Page 20 of Blood Lust

Curious, I wandered around the corner. “Dad?”

He spun to face me. The man was a mess. Suit disheveled, hair mussed and sticking up, he stood in the entryway, muttering.

“Everything okay?” I asked with a tilt of my head.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s good. Long day, that’s all.” He took off his jacket and hung it up. I shook my head. From the looks of it, that thing needed to go to the cleaners.

“I ordered dinner. It will be delivered soon,” I told him. He continued to appear distracted. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re acting really strange.”

“It’s nothing. There was a little mishap today, but nothing I can’t straighten out.” He forced a smile that I didn’t buy for a second.

Dad asked me about my day and made small talk in an obvious attempt to divert my worries. I played along because he obviously didn’t want to talk about his day. Of course, my recent worries resurfaced. Somehow, I knew it had something to do with his gambling, and it made me a little sick to my stomach.

The doorbell rang, and I went to answer it. My dad jumped up and rushed to stop me.

“Dad!” I startled.

“See who it is first,” he insisted.

I threw up my hands and held my phone in front of his face. “It’s the food, Dad.”

He looked through the peephole, and his shoulders sagged in relief. I gently pushed him aside, shaking my head. After thanking the delivery kid, I brought the food in and set it on the table. As I pulled the containers out, my gaze kept darting to my dad. He had actual sweat running down his temples.

We ate in silence because my dad was stuck in his head. He mostly picked at his food, then finally set his silverware down. “I’m sorry,tesorina.I’m not very hungry tonight. Thank you for taking care of dinner. I think I’m going to go to bed.”

He stood up and kissed the top of my head as he gripped my hand. Then he shuffled off to bed.

Chewing on my lip, I wondered if I should go to check on him. Instead, I cleaned up the mess and put the leftovers in the fridge. Once everything was done, I sat back at the table and rested my head in my hands.

What if my dad owed money again?

I’d emptied my savings a couple of years ago to bail him out, and I was so worried he had done it again. One of these days, he was going to get involved with a loan shark or something and that terrified me.

There was a light knock on the door. I lifted my head and glanced back at the hall to the bedrooms, then to the door. With my dad’s earlier behavior, my heart raced, and I froze. As quietly as I could, I stood up and tiptoed to the door. Holding my breath, I peered through the peephole. Relief hit me and I chuckled at my overactive imagination.

Unlocking all the locks, I opened the door and leaned on it.

“Hi, Mario.”

He glanced over my shoulder into the apartment, then looked down at me. Slowly, he smiled, and I couldn’t help but feel like it was a bit wolfish.

“Dad’s already gone to bed,” I offered.

“Would you mind if I came in?” He dropped a shoulder to the doorframe.

“Actually, now isn’t a good time. It’s been a long day,” I explained, trying to smile to soften the blow. I’d made the mistake of agreeing to have dinner with Mario on the way home from the airport the night I flew back from my visit with Merin.Ever since then, he had become increasingly pushy when it came to my attention. I wasn’t interested in him. He was handsome, don’t get me wrong, but he wasn’t my type. Though he was always attentive and nice, he seemed a bit… sleazy.

Lately, my type seemed to be dark and brooding, with the deepest brown eyes in existence. I couldn’t get Gabe out of my head. Every night since I’d left, I dreamed of him.

My breath caught when he reached out and grasped a piece of my hair that fell loose from the mess on my head. He slowly twirled the strands around his finger. “It’s only a matter of time….”

“Until?”

He chuckled darkly but didn’t answer. Instead, he pushed off the doorframe and winked. Then he left.

Unease settled in my chest.

“Can’t Sleep”—Blacktop Mojo

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