Page 64 of Shadowed Obsession

By the time I’m finished, my fork is pointed in his direction and I have to remind myself that we’re in public. I take a breath, waiting on his response.

He gently sets down his utensils, wipes the sides of his mouth with his napkin, and breaks his silence. “Dee, I—” He takes a beat, exhaling. “I am damn proud of what you accomplished in France. You’ll notice I haven’t denied any funding for the bid, nor did I give you an issue on partnering with Gi,” he reminds me, leaning back in his seat.

I take a sip of water, debating whether or not to air out my other grievances, and decide why not. Since he wanted to fly here unannounced and fuck with my workday, let’s take it all the way there.

Fuck it.

“I know Regina offered that contract out of guilt, not because she believes in me. I’m grateful for the opportunity and exposurefor our brand, but it was busy work to shut me up. If that was the goal, she succeeded.”

He tilts his head as he assesses me. “Baby, I don’t like hearing that you feel this way, but I can assure you that you earned that opportunity. As for Regina, I have no say in how she handles her business. She does whatever the fuck she wants, and the only person who could level with her isn’t here anymore,” he says with a frown.

We don’t talk about this, so the fact that he let it slip into our conversation has me smoothing my napkin over my lap and staring down at it as I try to find the words to say.

Maybe hurt people hurt people. And even though I wasn’t in love with him anymore, it still broke all of my trust in her. I miss the trust more than I miss him.

“I know. I don’t think I ever looked at it that way, like we’re both grieving,” I murmur, meeting his gaze again.

“What happened with Lawrence,” he starts, pausing to consider his response. “I know you didn’t wantthatfor him, but an example needed to be made. Do you understand? He hurt my daughter and stole from my family. I’d order that hit again, and he was lucky Regina let him go out with some dignity, because I wouldn’t have been so kind,” he adds, keeping his voice low.

He didn’t have a lick of fucking dignity, and damn sure wasn’t deserving of kindness.

Frustration builds in my gut, and I ball my fists in my lap in an attempt to hold my tongue.

“But I got accused of it,nother. They walkedmeout of Divinheadquarters in cuffs, Daddy. I’ve never been more afraid in my life. She hasn’t even fucking apologized for it,” I lean in to whisper-shout.

He rubs his jaw. “Now, I’m disappointed to hear she hasn’t even apologized. Nobody thought it would come back on you, and it shouldn’t have. You had a solid alibi and were releasedquickly. Thanks to the lawyer she called in. Uh—what was his name?” he asks himself, snapping his fingers as he attempts to refresh his memory. “Piñeros. Emiliano Piñeros. That’s it.”

“Piñeros? Why does that name sound familiar?” I glance at the ceiling, willing my brain to remember.

“Oh, they’re looking out for you down here. Have you met them yet? Good people.”

“Dad. Seriously?” I shake my head, urging him to get back on track.

“As I was saying, signing off on your ideas isn’t the same as showing up. I never intend to make you feel stifled or silenced, and for that, I am sorry. You’re my gentle child and thrive with TLC. You take after your mother in that way. Those damn plants,” he says as he chuckles. “I love you more than you even know, and I worry about you. You’re so different, which isn’t always a bad thing. But I’m relieved to hear that you’re happy here.”

I pat away the tears threatening to fall and clear my throat. “I love you, too. And as much as I miss you, can you at least call before you drop in? You scare my staff,” I tell him before I snort at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“I can do that. Will you visit soon? Your mom will kill me if you don’t,” he grimaces as if he can hear her now.

“Well, we can’t have that, huh?” I joke. “Thank you for listening. Don’t tell Mom we talked shop the whole lunch.”

He shakes his head, shoulders bouncing as he laughs softly. “I knew you were going to do it anyway, but it’s just us. You know better than to pull that shit with your mother back home.”

We don’t discuss the family business around civiliansorat the dinner table.

26/

pokerface

Deirdre

1:02 p.m. | ‘the sixth incident’

Scar

How was lunch?

I don’t even bother asking myself how he knows about my lunch because of course he does.

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