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“I’m not letting you out of my sight after the last stunt you pulled,” he says in an angry tone. “When will you grow up, Rory? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? It was damn irresponsible of you to disappear from the party without a word to me.”
“I texted you,” I say. “I told you I was with a friend.”
His gaze falls on the three massive alphas standing in the distance. “Those men are your friends?” he asks with a skeptical look. “Are you trying to lie to me again, Rory?”
“I’m not lying!” I shout, trying to hide the embarrassment I feel as Dad scolds me. “How the hell did you find me in the first place? Did you put a tracker on me or something?”
“I tracked your phone’s location,” he says in a low, grim tone.
“Seriously?”
“You didn’t return home last night,” he says, looking furious. “Do you have any idea what went through me when I couldn’t find you anywhere? I’m your goddamn father, Rory! You’re old enough to realize how much I worry about you.”
“It was our fault, Sir,” Oliver says, stepping forward. “We should’ve let you know about Rory’s condition as soon as possible.”
“We were going to get in touch with you after making sure she was feeling well enough to go home,” says Simon, coming to stand on my other side. “We’d have driven her home ourselves.”
Dad stares at them curiously. “What are you talking about? Did Rory get sick last night?”
“We met her at the exhibit hall last evening,” Oliver says. “Rory was feeling sick after eating the crabcakes they were serving at the party. We found her hurling into a vase on the second floor and immediately helped her.”
“We took Rory to one of the guestrooms,” Simon continues. “Gary, Nile Richmond’s youngest son, is a close pal of ours. He didn’t mind letting Rory stay there.”
“You should’ve informed me right away,” Dad says in a demanding tone. “Even if you couldn’t get in touch with me, you should’ve taken her home. Why did you bring her here?”
I dumbly stare at the twins as they make up a story. They didn’t even get the time to rehearse one before we came down to meet Dad but somehow, they’re managing to narrate it without a hitch.
“We wanted Rory to meet our mom,” Simon easily lies with a bright grin.
A confused expression spreads over Dad’s face. “Why would you want her to meet your mom?”
Oliver and Simon rub their noses in an identical gesture.
“Well, Rory’s special to us,” Oliver says, pretending to look embarrassed.
“Please, don’t worry, though,” Simon says. “We made sure Rory was feeling well enough to travel all the way here.”
The twins are making up the story as they go. It’s amusing to see how well their thoughts sync and mesh effortlessly.
Dad’s expression finally softens. A heavy sigh escapes him as he glances at me.
“You looked uncomfortable last night,” he says, relenting. “Are you feeling better now?”
“I’m fine,” I mutter. “Why didn’t you simply call me instead of rushing over here? This is so embarrassing, you know?”
“Ah, right,” he says as a tinge of pink spreads on his round cheeks. Clearing his throat loudly, he looks toward the twins. “Well, I guess I owe them an apology for barging in here unannounced.”
“No apologies needed, Sir,” Oliver says, grinning. “We’re happy you came to our home.”
Dad looks calmer now. “Rory went missing over the past few weeks and we couldn’t get in touch with her,” he explains in a grim tone. “She showed up looking like she’d been starving for weeks. Do you see how skinny she’s gotten? I’ve been worried sick about her lately and that’s the reason I followed her here.”
“You have every right to worry about your daughter, Sir,” says Seth, striding forward.
Dad steps back to take in Seth at his full height.
“I’ll be direct with you, Sir,” Seth says in a grim tone. “Rory needs to stay here with us. My brothers and I promise to keep her safe and look after her.”
“But, why?” Dad asks, looking confused. “Why should Rory live here with strangers?”
