right now.
Though, none of that was going to happen.
