He’s the reason you’re in this mess, remember? And he made a deal with Mason’s enemies in exchange for you. He doesn’t deserve your pity or your worry.
The phone stops ringing, and it slides out of my hands, shame burning a hole in the pit of my stomach.
My father might be the reason I’m in this mess, and a main factor behind me getting kidnapped, but I know I’m far from blameless.
I didn’t walk away when I had the chance, and a part of me knows I should have.
What right do I have to blame him when I’ve only made things worse?
I told myself I was doing this for the right reasons, and here I am, unable to walk away because I’ve seen a glimpse of the man behind the mask.
The kind Miss Deveroux insists isn’t worth saving.
But she’s wrong. She has to be.
I haven’t given up my freedom and normal life for a lie.
I scoop the phone off the floor and dial my father again. I continue to pace the room. When I reach the window, I push the curtain and look out at the afternoon sun, casting a golden glow over the Mason estate.
“Come on, Dad.” My heart is pounding uneasily in my chest. “Pick up, please.”
It stops ringing again, and I throw it against the nearest wall. It bounces off the wall and falls to the floor. I rake my hands through my hair, cross over to where the phone fell, and pick it up again.
Noah answers on the fifth ring, his voice gruff and thick with sleep.
I clear my throat. “It’s me. I know I have no right to call—”
“You have a lot of fucking nerve, London.” Noah’s voice rises in anger. “After what you put me through, what the hell do you want? You want to get me tied up and beat again?”
I wince and squeeze my eyes shut. “That wasn’t my fault.”
“That doesn’t help,” Noah snaps, and I hear a door open and shut in the background. “Nothing you can say or do is going to help.”
“I know that.” My voice grows smaller. “It was never meant to get this complicated, okay? I’m sorry, Noah. I didn’t want to hurt you. I still care about you.”
“Look, I am glad it worked out. At least Mason is good for something, but come on.” Each of Noah’s words drips with exhaustion and confusion. “He’s using you, London. I don’t know why you can’t see that. You need to snap out of it. Even if you won’t do it for me, at least do it for your parents. It’s not too late.”
I grip the phone tighter and count backward from five. “I’m not calling to talk about him. I need you to check on my father.”
Noah doesn’t reply.
“I know you don’t owe me anything, but he loved—lovesyou like a son, and you told me you’ve always thought of him as a father. I can’t tell you what’s happening, but he could… he could be in danger.”
Noah exhales. “Why are you coming to me with this? Shouldn’t you go to Mason?”
“I’m coming to you, not him. I know this is shit, and I know I screwed up, but I don’t think he should have to pay the price. I know you agree with me.”
Noah’s voice is quieter when he answers, and it makes my chest tighten. “You know I do.”
I turn my back on the window and squeeze my eyes shut. “I know I don’t have the right to ask, but I’m doing it anyway. You told me I once meant the world to you.Please.”
I hate that he’s hearing the crack in my voice, but Noah and I have been through a lot.
I refuse to believe that the man I spent all of those years with is gone.
He’s still somewhere inside, buried underneath layers of hurt and betrayal.
Noah is still a good person, and I’m choosing to believe he’ll do the right thing.
