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My father flashed her his sinister smile. “I sincerely doubt they’ll be interested.”
Because they were in his pocket.
“I sincerely believe they—”
“Beau. Lincoln. With me now. Or this flea motel shuts down.”
“You can’t do that,” Pepper said.
“I can. And more importantly I will.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
He and my brother’s dress style was so alike down to the cashmere overcoat. Was that by choice? Or necessity?
“The fate of this wretched place is squarely on my dear children’s shoulders,” he said. “What will it be?”
Beau snatched her purse off the floor, kissed Miss Adeline’s cheek, and gave Pepper an apologetic look. Lincoln flicked his chin, grabbed his coat, and shoved through the front door onto the sidewalk.
“Enough with the theatrics.” Our father placed a hand on Beau’s shoulder. “And Teague, this includes you. I’m sure your friends wouldn’t appreciate an irreversible fate because of your insolence.”
Were we in medieval times? Who did he think he was? A tyrant?
He lifted a brow. Before I could walk out that door he’d have someone here taking away everything Pepper and Miss Adeline had worked for. This wasn’t a flea motel. It was a sanctuary. They’d done more good in the past five seconds than he had in his entire life.
“We’ve done nothing to you,” Pepper said. She was a fighter. And I was so proud.
“You’ve stolen time with my children.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but she had no idea who she was dealing with.
“My truck is out back.” The words were spoken as if dragged from me. I hated giving in to him, letting him win.
But if it meant protecting Pepper, Miss Adeline, and the dogs, I would.
“Excellent. We’ll see you at the office.”
Pepper looked at me incredulously. I was a coward when it came to this man.
I scratched behind Ash’s ears and dug in my pocket for my keys.
When I finally met her gaze again, she’d gone stoic. My jaw ticked when I focused my attention on my father. “Leave. Then I will.”
He appeared displeased at my ordering him around, but I wouldn’t budge on this. I would not leave them on their own to deal with him.
I would pay for this. It was in his expression. But he turned on his heel and led my brother and sister down the sidewalk.
Helplessly, I stared at Pepper, begging for her to understand. The situation with him was complicated. It was one thing to defy him when I was the only one to suffer the consequences and completely another when other people I respected were involved.
“You’d better get going,” she said tightly.
I squatted to give one last pet to Ash. She licked me in the face and a fresh wave of hate for my father washed over me.
I stood. Miss Adeline had her arms crossed. Pepper’s gaze remained glued to the floor. A strand of her hair fell into her face. I brushed it away.
She flinched, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to pull her into my arms, promise to fix this and that he’d never touch any of them again.
I refused to lie.
I lifted her chin so I could see her.
