Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
I lost some of my steam, sitting back in the chair. This desk. It had been his, but it would be mine. My desk. I shook my head. I couldn’t get used to that. It was his. It would always be his. This office too.
I glanced around. “I’m going to take a different office.”
“What?”
I looked up at her and waved my hand. “Never mind. Keep digging that grave for yourself. You already ’fessed up. Come out with the rest of it.”
She flushed again. “Jeeez, Dad! Different terminology, please. We just buried Grandpa yesterday.”
“And not even ten hours later you were violating your grounding? Sneaking out. Leaving your phone—”
Her nose wrinkled. She hugged her knees to her chest again. “I took my phone with me. I just didn’t turn it on.”
I glared at her. “That’s not helping.”
“Come on, Dad! I came here to ask you a serious question. Serious enough that I’m getting myself in more trouble to do it.”
I eyed her, knowing bullshit when I heard it. “You’re coming clean because it benefits you to come clean.” I didn’t have a great feeling about what else my daughter was about to tell me. “Your mom and I still need to talk about Friday night. Good thing we waited, huh? We’ll just tack this on as well.”
Her mouth fell open. “Dad—”
“Logan Malinda Kade.”
She quieted.
“I love you, but my patience is wearing thin. Get to the point of why you’re here.” Seeing hurt in her eyes, I held a hand up and softened my tone. “I love that you sought me out. I love that you wanted to spend some time with your old man, especially because you’re here now, so after we get through this conversation, you’re in for the long haul. You’re staying the rest of the day.”
Her eyes bugged. She hadn’t considered that.
I lowered my hand. “But back to what brought you here in the first place.”
Her eyes lowered to her lap. “Did Grandpa kill himself because the company’s going bankrupt? Was Grandpa James doing something illegal, and he would’ve gone to prison and that’s why he…you know.”
Alarm shot through me. I knew I wasn’t going to like this conversation, but I hadn’t expected those words to come out of her mouth.
My forehead furrowed. “We never told you how your grandfather died. Where did you hear that?”
Her mouth opened again. She’d been caught once more. The party line had been that he had a heart attack. We’d kept everything under wraps. I knew there was a chance of a leak, a good chance, but so far, no press had found out how my father died. When we told the kids, we were specific in our wording. We’d told them his heart gave out.
Jesus. “Did you hear that at the party?”
Her eyebrows jerked up. “No! No. No, but Aurelia Avoy said the timing was suspect, that James Kade died when his company was on the verge of going down.”
Who the fuck is Aurelia Avoy? I scowled. “What exactly were her words?”
Maddy heaved a sigh and shrugged. “She said it’s too bad I moved to town when my family’s legacy was going into the shitter. She said her dad is going to buy Kade Enterprises and change the name to Avoy Enterprises, and it’s too bad we’ll have to move away because we’re, like, poor again.”
Maddy scowled and I blinked, seeing my scowl on her face. I adjusted mine to an annoyed glare. “Poor again?”
“Apparently.” She rolled her eyes, letting her legs stretch across the distance until her heels were on the edge of the desk. “Between you and me, Aurelia’s such an HBOTC.”
Christ. I was going to regret this. “What’s an HB…”
“HBOTC.” She growled, sneering. “Head Bitch of the Cunts.”
“Maddy!”
“What?” She shrugged. “She is. Think of all the evil popular girls in every movie you’ve ever seen and roll them into one. Then put her in a ginormous house. That’s Aurelia Avoy. I hate her.” A smug smirk gleamed. “But I know she hates me because she thinks Beltraine and his friends like me. It’s why I was invited to Traine’s party in the first place.” Her voice evened out. “They’re the popular guys in the senior class. They’ve been nice.”
Her eyes cast down, and she frowned slightly.
I didn’t like that look. Why was she frowning at that statement? Fuck. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but even though we had a good relationship, Maddy was still a teen. She’d shut down if I started grilling.
Fatherhood was rewarding. I needed to keep thinking that. Rewarding, but it was the fastest way to drain me of any patience I had. I coughed, clearing my throat. Right. Be…casual? “So. Uh…”
Maddy looked up at me, and the corner of her mouth lifted. “I’m not interested in any of those guys, Dad. You don’t have to worry about me. No one tells me what to do. Pressuring me doesn’t work on me. I don’t go to my knees for anyone.”