“Fine.”I averted my gaze from Astrid.“I’ll drop it.”
Still turned toward the food, Astrid’s dad cleared his throat.“Leave me alone with Arch for a second, okay, honey?You too, Astrid.”
Astrid and Mom both left the room, but not before Astrid shot me a glare for trying to attack her dad.
She mumbled, “Watch it,”to me, as if I were afraid of her, then followed Mom up the stairs.
After adding some more butter to the pan, her dad turned around, one hand around the skillet’s handle, masterfully tossing the steak in butter.“I would never lay a hand on your mother, Arch.I’m not like your father.”
“Just because she trusts you doesn’t mean I do.”
I did trust him.But I’d seen the way people who appeared nice could snap so easily.
“I know,” he said, peering out the door to make sure the girls weren’t listening in, and then he lowered his voice.“But I wouldn’t be angry with you if you did go after him, as long as nobody knows it’s you and as long as you don’t put yourself, your mom, or Astrid in harm’s way.”
I raised my brows, then furrowed them, still not sure of his motives.“That all?”
“If you need help?—”
A low, empty chuckle escaped my mouth.“What’s an old man like you going to do?”
“An old man?”he asked with a more lighthearted chuckle than mine.“Is that how you see me?”
Arms crossed, I turned away from him.“I don’t need your help with that.”
“There’s something you do need my help with?”he asked.“What is it?”
After a moment of debating whether I wanted to tell him or not, I decided that if he would help me with this, then maybe I could begin to trust him with Mom, maybe he could be useful with dealing with Dad.
“Calix’s mom is sick,” I said.“Cancer.Find her a better doctor who can fix it.”
“Cancer’s not that simple, Arch.”
“You want me to trust you?”I asked.“Then do what I ask.”
Then I stormed out of the kitchen and through the front door, slamming it behind me.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
ASTRID
I sat in the Dunkin’parking lot, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel and bobbing my head to the music playing throughout the car.Morning light flooded into the car, casting a golden hue on my fingers.
Cairo had better show up.
If he didn’t, then I would be sitting here alone until school started, looking like an idiot.And there was no doubt in my mind that if any of the other Crew members saw me here alone, waiting for him, then they’d make fun of me for it.
Especially Arch.
My hand tightened around the wheel.Fucking Arch.
Chest tightening, I glared out the windshield.While he had always been psychotic—that had been established multiple times—I had never seen him turn into such a vile animal as when he saw his mom’s scraped knuckles.Lunging at Dad like that?!
He had quickly—and wrongly—assumed thatmydad would do something like that.Dad was a doctor who healed people, for fuck’s sake!
The only time I had seen him remotely violent was after he found out that someone murdered Mom.After that, he had turned into such a quiet guy, barely speaking a word to anyone, barelylookingat anyone else, until he met Arch’s mom.There was actually some light in his eyes now, and he wouldn’t dare think about hurting her.
So, I didn’t know why that fucker had thought he would.
