Page 91 of Not Your Little Girl Anymore

I blow out another breath in an attempt to clear the terror coasting on the wave of emotions building up. Alec keeps his hand steady. He leans down to kiss my temple; I move into it, needing everything he has to offer.

Nodding, I reach for the handle and twist it, pushing the door open.

My eyes fall on my father instantly. He’s sitting at his black metal desk across the room. The expression he holds is unamusing and his gray eyebrow arches as he looks from Alec back to me.

We walk inside, closing the door. The room is silent, dark, and disconcerting. Besides the slight ticking of the clock hanging on the wall above the door, it’s suffocating. I’m sure everyone in this room can hear how aggressively my heart was pounding.

Dad leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. He doesn’t greet us… he doesn’t say anything to me. I should have known better than to get my hopes up that he’d be remotely happy to see me.

Clearing my throat, I stand taller. “Dad,” I say with a slight move of my head.

It’s taking everything inside of me not to crack, and truthfully, if it weren’t for Alec’s gentle touch still on my lower back, I would. I’d crumble right here onto the floor.

“Summer,” Dad says after a long beat. His voice holds a growl to it, but I stand taller than I am, refusing to show any sign of weakness.

“It really was you, wasn’t it?” I start on a whisper, but my tone is loud enough that he heard me. The tremble in each word is harder to swallow. “You killed Mom.”

He eyes me. I don’t miss the way his nostrils flare, and then, with a shallow laugh, he leans forward, tapping thick fingers on the desk. “It’s pretty bold of you to assume such things.”

“It’s pretty bold of you to deny the truth.” I swallow hard. The roll of my throat only makes the acid in my stomach rise.

Don’t break Summer. You can do this. Do not let him win this battle.

Dad hums, waving an arm toward Alec, and then locks his dark eyes on him and doesn’t move. “I suppose he told you this?”

From my peripheral, I see Alec’s jaw tick and his muscles tense. He steps forward, but I rest my hand on his forearm to stop him.

“He didn’t have to tell me anything.” My father’s eyes shift back to mine slowly. His pupils widen. “I think you’re forgetting about the man who raised me. You see, Dad. I am a hell of a lot smarter than you think. Very… what’s the word?” I tap my finger on my chin a few times. “Observant. And well, everything adds up. It all leads to you.”

I’m not sure where this is all coming from, but as soon as the words start falling off my tongue, I can’t seem to stop them.

My father’s lips tighten. He doesn’t say anything, only watches me closely. How can he be so relaxed right now? It’s clear that he doesn’t have a single decent bone in his body. His heart is completely cold.

“We’re not here because of me,” Alec whispers to me.

I raise a hand up, stopping him. “I know why we’re here.”

Then I look back at my father.

“Let me ask you something else, Dad.” I step forward, feeling much braver than I was before coming inside. “Why is it that you hate Alec so much? What did he do that you’d go to the extent of slipping Heroin into his pockets just so you could arrest him?”

A deep, gruesome chuckle falls from his throat. It sickens me that he finds this amusing. As my father adjusts himself in his comfortable leather seat, he leans over further. His elbows now rest on the top of his desk. His lip quirks.

“Let me tell you a little story, Summer. Your mother.” He sighs and tsks while running his fingers through his thick gray hair. “Your mother was simply a whore.”

My muscles tighten, and I move another foot in front of the other in defense. Alec holds me back this time, but I ignore him, keeping my eyes on my father and watching his every move.

“Your mother would leave often. Sneak out of the house. Tell me she was going out with a couple of her friends. You know, the ones you loved so dearly. They’d have a few fixes together. Heroin, to be exact.”

I shake my head in disbelief. Tears threaten to reach the surface, but I push them back as I possibly can.

He’s doing this on purpose. Don’t let him win.

“She was a nasty thing, that woman. And you… you are the spitting image of her. I needed to protect you from seeing her that way.” He leans back again, bringing his hands behind his head and rocking in his chair. “One day, while I was working, I got a call that I needed to deal with a drug problem. If I remember correctly, it was on the corner of Cherry and Ashwood. Lucky for me, I was right around the corner. When I arrived, your mother… she was draped over another man.” He pauses for a few minutes, that smug smile widening as he remembers the day as if it was yesterday. His eyes move slowly to Alec. “Andrew Sokolov.”

My head shoots to Alec, but Alec doesn’t remove his eyes from my father. His skin, usually a slight tan, now looks as white as a sheet. He had no idea. My heart sinks further as Alec’s chest rises as rage fuels him.

“You set me up because of my fucking father?” Alec shouts, his teeth gritting together.

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