Page 18 of Hated By the Boss

He pulled the vanity chair to the side of her bed and sat down. "Tell me about it."

The curtly spoken words stunned her, but it also made Tahey feel like laughing and crying at the same time. In any other day, being with Dmitry in a room with a bed in it would have been a dream come true. Now, however...

"How much do you really know about my dad?" she heard herself ask unevenly.

"Enough."

"Then if I tell you I hate him..."

"It's understandable."

"And if I tell you I love him still?"

This time, Dmitry didn't answer, and she couldn't blame him.

"I wish I could stop loving him," she whispered painfully, "but I can't. He was a good dad - no, he was a great dad. A w-wonderful dad. And I always used to think that I was so lucky to have him, until..." Tahey's voice broke. "When I learned the truth, and he admitted it, and he didn't even see anything wrong with what he did...I had to leave."

"And is that why you're crying?" Dmitry forced himself to ask. "Because you want to go back—-" He stopped speaking with the way Tahey was already shaking her head.

"I got a call from him," she said jerkily. "From prison."

Dmitry's gaze became shuttered.

"And he called, he called just to let me know that h-he...he knows." Tahey's chest tightened. "He knows I'm the one who told the police..." Tahey squeezed her eyes shut. "He knows I'm the one who turned him..." Her voice caught for a second time, and she could no longer make herself speak.

Tears clogged her throat, and she curled her fingers into fists. She knew she had done the right thing, and yet...

Why, baby? Why did you do it?

Daddy, I'm sorry.

I'm your dad.

I'm sorry.

I did everything for you.

I'm sorry, Dad, I'm so sorry.

Her body shook at the effort it took to keep her tears in check, but then she felt it—-

Dmitry's fingers carefully wiping the tears away from her cheek, and the shock of it made her eyes fly wide open.

Real.

Dmitry had leaned forward from his seat, and his cold, beautiful face with his glittering golden eyes were just inches away from her, his golden gaze veiled even as he continued to wipe her tears away.

"Why are you being so nice?" she heard herself ask tremulously. "Is this pity again?"

The fingers on her cheek stilled, and after a moment she heard him say quietly, "No."

Another moment passed, and then he was rising to his feet, and Tahey had to bite her lip hard. He was leaving, and she wanted to cry out for him to stay.

But apparently, she was wrong.

Because while Dmitry did leave, he also came back a few minutes later, and the next thing she knew, a lap tray had been placed over her legs, and her mouth had started to water.

Steak, mashed potatoes, buttered vegetables, and even a bowl of her favorite clam chowder!

---