Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“The wedding?” He looked her up and down and seemed to register her appearance for the first time. “Is that where you’re going? I was afraid you wanted to visit that dangerous club again.”
“Listen, where I go is no longer your concern,” Addison said coldly. “You’re not my Dom and you’re not my Daddy—you made that very clear. You’re not my boss either—I’m going to give my two weeks notice Monday morning bright and early. And don’t worry—I’ll be moving my stuff out of your place as soon as I get back from the wedding reception. After this weekend, you’ll never have to see me again.”
Courick stared down at her, a look of understanding and upset filling his face.
“Addison,” he began. “It’s possible that I might have been…somewhat hasty in my judgment yesterday.”
“Oh, do you think so? You think it might have been ‘hasty’ to accuse me of lying to you and manipulating you and then deciding to move to a whole other galaxy to get away from me?” she demanded, balling her hands into fists at her sides. “I don’t know if ‘hasty’ is the word I’d use. Maybe asshole might fit better.”
Courick’s face went dark but he kept his temper.
“All right, it’s possible I deserve that,” he growled. “But how can you blame me? You told me you have no father, which was why you needed to be little and then the father you supposedly didn’t have suddenly showed up at my office to offer you a wedding invitation.”
“A wedding I’m going to be late to if I stay and explain myself to you. Though believe me, I do have a perfectly good explanation!” Addison snapped. To be honest, she was so angry she didn’t feel like the big Kindred asshole deserved an explanation. She looked down to where he was still holding her arm. “Now let…me…go.”
But it was clear Courick wasn’t willing to give up so quickly.
“I don’t think so,” he growled, frowning sternly. “I understand you don’t want to be late to your sister’s wedding, but I deserve an explanation. Therefore, I’m going with you.”
“What? To my half sister’s wedding?” Addison demanded. “You can’t just invite yourself to a family event!”
“I remember your father saying you could bring a plus-one,” he snapped. “That is the role that I’ll be playing. Now come on—I’ll drive.”
22
COURICK
Courick could tell that Addison was angry—her posture made it clear. She was sitting beside him in the passenger seat with her arms crossed over her breasts and her face turned away. But despite the fact that she was clearly furious with him, he still felt he was owed an explanation.
“All right,” he said, as he followed the directions on his nav-com, which was set to the venue where Addison’s sister was getting married. “Explain. You said you had a good explanation for why your supposedly non-existent father showed up at my office yesterday, so let me hear it.”
“Fine.” She kept her head turned away as she spoke, not looking at him. “I told you I didn’t have a father growing up and that was true. When I was only four or five, my father left me and my mother for his mistress—the woman he’d been cheating with for most of their marriage. At least, that was what my mom found out later. He started a whole new family and a whole new life and it was like…like he just forgot all about us…forgot all about me.”
Courick could hear the choked sob in her voice, but she was still staring fixedly out the window, so he couldn’t see her face. But as her words sank in, he felt like the worst kind of fool. It wasn’t that Addison had never had a father—it was that the one she’d had, had abandoned her at an early age. No wonder she had the needs that she did!
“Addison,” he began. “I’m so sor—”
“Don’t say you’re sorry—that kind of thing happens all the time. At least with humans. I know you Kindred Bond for life, like some kind of freaking migratory birds, but we’re not like that,” she said tersely. “Anyway, my dad moved out and moved on. I never heard a word from him—or from his other family—until about a year ago.”
“Did he finally regret his decision to leave and get in touch with you?” Courick asked in a low voice.
She shook her head.
“No—my half sister, Lacy, did one of those Twenty-three and Me tests—the DNA things that are so popular now. She made my father admit everything and then she got in contact with me. Apparently she thought she was an only child and she was thrilled to find out she had a sister.”
“And how did you feel?” Courick asked.
“I didn’t want to meet her at first,” Addison said candidly. “But she was persistent and I finally agreed to have coffee with her. And you know what? She’s a sweet girl—she’s only a year younger than me and we really hit it off.”