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My father finishes his phone call and turns to watch me expectantly. I think he might be enjoying my obvious distress. In fact, I’m sure he is.
“Yes, I’m here.” I glower across the room and step over a broken dance trophy.
Stuart Ballerini calmly tucks his phone into an interior pocket of his blazer.
“Stay there,” Dani says. “It’ll be all right.”
I nod my head even though she can’t see me.
The mayor of Emerald City waits in impassive silence until I lower the phone from my ear.
“That must have beenhim,” my father says, rather smugly.
“No, it wasn’t Micah.” I’ll need to sound calm even if I feel like throwing sharp objects.
“So you’ll let him defile you in my house but you won’t call him when you need help. Strange.”
He sees my confusion and cocks an eyebrow. “Did you forget we have security cameras? I saw you arrive at the house this morning looking like you’d spent the night rolling around in an east side gutter, which I suppose is what you did.”
I refuse to feel ashamed. “Guilty. I had sex with my boyfriend. And yes, we did it upstairs in my bedroom. Because I’m an adult and I’m in love and I owe you no apologies for that.”
He seems to be giving this some thought. “True. And at times I’ve been too overprotective as a father. Maybe that’s why you felt like you had to rebel. But I placed my complete trust in you. I never expected that trust to be abused. I’m a public servant, Tess. Sometimes that means making excruciating choices.”
As odd as his words are, I also recognize his onstage voice, the one he uses when there’s a microphone in front of his face. Mayor Ballerini is performing right now.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Explain it to me.”
He gives me a thin smile. “Where is your phone?”
A weird question since he just saw me toss my phone back in my purse.
“Oh.” I pull the phone out. “You think I’m recording you. That’s why you’re following a script.” I toss the phone on the sofa. “Take a look. I’m not recording. Now can you climb down from your political pedestal and speak plainly?”
He conducts a cursory examination and, satisfied, leaves the phone where it is. A veneer of civility falls away and he gazes at me with sheer contempt. “All right, I’ll speak plainly. You don’t live here anymore.”
“Obviously. But let’s not forget that I moved back home because of you. After the whole Olivia scandal, you didn’t want to live alone.Youasked formyhelp with your campaign. So you’re pissed that I’m in love with Micah? Too bad. You wanted me to move out? Fine. Happy to. You didn’t have to go all scorched earth like a lunatic.”
He looks out the window and notes that the movers are milling around by the truck. “You should have chosen your family, Tess. Not some rage-addled hellraiser who will get a kick out of using you for a little while before you start to bore him.” He whirls on me, eyes bright with fury. “Does it give you some kind of sick thrill to know that he fucked your stepmother first? That you’re spreading your legs for Olivia’s leftovers?”
The shock vibrates all the way to my toes. He’s never talked to me like this before. Not ever.
Then again, he’s never thrown me out of the house either.
“You know damn well that’s not fair. Micah’s an incredible person in spite of everything that’s been done to him. We love each other. And nobody cares if you like the idea or not.”
He chuckles at this news. “You are making a goddamn fool out of yourself, little girl.”
I lift my chin. “Says the big city mayor who uses his office to fuck reporters on his desk.”
His jaw tightens. Maybe he didn’t expect an argument, or thought I’d just fall down and weep.
“You’re the biggest liar I’ve ever met,” I say. “But since we’re airing all the grievances in this little family meeting, why don’t we call Uncle Josh and include him?”
He throws back his head with a roar of disturbing laughter. It ends just as quickly as it began and the contempt returns.
“Tess, I almost envy your stupidity. You have no idea what’s between me and my brother. You haven’t got a prayer that he would take your side.”
Doubt pricks at me.
