Page 34 of The Brat Tamers

“I’m sure your fans miss you,” he says in a voice I don’t recognize. He’s not angry or exasperated, or wickedly planning my punishment. If I were to guess, I’d say he sounds tired and a little sad.

“Maybe.” I shrug again because what does that really mean? They miss me? They miss my ten-minute makeup tutorials? Or my five-minute red carpet stories? They miss having me as one of their many distractions as they scroll through their phones for hours on end?

The truth is that after five days, most of them have already replaced me. No doubt a rumor started a few days ago when I didn’t come back online as scheduled about me eloping, or being eaten by sharks, or being sold by some drug cartel—honestly, anything and everything is on the table. The internet is a weird place, and they can turn the tiniest blip of fodder into an almost verifiable story.

I’m a little shocked to not be excited about going to back to my fans. Who would I be if not for Epiphany Krushner, the person behind Krush Kosmetics?

“Do you have any regrets?” Lee throws the question out there as we enter my father’s neighborhood, but his eyes are on the road.

“About?” I know what he means, but like the brat I am, I’m going to make him spell it out. Honestly, I’m hurting right now. We didn’t have time to talk or cuddle afterwards. We didn’t lay everything out on the table, and now the moment is over. It was no better than a drunken party night where things got a little crazy, but also easily forgotten in the daylight hours.

“We crossed a line back there, Epi. We shouldn’t have—”

“It sounds like you’re the one with regrets.” I slip my T-shirt on over my head and sit back in the leather seat with my arms folded across my chest.

His eyes come up to meet mine in the rearview, and then he flips on the cabin lights so that we can clearly see each other. “Listen to me. I don’t have one fucking regret. Not one. Whatever repercussions come from this, it was worth it. You were worth it.”

My heart melts at his words. “Is that how Case and Porter feel?”

He says nothing for a minute as he negotiates the security gate on my father’s property. He pulls around to the front of the house and puts the vehicle in park. “I can’t speak for them, but—” he turns in his seat and hands me a business card “—if you want to ask them yourself, here’s our information.”

Before I can look at the card, my father’s manservant swings my door open—my father standing a few feet behind him. “You’re home.”

“I am.” I quickly glance at Lee, who cusses under his breath before opening his door.

He pops open the trunk and takes out my bags at the same time my father pulls me in to a bear hug. “I’m so glad this is over and both of my daughters are home.”

He lets me go and quickly clasps on to Lee’s hand. “Thank you for taking care of her.”

Lee looks at me and then meets my father’s eye. “Yes, sir.”

Yes, sir?That is all he has to say?

Clearing his throat, Lee hands my bags over to my father’s personal assistant. “I’m sure Victor will be by in the morning to check on everyone, but if you need me directly—”

“Oh, no, no, no. I wouldn’t dream of bothering you without going through your boss. And yes, Victor and I have a ten a.m. scheduled for tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Lee rubs the back of his neck, looking the least confident I’ve ever seen him. The man is a cocky rock with a rock-hard cock, so this discomfort is off-putting, to say the least. “Well, if there is nothing else, I’ll head home.”

My father wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in tight. “Yes, thank you so much.”

His name is on the tip of my tongue, but honestly, I’m too shocked to know what to say. Do I call out his name, run into his arms, kiss him in front of everyone? I’m frozen in place, indecision leaving me a body with no brain as I watched him drive away.

I turn to my father. “Where’s Leti?”

“She’s in her room.”

“Okay, I’m going to go check on her.” I lean in to kiss him, and he wraps me in another bear hug.

“I love you, Pip. I know I don’t say it nearly often enough, and I know I’m a shitty father, but I have always loved my girls.”

Something inside me breaks, and I melt into his embrace, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I love you, too.”

We stand there for a solid minute, if not longer, before he finally lets me go. I look up to find him wiping a tear away. “How about dinner tomorrow? Just you, me and Leti.”

“Okay.”

“Great.” He kisses my forehead. “Go check on your sister.”

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