Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
I’m pretty sure my brain just short-circuited. “Do you want me to just get out of the car? Where are you going?”
“I’m going home to be with my husband and support him!”
“But… But I don’t have any clothes with me besides what I’m wearing. I figured we would spend the night or something. I don’t have toiletries. I don’t have anything in my purse.”
“If you waste another minute of my time, Elliana, so help me. Get out of the car. I don’t even want to look at you!” She’s unhinged, screaming, and I feel the hatred in every word. She means it. She does not want to look at me. Well, the feeling is mutual. I snatch the money from my mother’s hand and stuff it into my pocket.
Even though I don’t have anything with me but my purse, I stride with as much dignity as I can into the hotel. I still have Paul’s card from earlier. I guess I’ll have to use that.
Because otherwise, I’m on my own. Just when I thought things were starting to look up. I should know better by now. I shouldn’t even bother trying.
THIRTY-ONE
Carter
As much as I hate to see her go, I’m glad. She doesn’t need to be here for this.
Something about the clicking of the door unlocks the tension that’s been holding me in place and keeping me quiet. “Now, will you listen to me for a minute?” I ask.
“What did you just say to me?” Dad snaps back, like I lapsed into another language. “Did you really have the audacity to tell me to listen to you for a minute? Like you have any place to tell me a damn thing? I don’t wanna hear a word you have to say.”
“You don’t have the full story.”
He throws his hands into the air, backing away while laughing bitterly. He got a nice tan in Thailand. It’s a shame he didn’t stay a little longer. “Oh, there’s more to the story? Well, excuse me if I don’t want to hear it, because what I know so far sickens me. Who are you? Who have I raised? Because I don’t recognize you right now, Son,” he concludes with heavy sorrow in his voice.
“Dad, I’m—”
He’s still on a roll. “The Carter I thought I knew wouldn’t take advantage of a girl like you took advantage of Elliana, much less his stepsister—and I don’t give two solid fucks how you felt about her coming here to live with us or becoming part of our family,” he adds. “So don’t even start with that shit, you devious, dishonest little prick.”
And there I was, thinking I was old enough to be beyond reacting to having my ass handed to me by my dad. I’m a grown man, right? Not a sniveling little child.
But I’ve never seen him like this. I’ve never heard him talk to me or anyone with so much hatred. When he tells me he doesn’t know who I am, I believe him. Because he’s looking at me like I’m a stranger.
And there’s only one thing I can say once he goes silent, except for his ragged breathing. “I know.”
“Oh, you know?” He really does not have any faith in me, judging by his brutal laughter. “So that’s how you’re going to defend yourself? By making me believe no matter what I say, it’s not any worse than the way you feel? Because that is not going to work.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do, Dad.” Fuck, I am so tired. I guess that’s what happens when your whole life gets flipped on its head out of nowhere, with no warning at all.
I’m tired enough that I have to sit down, so I do, nudging the shopping bags aside with my foot. We were having such a good day. It was going to get so much better.
“So, what are you trying to do?” he barks. “Because I shit you not, Son, I am about thirty seconds away from kicking your ass like it’s never been kicked. You think you hurt that kid you landed in the hospital? You have no idea.”
Staring down at my folded hands, I murmur, “I know what I did was wrong. And to be honest with you, I don’t know how I could’ve done it. I was stupid and selfish and cruel, but I’ve been doing everything I can think of to make it up to her. I’m serious,” I tell him when he scoffs. “I’ve been trying to help her.”
“By breaking someone’s jaw?”
“By convincing her to get into a pool for the first time since a bunch of kids tried to drown her back in high school,” I snap, because I’ve had enough of him making assumptions. I’m probably not doing myself any favors, but who cares at this point? Everything is already fucked. “Or did Irene never tell you about that? When Elliana came home one night in tears, hysterical, because she thought she was going to die? Ever since then, she’s been afraid—and not just of swimming. That’s why she dresses like she does, that’s why she acts like she’s afraid all the time. But I got her in the pool.”