“Who the fuck is that?” Ciaran snaps.
“I’ll talk to you later.” I end the call.
Adeline arches one perfectly groomed eyebrow. “I know something’s going on with Isolde. Tell me why she ran off yesterday.”
“You should talk to your dad.”
Her face screws up. “My dad?”
“I’ve got to go,” I tell her. “Ben’s inside.”
“Wait.” She grabs my arm.
I like Adeline. She’s much more serious than she first appears, though, she’s quick to smile at everyone. She gets along with the guys and treats Isolde well. But I can’t stand around on the sidewalk all day. I need to get back to Isolde.
“I want to help,” Adeline says. “Tell me how.”
“Help me figure out how to take Cade down.”
Abe’s dad is in the kitchen when I get back to the safe house. Standing right next to him is my father.
“What are you doing here?”
“Luis called me,” he replies, slicing an avocado. “He’s afraid you’re upset with him.”
Abe’s dad politely retreats to the living room, where the doctor also sits.
“Isolde is okay,” Dad says. “Still resting. Jane’s with her. They’re a very nice couple. They told me their son is good friends with you.”
“Yeah.” If I know anything about Abe, he’ll try to strangle me for what happened to Isolde. It’d be nothing more than a sweet gesture since he’s got the strength of a gnat. “Dad. . .”
He glances at me over his glasses.
“Thanks for coming.” I’ve done everything to keep him away from these types of situations. Currently, I don’t care about any of it. I’m grateful he came.
He finishes slicing the avocado, offering me some. I try to decline, but he insists. “It’s important you take care of yourself too.”
“I’m not upset with Luis.”
“Of course you are,” Dad says. “Why wouldn’t you be mad at everyone right now?”
“You taught me not to dwell on the things that aren’t useful.” Not that it’s ever stopped me from taking a sledgehammer and smashing the world apart.
I’m angry I didn’t know who the Spider was. I’m mad I haven’t done more to take Cade down. The Russians literally told me all I could do was prepare for an attack.
I’m supposed to be the guy who protects Isolde, and I’ve failed in every way possible. Part of me thinks I’ve been set up for failure. Hadrian and Isolde didn’t tell me shit. It’s not like I can take Isolde by the shoulders and shake her. Hell, I can’t even pull her into a hug because I’m afraid it’ll aggravate her wound.
I keep it to myself, but the truth is I’m hanging on by a thread.
“I almost lost the house once,” Dad says, slicing a tomato now.
“What?”
“I was young.” The tomato slices are thin because he claims it’s easier to eat that way. “The American dream, you know.”
He’s said this phrase several times now.
“I wanted to provide a home for your mother, who had just brought you home from the hospital. It should have been perfect. I had a steady job, a son, and a wife who. . .” Dad blinks, taking a breath. “The water heater busted. Then the heater itself in the middle of winter. Our savings gone. The bills and insurance higher than I expected.”
