Page 83 of Perilous

“I told you to bring her to me. Remember that part? She went missing and I…”

He drinks from the bottle again. I take my chance and grab the bottle out of his hand. He looks at me, surprised.

“She never went missing, Holom,” I say. “She was with me the entire time.”

“What?”

“I found her in the back alley outside of some club. Drunk and scared. She has a really shitty best friend who put her in that position.”

“Molly,” Holom whispers. His lip curls.

“That’s right. She unfortunately caught me handling some business so I had to make arrangements for her. Until I could sort things out. And you know what, Holom? I got to know her. I realized who she was after you told me to find her. Did I disrespect you? I did. I won’t apologize for it. Look what I’ve gained. She’s now mine and will forever be protected.”

Holom’s jaw quivers. He looks ready to cry.

But the question is—does he want to cry because he feels so strongly that his daughter is safe?

I don’t think it’s that at all.

“She told me about her mother,” I say.

Holom’s face drops. Now his eyes do fill with tears.

I’ve hit a nerve.

“My daughter grew up with everything… but…”

I reach out and touch Holom’s right shoulder. I squeeze tight. Really tight. Tight enough that I’m hurting him but he thinks I’m being nothing by sympathetic.

He clears his throat and moves out of my reach. He turns to wipe his eyes and that’s when I’m able to make my next move. I take the small container of clear liquid from my right front pocket and hurry to pour it into his glass.

I then lift the glass, step toward him and offer it to him.

“I see why this comforts you,” I whisper. “It’s got to be hard. And then to see her with me.”

“She was going to leave the country,” Holom says as he brings the glass to his lips. At the last second he pauses. “It was all worked out. I gave her permission. I mean, not that she was going to listen to me. Spoiled princess.” He smirks.

Just drink the fucking drink, you asshole.

Holom lowers his glass and looks at me. “Promise me you’ll take her. You’ll let her travel? Go with her. Give her the time of her life. Before it’s all…”

His voice trails off.

I walk to the bar, grab the bottle of booze and reach my hand out. “I’ll drink to that, Holom. I’ll show her the world. You have my word.”

Holom looks so defeated right now. He looks like a man living in a different reality, where words and actions are polar opposites.

I bring the bottle to my lips and enjoy a sip of top shelf, expensive as fuck liquor.

Finally, Holom drinks from his glass. He downs half the drink, which is more than enough of what I need him to do. There’s no taste to him other than the booze. He doesn’t realize he’s been drugged.

Part of me wishes I would have laced his drink with enough to kill the bastard. But for now, I need him alive.

“Tell me about her mother,” I say. “And tell me where she wants to travel.”

Holom opens his mouth and his eyes start moving side to side. He’s drunk and now he’s drugged. Everything is hitting him all at once, really hard.

His legs wobble and his body makes the motion like one of those inflatable tube characters you’d see outside a car dealership.

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