‘In your eyes, maybe.’
‘Don’t you care about your family?’
‘You were never my family. You might be the woman my father married, you might be my stepmother in name, but you have never welcomed my presence here, nor my brother’s.’ My eyes go to Dad’s, but his gaze is firmly fixed on the floor. ‘My actual brother.’
I watch Evelyn’s chest rise and fall. The base of her neck has turned red. She’s never heard me speak to her like this.
‘You only ever cared about your mayoral candidacy,’ I continue, now that I feel confidence all the way down to my toes. ‘You only ever cared about appearances. That’s why you hate Rapture so much, because you see it as a stain on your term of office.’
Behind his mother, Doug’s brow has risen all the way up his forehead.
‘Get out of this house,’ Evelyn seethes.
‘No,’ my father snaps, and all eyes in the room go to him.
‘Rick! I want her gone!’
‘She STAYS!’
He bellows the words. If Doug looked surprised before, he’s now completely stunned. He backs away toward the stairs.
Evelyn stares at her husband. ‘I need a drink,’ she says lightly, and her words imply that she won’t be the one making it.
‘Pour your ownfuckingdrink,’ my father responds under his breath, and for the first time in forever, I’m proud of him. He exhales shakily. ‘Hollie, let’s talk in the study.’
He turns and I follow him. Doug escapes up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I glance back over my shoulder at Evelyn as her eyes shoot daggers at me.
In the study, Dad closes the door. He keeps one hand on the handle and doesn’t face me. I watch his shoulders slump.
‘Oh, Hollie, what did you just do?’ he breathes, so quiet I can barely hear him.Is he thinking out loud?
I cross my arms over my chest. ‘I said nothing that didn’t need to be said.’
He whirls around. There’s pain etched in his expression. ‘I’ve never seen you like this. Never heard you… speak like that. To anyone.’
‘Maybe I was always just too frightened. But I’ve felt that way for a long time. Evelyn… she’s self-obsessed, you must see that. You must know that. Why do you think that Noah left?’
He winces. ‘Noah chose to leave, darling.’
‘No, he was pushed out because Evelyn thought him beinggaywould damage her candidacy. Don’t deny it.’
‘Evelyn has nothing against the LGBTQ plus community.’
I blink at him. ‘In public maybe. Listen to yourself, Daddy, you’re like her mouthpiece.’
‘That’s really what you think? That she pushed Noah out?’
‘It’s what I’ve always thought, but you never wanted to talk about it.’
He walks to his desk and slumps into the high-backed swivel chair. For what feels like an eternity, neither of us speaks.
‘Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?’
I lower my face and study my fingernails. ‘I knew if you knew AJ was from Rapture, you’d have to tell Evelyn and the pair of you would try to persuade me to break up with him. And I was right.’
He inhales audibly, then blows out his cheeks. ‘I can see Evelyn’s point. You going out with a boy from Rapture… with all the controversy surrounding that place. If the local press gets hold of the information, or somebody tells them… darling, you must see it doesn’t help the situation—’
‘But, Daddy… I love him.’
