“Outside, now,” is all he says before stalking off, leaving me no choice but to follow him. It’s not fucking often Caspian barks orders at me but when he does, I know it’s for a damn good reason. When we exit out the front of the school my blood boils at the sight of the Rolls Royce idling there. I don’t need to see inside it to know who the fuck it belongs to. I take two steps toward the car, ready to tell Steven to fuck off or I’ll rip his throat out, but then I hear her.
“Dad?” I whirl around and pin her with a warning glare, but she’s too focused on the car. She makes her way down the stairs and doesn’t stop until she is standing between me and Cas.
The both of us put our hatred for the bitch aside to form a united front, the aim here is to show Steven Kellar that his princess has been tainted by his enemy’s son. All the dumb fucks standing around gawking gasp when the driver steps out and rounds the car, opens the back door, and the senator steps out.
Steven plays his part like a pompous prick and smiles and waves at his onlookers. When he finally sets his sights on his daughter, his smile falters slightly. He hones in on the bruise on her face but shows no worry for what happened to cause that. To everyone else he looks like a loving dad coming to see his baby girl, who he’s forgiven for being a murderer. At least when I kill, the motherfuckers deserve it.
When he’s three steps away, I feel her slip her hand into mine and interlock our fingers. Steven clocks her move. His upper lip twitches but he’s skilled in the art of hiding his sinister motives in public. The cunt is a fucking snake and deserve to burn in fucking hell.
He comes to a stop and looks at Cas and me with disdain. I stare the bastard down, not giving a fuck who is watching. When he finally looks at his daughter, I see the revulsion in his eyes. He doesn’t even look concerned at the sight of the black eye. She covered the damage as best she could with makeup, but nothing ever fully conceals a black eye.
“Toren,” he says in a clipped tone.
“Dad.” She matches his tone and subtly shifts closer to me. He notes her move and looks pissed.
“Could we have a chat in private?” It’s posed as a question but we all know it’s not. I squeeze her hand in warning. She pulls her hand free. I’m about to snap at her but then she lifts my arm and wraps it around her shoulders and snuggles into my side, making her father turn a dark shade of red. I tighten my hold on her and poke the bear further by placing a kiss to the top of her head. “Toren,” he grits her name out in warning.
“I would love to, Dad, but Xaden promised to walk me to the library before he went to the rink.” The lie slips so easily from her lips.
He keeps his fake ass smile in place, but the hard look in his eyes has her tensing in my hold. “It’s quite important we speak, sweetheart.” The threat is mixed in with the words, either she doesn’t notice or just doesn’t care as she answers.
“It wasquiteimportant that we spoke weeks ago before you dumped me here, but you had to work and now, so do I.” Steven looks furious. She shifts out of my hold, grips my hand, then attempts to lead me away, but her father snaps his arm out andgrips her other wrist. Without thinking, I yank her back and shove her behind me as I get right in her father’s face.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
TOREN
Xaden is coiled and ready to strike. I push around him and squeeze my way in between him and my dad. I glare at my father. How dare he show up here now! He had a chance to speak to me weeks ago before dumping my ass in this place, but he refused to answer any questions I had.
“Dad, you need to leave,” I say, quiet enough so no one hanging around can hear.
“You will get your ass in that car now, Toren.” His tone is low and filled with anger as he stares right at me. He may be looking at me but he isn’t seeingme.
I scoff. “Aren’t you gonna ask me how I got a black eye?” I clap back, my anger brewing. I’m doing my best to reign it in, but it’s hard to control it when all it wants to do is be set free and wreak havoc upon those who wronged me.
He exhales in annoyance. “We can discuss that later. Right now, you need to get in the car and come with me.”
I scrunch my face ready to tell him to piss off, but Xaden beats me to it. “She isn’t going anywhere with you.” The possessiveness in his tone leaves no room for argument. My father is smart enough to know if he tries to grab me again, Xaden will unleash hell on him.
Dad flicks his gaze between the two of us. Whatever he sees has him scrunching his face in distaste. “I thought you were better than this,” he spits at me.
“How would you know?” I hiss. “You left me to fucking rot. You hid me away so your reputation wouldn’t be tainted by being my father. My own brother chose his fucking hockey career over me. Neither of you checked in, called, wrote a fucking letter, yet you both think you can dictate how I live my life?” It’s a rhetorical question but my dad is stupid enough to answer it.
“You have no idea who you are letting between your legs?—”
I cut him off before he can continue his rant. “I know exactly who’s cock I am letting inside me every night, Dad.” My father recoils in outrage. Xaden shifts so he is flush against my back and wraps an arm around my waist to further drive my point home. I’m still angry at him, yet his embrace offers me strength and comfort to face my father. “Go home, Dad. Wish Masen good luck for tonight and focus on the child you actually want.”
He shakes his head and looks at me like I’m pathetic. “If only you knew how valuable you truly were, you would see the grave mistake you are making. You had it all. All you had to do was listen and stay the fuck away from the likes of him.” He shoots Xaden a filthy look, making the man behind me chuckle. “You forced my hand, you only have yourself to blame now.” I watch as he turns on his heel and gets back into his car. Xaden and I don’t move until the car disappears in the distance. I pull out of his hold and don’t look back as I head to the library to start my shift.
The library is dead, only one person has come in the whole time. Maddie has been antsy and watching the clock, waiting for it to tick down so we can leave. I wish I could share in her excitement. I was fully prepared to face my father and brother tonight, but I wasn’t ready for him to show up outside my schooland demand to speak to me. I’ve never seen my father like that, it scared me.
Is Xaden telling the truth?
Is my father a corrupt senator masquerading as a good man?
“Fuck it, let’s close up early. I want to get to the game,” Maddie says. My stomach sinks. I was hoping we would be so busy that I would get to the game late, but I guess that was just wishful thinking.
I quickly change in the back office and realize then that Xaden never gave me his jersey. I sigh in defeat, knowing he is gonna be pissed when I show up not wearing his number but too bad. As I step out of the office, I slam to a halt at the sight of Maddie standing there with a devious look in her eyes.
