Page 112 of The Broker

Everything went still.

The tension in the room was so great, nothing could move—not even my heart. My father still had a handful of Noah’s shirt twisted in his fist, while his mouth was frozen open and hisface was filled with disbelief. This was probably because I hadn’t called my fatherdaddyin at least a decade.

Noah stood stock-still, with his wide-eyed gaze fixed on me. Did he... did he think I’d meant him when I’d used that word? It had worked to disrupt my father’s anger, but it had thrown my boyfriend into chaos.

And the effect of the word was only momentary, because my father sprang back to life. He used his hold on Noah’s shirt to give him an enormous shove, sending my boyfriend stumbling backward and crashing into the chair.

“You think you can come in here and put your hands on my little girl?” My father’s face turned an ugly shade of reddish-purple, and the longer he yelled, the more his voice climbed with rage. “I give you a job and you say thanks, how? By sexually assaulting her?” He flung a sharp finger at the door. “Get the fuck out now. You’re fired.”

Oh, God. Oh, fuck.

“Wait, wait, no,” I blurted. Adrenaline shot through my bloodstream, making me shake uncontrollably. “He wasn’t assaulting me, we’re—”

My father heard absolutely none of it. “Are you all right?” His focus swung to me so he could scour every inch of my body, searching for signs of injury. “Did he hurt you?”

Thoughts flew past me at a million miles an hour, and it was just as hard to grab one as it was to catch my breath. “I’m fine, Dad. Noah wasn’t doing anything I didn’t want him to.”

“What?” His face contorted as he refused to accept what I was telling him. “No, Charlotte. He tried to take advantage of you.”

I shook my head. “No, Dad, please listen to me. He wasn’t doing that at all.” It wasn’t enough to convince him, so I had no other choice. I sucked in a deep breath. “Noah’s my boyfriend.”

As my father tried to grapple with that information, it was like it shut down his brain. His posture was stiff, and his expression was unreadable. My gaze darted to Noah, who stood several feet away, but it might as well have been miles. He looked like he might throw up, or bolt, or maybe do one, followed immediately by the other.

“Him?” My father’s voice was full of horror. “No.”

I turned so I was facing my dad, and it came from me in a rush. “I’m sorry we kept it from you.”

But his furious gaze went over my head and to the man behind me. “No,” he repeated, only this time it contained enough force it pierced my heart. “Absolutely not. Whatever it is you think you two have, it’s over. Done.” His focus returned to me, and I shivered from his icy tone. “You will not see him again, you understand me?”

Everything had spun out of control, and I folded an arm over my stomach, trying to hold myself together. “But... but...” Hot tears sprang into my eyes, blurring my vision. “But I love him.”

Breath was pulled into Noah’s lungs in a sharp sweep.

Which was surprising to me since I couldn’t seem to find any air at all. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip and risked a glance at him. I both did and didn’t want to know what his reaction was to my sudden declaration.

He wasn’t looking at me, and he wasn’t looking at my father either.

Noah’s guilty gaze was pinned to the floor in front of him, and my heart plummeted to my toes. He did nothing. Said nothing. It was like he thought if he stood still and was quiet enough, maybe we’d forget he was here.

It wasn’t a shock he didn’t feel as strongly about me as I did him, but his total lack of action or defense?Thatwas pretty fucking surprising, not to mention hurtful. I felt abandoned.

On my own.

But I needed to deal with one problem at a time, and the issue with my father took priority.

I was no longer a stranger to seeing disappointment in my dad’s eyes, but the expression he wore now was new. He peered at me like I was a spoiled child throwing a tantrum and he was fed up with it.

“You don’t love him, Charlotte,” he said plainly. “I know you think you do, but you’re young and don’t know any better.” When I opened my mouth to argue, he lifted a hand to cut me off. “I’ve been here before with you telling me you love a man who’s much too old for you. Don’t bother telling me ‘this time it’s different.’ I don’t want to hear it.”

Oh, my God. It wasn’t fair to compare Noah to Zach in any way, but that was all my dad saw right now.

“When you came back, I had only one rule.” Frustration spilled from my father. “And, goddamn it, you couldn’t even follow that.”

His disappointment was crushing, and I wanted to wilt beneath the weight of it. My feet ached to move, to run away and not have to deal with it. In a moment of weakness, my gaze flitted to the door.

“That’s right, run away,”Zach taunted in my head.“It’s what you’re good at.”

I pulled my shoulders back and lifted my chin, standing my ground. “I know. I’m sorry.”

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