“She will,” Nadya quips without missing a beat. “Right after she diagnoses you with dumb bitchitis.”
Chapter 22 - Janella
“Welcome to The Great Escape!” Carmen calls out sunnily. “Can I seat y—oh.”
Her breath is knocked out of her lungs, and I hear it. My head snaps up to see her face-to-face with my father.
No,is all that runs through my head.No, no, no.
This time, I don’t let it gorgonize me. I force my body into motion and cross the café in record time. I shove my body between him and Carmen.
“Car, go in the back.” The words snag on the way out.
“Hi, Nellie,” my dad says. He smiles, and for a disorienting moment, I feel twelve years old again. Watching him sweep into the café and plant a kiss on Mom’s cheek.
And then I hone in on his bloodshot eyes.
“I thought—” my hands curl into fists by my sides, “—I was pretty clear last time. You’re not welcome here.”
Ice floods my chest at the sound of his hollow laughter. “Funny thing about that…” He saunters right past me, dropping into a booth and slinging his arm over the back of it. “I thought I raised you better than this. I thought I raised you to know you don’t always get what you want, honey.”
In peripheral view, I catch movement. My heart pounds in my gums.
It’s Jin. I can see his hand moving toward his phone.
“Carmen,” I call out for her. Jin startles with a flinch at the volume. It doesn’t matter. I won’t let them be hurt because of me. “Take Jin for your lunch break. Both of you.”
Carmen stares between my father and me, dark eyes wide with alarm.
“But boss,” Carmen starts.
“Now.” My voice doesn’t crack, but something in my expression makes them move.Thank God.It’s all I do to keep myself upright, watching them grab their stuff and head for the back door. Jin looks over his shoulder like he’d like to dig him an early grave.
I finally exhale when the door shuts behind them.
Steeling myself, I face my dad. “You have sixty seconds before I call the police, Dad.”
“The police,” he repeats, letting loose an ugly chortle. His breath reeks of liquor and cigarettes. My stomach turns. “And say what, your own dad came to see you, and you were an ungrateful bitch?”
His words lash at me.
“Trespassing,” I force out.
He laughs again, right in my face. I keep my expression blank, refusing to show him how much it wounds me.
“Can you just say what you have to and go? I don’t want to have to call Iosif.” How I hate that it’s the truth. Our agreement still pings around in my head.I will not spare him,Iosif had sworn to me. And I had agreed. I’ve already broken part of my word, sending Carmen and Jin away.
“I’m not scared of that bitch,” Dad sneers. “Besides, the Yuris have their hands full these days, don’t they? Howisyoung Nadya doing?”
The ground tilts beneath my feet.
I can’t breathe. My heart presses hard against bone. “Dad—what the hell did you do?”
He holds up his hands, like he’s just innocent. “Me? I didn’t do a thing. I was at my buddy’s house all night. If some associates found out that the baby Yuri liked to frequent a certain race? Well…” He shrugs, like it doesn’t matter to him. Nothing matters to him. “Shit happens, doesn’t it?”
My lungs forget how much space they’re allowed.
“You could have killed her.”
