Page 63 of Inked Persuasion

“Yeah?” I snapped. Even after that deep breath, I was still snapping. Today was not a good day.

“I wanted to see if you were okay. It’s been a tough day, and with the internet down for those three hours, I know we’re all a little behind. Can I get you anything?”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. “I’m fine. Just get back to work.”

“Okay, we can do that.” She paused as Dustin whispered over her shoulder, and I opened my eyes to glare at them both.

“What?”

“It’s your father. On line one. We’re transferring it back.”

I met Seressia’s gaze, then Dustin’s, and cursed.

After the incident at the emergency room, my entire family was on edge.

Annabelle and I had shown up separately to the emergency room, much to my parents’ confusion, but we had both stayed long into the early hours of the morning. Annabelle had been fantastic and had studiously ignored me the entire time—probably because I acted like a bear with a thorn in its paw. Exactly how I was acting right now.

“Thank you, I’ll answer it. When you guys are set with your to-do lists for the day, you can head home. I’m in a shitty mood, and I don’t want to take it out on you.”

“We’re not in the best moods either,” Seressia said. “Internet outages do that to a person. We’ll be here for the duration.”

I met Seressia’s gaze, and she just lifted her chin. I gave her a tight nod. “Understood.”

She left, and I let out another deep breath as I answered the phone. “Dad? What’s wrong?

“We just got back from your mother’s appointment. We have a better picture of what we’re dealing with. Can you come over later so we can talk about it?”

Ice filled my belly, and I swallowed hard. “Is there something I should know right now?”

“Your mother wants to see you. But we’re okay. As okay as we can be.” She paused. “Your mother’s still here, son. Remember that. She’s still here. And so am I. This isn’t easy, but it is our life, and this is what we do.”

Tears pricked the backs of my eyes, but I ignored them. “Okay. I’ll be there soon.”

“I thought you were working,” my dad said.

“Well, I’m the boss, and I’m coming home.”

Home. To the house that wasn’t mine but was filled with my family. My home.

I thought about the other home I had, the one next to Annabelle. Our situation, or whatever the hell we had, was getting too complicated.

“Okay, she’ll be glad to see you.”

“I love you, Dad,” I said quickly.

“I love you, too. And I’ll see you soon.”

He hung up, and I swallowed hard before looking down at everything at my desk. “Seressia, I’m heading to my parents’.”

“Is everything okay?” she asked, Dustin on her heels.

I met their gazes, not knowing what to feel or say. They didn’t know my family all that well, mostly because they hadn’t lived here long enough to be able to get to know them. And it wasn’t like I paraded my personal life in front of them all that often. Though between my ex-wife and us moving here for my parents, it seemed like I did more often than not these days.

“Everyone’s okay. I just need to get over there to talk about a few things. Thank you for taking up the mantle today. We’ll get back to it tomorrow if that’s okay. I’m going to take a few things home, but I think we all need some space and time away from this place.” They kept staring at me, and I gritted my teeth. “Seriously. I’m okay.”

“You’re not, but you’re going to work through it,” Seressia said.

I snorted, a smile twitching on my face despite myself. “Well, thanks for that. And, seriously, thank you. All of you. I appreciate what you guys do, even if I’m in a shit-poor mood today.”

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