It was my turn to sneer at him. “If he doesn’t like you, it’s not because of anything I’ve said to him. Maybe it’s because you hung up on him that one time you called me, buddy, or you doing things you had no business doing. Have you thought about that?”
His mouth pinched, and he rushed out, “I didn’t hang up on him.”
I freaking knew he was going to lie about that. I hated to call people dumb, but he really was dumb. I didn’t feel like arguing with him over it. What I did instead was shrug at him. “I know you know why I don’t like you—and I’m sorry for saying that because I’ve never said that to anyone before, but you have never been nice to me. But I’ve never gone out of my way to be mean to you because of it. I don’t have to like you to work with you, but I wouldn’t whisper about things you did two years ago to make Rip not like you.”
“Look, you don’t even know what was happening between me and Kyra.”
I raised up both my hands between us and said, “I don’t care. You don’t have to explain anything to me.” Even if it made perfect sense, I still wouldn’t like him. “I wouldn’t like anyone who made my little sister cry, for whatever reason.”
“I’m not an asshole,” he tried to claim.
I stayed quiet.
“I’m not—”
My phone ringing from my desk had me shaking my head as I walked way around him and out onto the floor. “Start on the panel, Jason.”
He cursed, not loudly enough for me to hear clearly, but I ignored him and pulled my keys out to unlock my desk and pull out my still ringing phone, hitting the Answer button.
That was where I screwed up.
I was so riled up by Jason that I didn’t look at the screen first before I hit answer.
“Hello?”
I heard the “Don’t hang up” just as I was turning back around to make sure Jason’s annoying butt wasn’t flipping me off behind my back. “Luna, don’t you fucking hang up,” a semi-familiar male voice spat on the other end.
And maybe my brain didn’t automatically recognize it, but my instincts did.
It was my dad.
“I already told you not to call me,” I whispered into the receiver as I made sure Jason wasn’t close by.
“You heard from Thea?”
Had I heard from Thea?
I pulled the phone away from my face and ended the call.
Fisting my free hand, I didn’t hesitate dialing my sister’s number and trying to call her. Again. Like I hadn’t already called her every single day since the first time this man had contacted me.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when she didn’t answer, but I was.
Screw it.
I dialed Kyra’s number and fortunately at least she did.
“Luna-face, what’s up?” my middle sister answered.
“Your sister’s what’s up. Have you talk to Thea?” I asked her straight out, hearing the tremble in my voice. Because,this again? Dad calling again?I didn’t need this. I didn’t want it.
“Yesterday actually,” she replied a little uneasily. Maybe she heard the shakiness in my tone. “Why?”
Did I want to tell her about our dad? Hell. I had no choice, did I? “Dad just called me.”
There was a pause and then, “Why?”
“He was asking about Thea, Kyra. He told me to tell her to quit her job.”
