Page 57 of Sinners Keepers
“You don’t want to talk to your old man about it. I see. That’s fine,” he chuckled. Flicking the newspaper open again, he began to read in silence.
My mind raced, trying to sort through the jumbled blur of thoughts and emotions that filtered through me at my father's words. This was all so unlike him and nothing he said made any sense. I couldn't remember a single time in my life when he'd ever been kind to me or sat with me like this. And now that he was, every word that came from his mouth left me utterly confused...
…I couldn’t remember.
I took mental stock of all the things I knew for certain: I'd had a brain injury that resulted in memory loss, but even before, during, and after that I had never questioned whether or not my dad was the bad guy in this story.
He was.
Wasn't he?
The guys had said he was…hadn’t they?
My heart thrummed in my chest and I was more lightheaded than ever. It was difficult to take a full breath as I tried to convince myself I knew what was real and what wasn't.
But what if I didn't actually know? Fear paralyzed me as I considered the possibility. I’d been wrong before.Sofucking wrong.
“Why don’t you go up to your room and take a nap? Once you’ve recovered from your night out, you can shower and come down and eat. I’ll make your favorite potato soup and we can decorate the tree,” he said, smiling like he didn't have a care in the world.
My hand drifted nervously to my hair and ran along the braid there, stopping at the end as I twisted the shoestring holding it in place around my fingers. It was still damp from when Law had washed it, the braid itself holding in moisture.
The shoestring grounded me.Lawgrounded me, and so did Ijah and Alec. I had left our home together—our bed—to come here.Nota party.
And my dad was fucking with me because he knew I’d been struggling with memory loss thathecaused.
Well, two can play at that fucking game.
“Oh. Okay. That sounds great, Dad. I am actually pretty tired,” I stood, stretching my arms over my head as I yawned, then turned to exit the room. I could play his games for a little longer if it meant ending this once and for all. Pausing in the doorway, I turned back to him. “Dad?” I questioned, prompting him to lift his eyes from the paper.
“Yes, Hunter?”
I plastered a fake ass grin on my face. “I’m really excited to spend the day with you.”
He gave me a tight smile. “Me, too.” If he’d had any inclination that I wasn’t just fucking delusional, he didn’t show it.
Everything in the house was so familiar, almost as if it hadn’t been years since I’d lived there. There were still family photos scattered along the walls as I climbed the stairs and walked down the long hallway to my old bedroom.
I stopped briefly in front of one, my heart pinching at the sight of my mom’s twinkling green eyes staring back at me. Looking at her had always been like looking into a mirror of sorts. We were so similar.
I really needed to be alone for a moment to gather my thoughts and regain my composure.
He was trying to fuck with my head. I wasn’t sure what the end goal for him was here, but it wasn’t unlike him to toy with someone for his own perverted enjoyment.
I hadn't meant to actually fall asleep, but as soon as I stepped across the threshold of my old bedroom, my veins suddenly felt like they were filled with cement and I could barely hold my eyes open. I stumbled over to the bed and before I knew it, I was out cold.
* * *
I jerkedawake to a sharp sting in my neck and opened my heavy eyelids to find my father looming over me. He held an empty syringe in his hand, different from the one I’d brought with me. So much forthatfucking plan. Whatever had been in the one he held was currently quickly making its way through my system.
Looking at him now, standing over me with that sinister look back on his face, I was certain the coffee he'd given me had contained a sedative of some sort. I was so thrown off by the way he’d greeted me, that I’d totally lost whatever shred of logical reasoning I had left. Again, why the fuck did I think it was okay to drink anything he’d given me?
I decided to continue playing clueless.
"E-everything okay, Dad?" I lifted my hand to the side of my neck and cupped it over the injection site. "What was that?"
It wasn't as if I thought he'd actually tell me. I was fighting back panic at what he may have just injected me with. It could have been any number of things, but I needed him to believe I was still neurotic. At least for now.
He pursed his lips. "Just a little something," he said, his words clipped. As he spoke, he brushed the hair off of my forehead. I felt glued to the bed.
