Page 46 of Collided

Ryan does as I say. Good. Because if he didn’t, I would've ripped his arm off.

His lips thin in displeasure. “If he wants to talk to you, you don’t walk away.”

I know the serious repercussions that could come from ignoring Wild, but I’m not willing to get involved in his games or become his bitch. If he wants a fighter he can find plenty here.

“I said I’mnotinterested. Not now. Not ever.”

With that, I leave the building and enter my car. Going over sixty, I speed through the streets and arrive at my house. After taking a quick shower, I get downstairs.

Derek watches me as I take care of my knuckles in the living room.

“Where were you, sir?”

Derek is a sixty-year-old man who has no family or relatives. Thin gray hair that was once black frames his wrinkled face and his black eyes look like pits of darkness. Standing an inch taller than me he is an intimidating man with a lean figure and skeptical gaze. I’m not afraid of him because I’ve known him since I was little.

“Out,” I say.

“Your father doesn’t like it when you stay out—”

“I don’t give a fuck about his opinion.”

“Sir, that’s disrespectful.”

I glance at Derek and see his usual disapproving scowl. “He deserves nothingbutmy disrespect.”

“He cares about you.”

I scoff at the ridiculous implication. Does he care about me? Sure. I see him visiting me twice every month.

Xavier Travon, a tycoon in the world of electronic business and real estate is my father. A father I wished I didn’t have.He’s the owner of multi-million-dollar companies. A known businessman in Toronto who’s been featured in Forbes thrice and is only forty-three.

“Because I’m the heir to his empire, not because I’mhisson.”

I leave Derek before he can bombard me with more wisdom. He always ties me up in phrases I can’t escape from.

Kelly stirs the ladle in the hot pot. She’s a short petite brunette with brown eyes—hers are darker than Hope’s, not that I’m thinking about her. Kelly is in her late sixties and has a few grandchildren she asks me to hang out with.

I hate people. I’ve always been an introvert. Meeting new people and going to new places annoy me. I like my room, my bed, and my loneliness.

The moment I’m in the kitchen, she sends me a smile. “How was your day?”

Kelly has raised me since I was little. She knows me and my sister from the inside out. She’s seen me at my highest and my lowest moments in life and tried to help me. I refuse it every single time. I don’t want her sympathy or pity.

Everyone treats me like a china plate that will break at any moment. I hate it. I’m not vulnerable or need to talk about my feelings.I’m fucking fine.

“Same as old.” I sit on the stool at the island.

“Nothing exciting happened?”

I roll my eyes. “No.”

She sets down rice with stir-fry vegetables. It’s my favorite dish. She knows it.

“Let me grab a plate and we can eat together.”

Since Emery’s death, Kelly tries to keep me company during meals—not that I need it—and asks me about stuff. It’s irritating at times, but it also makes me feel less lonely.

“Whatever.”

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