Page 22 of Shameless

That’s crazy. “So you really think I’m not good enough for Lula.”

Tom chuckles. “Let’s clarify this once and for all. No one will ever be good enough for my little girl. Even a crown prince would be inadequate.”

I frown. I’m a stubborn motherfucker. “No one could love Lula more than I do.”

He agrees with me. “I know. And that somehow made it worse. At first I kept telling myself that you’d grow out of it. That you spent more time apart than you did together and one day, one of you would get a crush on someone else at school. I used to hope it would be Lula, because if you broke her heart, I would have had to kill you.”

A genuine laugh escapes my lips for the first time since this conversation started. “I wouldn’t have faulted you if you did.”

Tom’s smile widens. “Right? I kept waiting for you two to grow apart, ready to comfort her, to pick up the pieces. Like when she learned to ride her tricycle and fell over. But it never happened. Every year you kept getting closer and closer. And then the last year we came to Star Cove for the summer, I came to get you to talk to you about the fact that I wasn’t leaving. And I found you kissing on the beach.”

I shake my head. “I thought you were going to kill me.”

Tom’s eyes narrow. “Believe me, I thought I would too. But I had bigger problems back then. Tiffany had found out about me and your mom and we needed to talk as a family. My plan was to stay in Star Cove with Lula, but we both know how things workedout instead. I really owe you an apology, Stefan. I’ve been really unfair to you since… always.”

Maybe it’s too little, too late but I decide to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t know if I can forgive you, Tom. I’m not going to lie, it depends a lot on Lula. If she can forgive you, I know I will too.”

He nods. “That’s fair.”

One thing is still bothering me though. “Is that why you sent me to that military academy after I went to New York?” I ask. “Because you were jealous?”

Tom sighs. “It’s a little more complicated than that. Tiffany had forced Lula to cut all contact with me and your mother. I genuinely had no idea about what was happening in New York until Tiff’s phone call before Lula’s release a few weeks ago. At that particular time we were in a bitter legal custody battle that wasn’t going my way thanks to Howard’s connections. When you ran to New York, I thought it was just a childish whim. I admit I reacted harshly but you running away like that, made me and Arianna look exactly like the unfit parents Tiffany claimed us to be.”

Fuck.

“I actually understand that now.”

Tom looks at me for a long moment. “I’ll do my best to earn Lula’s forgiveness and yours. Please help me keep her safe from Tiffany and Evan?”

That goes without saying. “You got that, Tom. Does it mean you’re going to stop blowing a gasket every time I look at Lula?”

He snorts, amusement dancing in his eyes. “I make no such promises. But if Lula wants to be with you and you promise to treat her the way she deserves, I’ll work on accepting your feelings for my daughter. Doesn’t the fact that you’re step siblings now make you feel weird dating her? People will talk.”

“People can talk as much as they fucking want. I could never be ashamed of my feelings for Lula.”

Crew

I wrap my arm around Lula’s shoulders, guiding her out of the living room and down a hallway that wraps around the house.

The kitchens are at the back of the huge property and I have to wonder why Napoleon was taken there when London dropped him off with the housekeeper before joining the quail hunt earlier this morning.

Lula is walking by my side on complete autopilot, her shoulders are tense and her fingers are curled into tight fists at her sides.

I’m really worried about Rikki, but I’m really scared for Lula right now.

She looked really on edge yesterday during the ride to the port and she was withdrawn and out of sorts the entire night. I had been planning on talking to her in private, but Rikki’s presence threw a wrench in my plans. When I say my brother drinkingand smoking with Trevor—and taking God knows what else—I had no choice but to go after him and sit watching him all night.

I can’t even think that Rikki might be responsible for what happened at the stables. Up to a few weeks ago, I would have said without a shadow of a doubt that there was no way Rikki could ever harm a soul. Especially not in such a violent way. But I saw how certain substances can alter people’s behavior when Mom looked for comfort at the bottom of a bottle after Eddie left us. So if Rikki is using the way I fear he is, all bets are off on what he would be capable of doing if pushed.

I’m really worried that Lula might be in danger of falling back into addiction after this latest turn of events.

Guilt twists my insides at the thought that I never realized that Evan was the monster who caused Lula to land into rehab at the end of last year. The same person who ruined my life when he pressed charges and asked for damages in a situation where I was just a well-meaning bystander. People like Evan are the epitome of what’s wrong with the world. Money and status protects them from the consequences of their despicable actions and people like me are left to take the blame and pay the price.

Trevor was a piece of shit and the world will be a better place without him, but the thought hits me that I wish Evan had been in his place. That would have solved my problem and Lula’s in one fell swoop.

Woof.

We hear Napoleon’s excited bark the second we round the corner to the main kitchen.

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