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Mine, however, does.
“What thefuckwere you doing with my child?!”
Guards and chauffeurs alike pointedly avoid looking at us as they move around Demyen and me, driving the vehicles back to the garage and giving us a wide berth.
I don’t blame them. I’m about to skin Demyen alive if he doesn’t give me one hell of a good explanation.
Demyen remains unfazed and it’sveryfucking irritating. Maddening. Murderous-thought-inducing, actually. “What were you doing with my car?”
“Trying to find my daughter! Who wasmissing!”
He smirks. He fuckingsmirks. The bastard. “Walk with me.” He wraps an arm around my waist and presses his hand to the small of my back. I hate him so much right now, but I hate even more the way a shivering warmth spreads through my body at the way he touches me.
He’s steering me toward his office, but not forcefully. Just enough to assert his dominance in this situation, even though we both know I’m about to claw his eyes out.
“First of all, I’m insulted that you think there’s any possible way Willow could just suddenly go missing from under my nose.”
I refuse to admit I’ve been thinking the same thing all morning. Instead, I grind my teeth and glare at the floor as we walk.
“Second of all, I know for a fact that Bambi already told you she was safe and sound.”
“Bambi didn’t tell me shit,” I hiss.
Demyen rolls his eyes. “She told you enough. Enough for you to fucking trust me.”
I bark out a laugh as we enter his office and he shuts the door behind us. “‘Trust you.’ That’s rich. You kidnapped my daughter!”
It’s his turn to laugh and, when he does, I feel the sudden urge to grab something heavy and throw it at his stupid head. “Right. I kidnapped your daughter, changed my mind about halfway through, and brought her right back. To my house. Where I’m constantly surrounded by both of you.”
As he sits down in his leather chair and gestures for me to sit in the one facing his desk, I feel my anger dissipate. Just a bit. Enough to at least entertain more reasonable possibilities.
Demyen pulls a thick folder from God-knows-where and slides it across the desk to me. “I got her enrolled for kindergarten. They just needed to meet her and perform a formal evaluation before they approved her admissions. She passed with flying colors. They love her.”
My fingers tremble when I start flipping through the flyers and pamphlets stuffed in each side of the folder. “What…Whereis this?”
He sighs, but he’s not irritated. He actually looks amused. “It’s a private Montessori elementary school with a high matriculation rate into Ivy-bound prep schools. They’re selective and elitist, but Willow really impressed them.”
He might as well have been speaking Latin; I’ve barely processed a single word. I close the folder, set it back on the desk, and stare at it.
And then I stare athim. “You didn’t consult me about this.”
Demyen leans back in his chair. “I don’t recall needing to consult you about anything I do.”
“I don’t recall you being her father.”
His jaw sets. The vein tics on one side as he narrows his eyes at me.
But then he blows out a puff of air and relaxes. “I’m certainly not that.”
“So why even do it?” I’m seething. I know I should be grateful and some part of me deep down truly is blown away by his generosity and care for my daughter who—as I very bluntly pointed out just now—isnothis child. “Why go through all this trouble to…to…” I struggle to find the right words that aren’t literallyto undermine me as a parent and control me through my daughter. Even though that’s exactly what he’s doing. “Just…why?”
“Would you prefer she miss school entirely?”
“I’d prefer for her to not be out there in the open, available for Martin to snatch up with a flash of his badge and a lie?—”
Demyen holds a hand up. “I already took that into consideration. Which is why, on top of calling in a favor or two owed to me by the superintendent and headmaster, I made a sizable donation of money and manpower to increase their security. Willow remains under the careful eye of guards she knows and the other children are safer for it, too.”
I hate him. I hate him and his stupid… logical… debatably compassionate…
