Page 138 of Wicked Games

“That wasn’t the end of the threat.”

“Explain.”

I tell him about the car and how we’ve been tracking both the killer and the hacker. He listens carefully, and I can tell he’s conflicted by the time I finish.

“I’m not happy you decided to keep this to yourself,” he says after a few beats of silence. “But I applaud your initiative and how you’ve handled yourselves.”

I breathe out a little sigh of relief. I was expecting a lot more blowback for keeping him in the dark about all of this.

“Is there anything else you need to tell me before we talk about this afternoon?” he asks pointedly.

“Um, yeah. Me and Felix…we’re kind of together.”

“Kind of together?” Dad asks.

“Not kind of. We’re together.”

He nods slowly. “Is it serious?”

“Yeah. I love him.”

Dad’s eyes widen, but he quickly schools his face into a neutral expression. My dad and Felix have both perfected the blank look, and it only then occurs to me that’s probably why Felix’s always pissed me off so much.

It’s the same shit my dad’s done to me my whole life when he wanted to hide things from me or when he decides the conversation is over, no matter what I have to say on the matter.

“Are you queer?” he asks bluntly.

I shake my head. “I don’t think so. He’s the only guy I’ve ever thought about that way. The only one I’ve wanted.” I pause as nervous energy fills my chest. “Is that a problem?”

As far as I know, my dad isn’t homophobic, and neither are my aunts and uncles. But it’s easy to be supportive of a community when it doesn’t affect your daily life at all.

“Is what a problem?” Dad looks genuinely confused. “That you’re with a man?”

I nod, not trusting my voice.

“Of course not,” he says dismissively. “I don’t care who you date as long as they’re an appropriate choice.”

“And Felix is an appropriate choice?” I ask, hating how tentative I sound.

“Yes,” he says simply. “Felix is a great kid. He’s smart, loyal, and he has a good head on his shoulders. And I already know he can be trusted, so he’s probably one of the most appropriate choices you could have made.”

“But the stepbrother thing…?” I leave that to hang in the air.

He waves his hand and makes a littlepshhhhsound. “I don’t care about that. You’re not blood relatives, and you won’t have to worry about the stepbrother thing for much longer.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m divorcing Jasmine.”

My jaw actually drops. Of all the things he could have said, that would never have been on my radar as a possibility.

He smirks and crosses his arms. The sleeves of his blazer pull tight, showing off the bulging muscles he still has.

“You are?” I ask when I’ve found my voice.

He nods. “I’ve been preparing the paperwork and getting my affairs in order for the last year.”

“But I thought you were happy?” It’s not that I’m not ecstatic about the news; I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

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