My jaw goes slack. “You hired someone to investigate me?”
He shakes his head. “I hired someone to find outwhathappened that got you into trouble.”
“And that sounds right to you? To get into my business?” I snap, heat surging through my veins.
“It isn’t his fault.” Mom quickly jumps in. “It is mine. He looked into it because I was worried.”
“Not just you, Mia Cara,” Dad says just as his gray eyes lock on me. “I am worried, too.”
Those words hang in the thick smoke of tension that has always been there when we are in the same room. Over the years, it has become darker and denser, clouding the view completely so that we don’t see each other.
The coldness in his eyes melts away. “Getting that call from your friend and hearing that you were locked up nearly gave me a heart attack. I left the meeting in the middle, one I had worked for two years, got home and told your mother. We packed nothing. Just grabbed important stuff and got on the plane.”
“I didn’t ask you to come,” I grumble.
“I’m glad you didn’t,” he counter backs. “Because it’s not something that you should ask for. It’s our responsibility to be there for you.”
I grind my molars so tightly, I feel like I’ll break them.
The fact I don’t have a fucking answer makes me furious. Because what he just said made my chest hurt. It made merealize that perhaps they give a fuck about me—something I didn’t care about.
“She is here because something happened at home,” Mom says sorrowfully. “And you brought her here to keep her safe.”
I glare at her, hating how quickly she put it altogether—it wasn’t hard, considering they know why I was at the police station.
The microwave pings cutting through the silence in the room, but I don’t move.
Mom and I stare at each other for a long moment.
Finally, I look away.
“Bring her down.” Her voice carries a command.
“What?” I frown.
“We need to send her back home.”
I frown harder. “What the fuck?”
“Your mother is right.” Dad speaks in a curt tone.
I glare at both of them. “I’m not sending her back.”
“You need to.” Dad asserts.
“Her parents must be worried about her,” Mom says.
A scoff leaves past my lips. “It’s her mother who kicked her out.”
Mom lets out a loud gasp, her hand reaching for the island to steady her. Dad quickly reaches for her and wraps his arm around her.
“Wh-what?” She whispers.
I run a hand through my hair, frustration making me annoyed. “She has nowhere to go so I brought her here.” Narrowing my eyes at her I add, “And she isn’t going back. Especially not tonight.”
“How could they do this to her?” she asks. “What is going on?”
I press my lips together in silence. I’ve already said enough.
