Page 14 of Dangerous Games

What could be the problem now? I swear to god I saw nothing new, or opened my mouth about what I’d seen.

Setting my butter knife down against the plate, I briefly squeeze my eyes shut, trying to gather myself together to be around Gio in such a small space as I walk to the front door. The man is intoxicating in every way you can imagine. As much as he scares the shit out of me, it’s a constant battle between wanting to kill him and jump his bones to see what happens. Something in his eyes tells me he wouldn’t turn me down.

The knock sounds again, this time more impatiently.

“I’m coming!” I yell as I unlock all the locks and pull it open. My mouth opens, ready to give Gio a piece of my mind for not only bothering me again but being so impatient, but I stop dead in my tracks. “Dad?”

“My baby girl!” my dad cries as he steps forward and cups the sides of my face.

I take a step back, removing myself from his grasp. He follows me inside my apartment, leaving me staring at an empty doorway.

What the fuck?

An uneasy feeling settles in the pit of my stomach as I watch him make himself comfortable. I used to think my dad hung the moon. I looked up to him like every little girl would. Until I grew up too fast and realized that no matter how much you love someone, they can still be a heaping pile of shit. And that’s exactly what my dad is.

I believe that in his own fucked-up way he does love and care about me. He just has the worst way of showing it. Sometimes it’s hard to remind myself that he does, when the only time he goes out of his way to see me now is when he needs money. There’s still a huge part of me that hopes this time will be different, and that’s what keeps me hanging on.

“How’d you find me?” I ask as I shut the door and go back to making my sandwich.

Dad follows behind me. “Well, shit, that looks good. You going to feed your dad dinner?”

Internally, I sigh.

Of course, he hasn’t eaten.

I pull another plate out of the cabinet and start making another one. “How did you find me?” I ask again.

I haven’t been in this place long, and I didn’t tell him I was moving.

“Your old roommate. I went to the last place I remembered you being, and she said you moved out months ago. You could have told your old man.” His lips turn down in a frown that I know from personal experience isn’t genuine. “Good thing you left her your address in case you get any stray mail there.” He continues as he looks around, impressed. “I got to say, you’ve got a cushy place here, baby girl. Much better than that couch you were staying on.”

Well, that pisses me off. Morgan and I weren’t close, but I felt like we left on good terms. She’s never met my dad before, and the fact that she’s just giving out my new address to whoever doesn’t sit right with me. He could have been anyone, and she didn’t give a fuck. I swear to god, no one cares about anyone but themselves anymore.

“You could have called me and asked,” I tell him, unable to keep the hurt out of my voice.

I’m trying not to let him get to me, but the older I get and the longer I go without seeing him, anytime I do, it’s really hard not to get triggered. I know I shouldn’t let it get to me, but it does.

“Why call when I can show up and surprise my girl?” Dad beams at me as he takes his plate off the counter and moves to my living area.

I roll my eyes.

He’s laying it on thick this time.

“What brought on this surprise visit?” I ask, cutting to the chase. It’s been a very long week, and I’m even less in the mood than I normally would be to entertain this, especially after working a twelve-hour day.

My dad sobers his expression as he finishes his bite. “It took a lot for me to come here and ask this. I want you to know I wouldn’t if I had another option.” Oh boy. I’ve heard this one before. “I was wondering if you could loan your old man some money. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can. I have a lead on a job, and I think this time it’s going to work out.”

I swallow the ball of emotion in my throat. Of course, he’s only here because he needs something. Why did I expect this time to be any different when he doesn’t even call me to see how I’m doing? “How much do you need?”

Dad waits a beat before saying, “Six thousand.”

My mouth drops open as my eyes bug out of my head. “Dollars?” I choke out.

“I got into a little bind.” Dad winces. “Trust me, I wish I weren’t in it either, but there isn’t a whole lot I can do about it now.”

“Six thousand dollars is a little bind?” I ask, my voice still sounding choked.

“It could be worse.”