Page 88 of Deceit
“You nervous about dinner or going to the club after?”he asked, hisconcerned eyes flicking to me.
“I’m not nervous about the club, I can’t wait. Ijustwish we didn’t have to goto dinner first,”I replied glumly.
He squeezed my hand.“I won’t let your dad give you any shit, Jailbait. Itwon’t be like before, you’ve got me in your corner now.”
I gave him an appreciative smile as a warm, fuzzy feeling coursed throughme. Rafe had been the only person in my corner for so long, buteventhen, his hands were tied. It felt good having Miles by my side.
“What if he asks about...you know, me getting pregnant?”
“I’ll handle it. I told him before, our sex life has got fuck all to do with him.”
I didn’t reply straight away. I wanted to believethatI could escape theevening without being questioned by Papa, but I knew he’d find a way to interrogate me away from Miles.
“It’s notjustthat,”I said, airing the other reason for my anxiety.“I’m notlooking forward to meeting Vanessa.”
Miles threw me a sympathetic glance before returning his eyes to the road.“She’s the niece of the man who killed your mom, right?”
“Yeah.”A burst of sorrow hit me. How could Papa agree to Rafe marryinginto the familythattook Mama away from us? I would never forgive him for this.
“Do you know much about what happened? In the lead up to your mom’sdeath, I mean,”he said, his brows pulled together in thought.
I sighed.“Notreally. Papa never liked to talk about it. All I know isthatheonce did business with Reagan and Rowan King, Vanessa’s father and uncle, but something went wrong, and they went their separate ways. A lot of people took their business to Papa, and the Kings were pissed ‘cos they started to suffer financially. They wanted to get back at Papa, so Rowan kidnapped Mama and killed her. In return, Papa killed Rowan.”
My heart ached at recalling the only bit of information I had surroundingMama’s death. I had so many questions, but Papa refused to answer them. I accepted long agothatI would never find out anything else, and as a way to find comfort in her death, I told myselfthatshe died quickly and hadn’t suffered. I could only hope it was the truth.
Miles squeezed my hand again.“Maybe kids shouldn’t be blamed for theirparents’ misdeeds.”
His words stumped me because he was right. Once upon a time, ourgreat-grandfathers had killed each other’s family members. Yet, here we were, married, and building something incredible. I was being unfair toward Vanessa; she had no part in Mama’s death, maybe I needed to give her a chance.
And who knew. Maybe Rafe would find his happiness with her.
We spent the rest of the drive in a comfortable silence, my anxiety growingstronger as we drew closer to my old home. I’d forgotten how being in Papa’s vicinity made me feel, and I already couldn’t wait for the dinner to be over,justso I could get away from him.
Reaching the gates to the house, the guards stationed at the frontwaved us through without checking our car as they would do with any other guests. The same couldn’t be said for our entourage; like the only other time they’d followed us to my old home, they weren’t allowed onto the grounds.
My heart began to thud harder as we trundled along the never-ending drive,and when the house came into view with Papa waiting by the front door, checking his watch, I wanted to vomit where my nerves were gripping me.
“You’re okay, Jailbait. I’m right here with you,”Miles said, bringing the carto a stop.
The two of us got out, and he was by my side in an instant, taking myhand and clutching it in his. Papa’s gaze dropped to our hands as we walked the several steps to where he waited before a grin spread over his lips.
“Miles, wonderful to see you,”he said, offering his hand to Miles, whobriefly shook it. Turning his assessing eyes to me, he opened his arms for me to step into his embrace.“Sofia, I see married life agrees with you.”
Trying to hide my shock at his rare display of affection, I stepped intohis arms.“Hi, Papa. It’s good to see you.”
I should have been given an award for making my lie sound so truthful.
Behind him, movement caught my attention, and Rafe stepped out of thedoor. Wiggling free from Papa’s arms, I launched myself at my brother, who caught me with ease and spun me around.
“Missed you, Sofe,”Rafe said, the two of us grinning at each other.
“Do you often let women throw themselves at you?”a disapproving voicesnarled from behind us. Rafe set me on my feet, grimacing before waving to the newcomer.“Sofe, this is Vanessa. Vanessa, this is my sister, Sofia.”
If it wasn’t for the sneer twisting her features, I would have said Vanessawas an attractive woman. With long blonde hairthatreached her waist, coupled with her long legs and tiny waist, any model would have been jealous. Emerald green eyes glowered at me, framed by thick lashes and perfectly sculptured brows, and her blood red painted lips pursed as if she’djustsucked on a bitter lemon.
“Nice to meet you,”I said, doing my best not to judge a book by itscover.
She returned my smile with a fake one of her own, but as an arm slid aroundmy waist, and the scent of Miles surrounded me, Vanessa’s mouth pulled into a genuine grin.
