Page 66 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

I heard something click on his end. “I’m here, princess.”

“I know you’re muting the phone and talking to Mom.”

He paused. “Well, you’ve practically got her in bed with grief. It’s about the only way I can communicate with her right now.”

“Tell her I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m with people who have my best interests in mind, and--”

“Please let me come get you. Let me see you, Danika.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“And why not?”

“Because I don’t want to see you. And that is just as important as your wanting to see me. You don’t get to demand my time, nor my presence. If I don’t want to see you, that is within my right as a human being. You don’t own me, Dad. And for the longest time, you’ve assumed you do.”

“This is insane. We can talk about this when I come--”

I stood to my feet. “You’re coming nowhere. I’m not telling you where I am because I don’t want to see you. I’ll get in touch with you when I want to. But until that point, there’s nothing you can do about it. You have no control over this situation, so get used to it.”

“You listen here and you listen good. I’m not going t--”

“No. You listen to me for once. I’m tired of everyone in my life thinking they know what’s best for me. That they know better than I do for my own life. And I get it. I get that I scared you. Even if you don’t think I get it, I do. And I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry, Dad, that I frightened you so badly. But I’m done with letting other people make decisions for me. Even if those people think they have my best interests in mind, I’m done with it. I make the calls in my life, and if that means making some serious mistakes along the way? Then so be it. I should have the right to make those mistakes, whether you approve of that idea or not.”

He chuckled bitterly. “Danika. This is madness. Your mother and I are staying at the Hilton in town. Please come stay with us. You’ll be safe here. We won’t even extend our stay. Just come stay with us until--”

“Daddy. Listen to me.”

&nb

sp; “Stop interrupting me!”

“No, you stop attempting to override my decision! I’m safe. S-A-F-E. Now that I know where you and Mom are staying, of course I’ll come see you. But I can’t do that right now. I have things I need to do first.”

“Are you even going to tell me what things you’re talking about?”

I bit my bottom lip. “I’ll tell you later. I promise, Dad. But right now, all I’m asking you to do is trust me and give me some space. I know it’s hard. And it’s unfair. I get that, too. But it’s also unfair what you did to Max at the hospital. And to me.”

“Danika, I made the best decision I could have as a father.”

“I needed him, Daddy. Not you. Not Mom. Him. The man who saved my life. And you took him from me and you sent him off to jail without knowing the full story of what happened. You did that even though I told you, repeatedly, that he was responsible for me being alive in that hospital instead of dead at the bottom of a pool.”

“I--Danika, it--you just--can’t you just try to see things my way for a second? My little girl--my only child--was in a hospital bed. With bruises on her skin. And this massive man comes in with this gruff voice who looks like he just got hit by a train and dragged for miles, and I’m not supposed to think he had a hand in what happened to you?”

I shook my head. “Not when I’m looking you dead in your eyes and telling you he saved my life.”

“Cut me a bit of slack here.”

I shook my head. “No. And I’ll tell you why I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to cut you any slack because my entire life has been centered around what you and Mom have wanted for me. When I first declared my major? It was because you wanted me to declare that specific major. When I switched majors? Mom ended up directing me to some HR degree because she thought I’d be good at it. And it’s always been that way with us, even during school. I did afterschool activities and sports you guys wanted me in. I decorated my room the way you guys wanted it. I displayed things about my life the way you guys wanted them displayed. And through all of it, you never asked me what I wanted.”

He paused. “Did you not like swimming? Did you not like theater?”

“Liking it or not liking it isn’t the point. The point is that you never asked, Dad. Neither you nor Mom did. No one gave me a choice. It was suggested, and it was my responsibility to accept.”

“You didn’t have to, Dani.”

I snickered. “Remember back in middle school?”

“What?”

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