A pity then that hearing them now brings me no joy. Only a deep anxiety that once again I’m his pawn being moved about on the board without the slightest say-so.
“You’ll have to explain that to me,” I say in as short a voice as I can muster with the man who’s always exerted near total control over my life. “How exactly is it you plan to make me happy?”
“Why, by getting rid of your new fiancé, of course.” There’s a satisfied hum in his voice that makes my teeth grind together. “Isn’t that what you want? Give me a few hours and we’ll be winging our way safely back home.”
I force my eyes to the footpath. If I shoot another worried glance Warren’s way, he’ll come over to check on me and this is a conversation that I don’t want to have within his earshot. I school my face into a bored expression, like a dutiful daughter having a weekly coffee with an estranged father who has nothing new to say.
“How d’you plan to get rid of Micah?” I try not to let my anxiety spill into my voice but it’s a fight that costs me dear, making my chest and throat ache as my muscles tense. “I don’t understand.”
“The fool promised to cut me in for a percentage of his largest distribution routes. They’re worth millions of dollars to me annually but a few words in the right detective’s ear and soon the entirety of them will be mine.”
Millions of dollars.
Those are the first words that my mind grabs hold of. Micah gave my father millions of dollars and not just as a one-off. An annual percentage.
He thought me worth that based on nothing more than a few minutes’ acquaintance. It feels like my blood is fizzing with joy, my body seems so light that it might blow away in a stiff breeze.
Then the rest of the sentence pieces together in my head and I feel so dizzy my hand clamps to the back of the bench for support.
“You can’t talk to the detective,” I whisper, my lips nearly at dad’s ear to be heard. “He’s already trailing Micah around the city. If you say the wrong thing, he’ll be arrested again. He only just got free from the last time.”
My father pauses so long I have time to wonder if he didn’t catch my words. Then he clears his throat. “That’s rather the point. With him sentenced for murder, his entire business will be up for grabs. I’ll make a far more suitable silo head than any underling on his team. Since he’s already ceded me a percentage, even Pavle won’t be able to argue against the move.”
I take a moment to work through what he’s saying. Then fury sweeps through me like a wildfire. “You’d turn in one of your own just to make some money?”
“I hardly have to do a thing,” my father says, his voice hardening to bedrock. “The fool already got himself in trouble. All I’m talking about is a few words in the right ear.” He pauses for a long second, clicking his tongue against his teeth. “Don’t worry, it’ll never get back to me.”
My breathing becomes erratic. I don’t know what’s worse. That he landed me in this position or that he intends to upset my life for the second time in less than a week without bothering to consider my feelings at all.
“You can’t do that.”
The bedrock turns brittle and falls away, revealing a vein of pure steel. “I love you dearly, but don’t believe for a second that you can talk to me like that.”
“Call your plan off at once,” I say with staccato sharpness, ignoring his reprimand. “Do you hear me? If you let this go ahead, I’ll never speak to you again.”
“What are you—?”
My father’s glance cuts over to Warren, and he struggles for control, his hand gripping the coffee cup so firmly that its sides crumple under his touch. “I don’t understand what’s got into you, Crimson. This is a good thing. It’ll give me so much control that you’ll never want for anything, ever again. You should be happy.”
“Don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t be. Did you ever think to ask me my opinion? Ever think how your continual interference might affect me?”
“This is—” he breaks off before he can say the word, but my head helpfully supplies ‘childish.’ “I don’t think you understand how much money I’m talking about here.”
“I don’t care about that, Dad. You’re rich enough already. If you hurt Micah in any way, I’ll never forgive you.”
“But it’s an entire silo for the taking. I can’t leave it on the table.”
“It’s just money.”
“Just?” His disbelief is almost total. “Perhaps you don’t understand because everything’s always been handed to you on a silver platter, but some of us have to work at getting what we want. There’s nojustabout it.”
“A silver platter. Is that what you think my life has been like? The only decision you ever let me make was to let Gabriel propose, then you wouldn’t even let me have that.”
“But that’s what I’m trying to do.” His voice is so confused that I feel a sharp spear of joy. How must it feel for him to be on the receiving end for once? “By this time tomorrow, you’ll be back in Christchurch and your engagement to Gabriel can go ahead.”
I can’t even imagine it, the thing I wanted and tried so hard to make happen for so long. Can’t picture what it would be like to marry Gabriel, still such a boy, instead of the man who’s awakened a thousand new sensations in me just in the last few days.
My heart rejects it.
