“He has a fucking army,” Ash finished for him. “Sorry, you were just monologuing so long that I thought I’d help.”
My dad’s eyes narrowed in on Ash. “Care to share with the class why you were dry humping Annie in the shallow end of the pool?”
I nearly spit out my coffee. “You did what? To who?”
“Tell me you at least dumped a gallon of shock and chlorine into the pool afterward, you know Mom likes to do laps there and I highly doubt she wants to swim through your—”
“Dad.” Ash clenched his teeth. “We didn’t… I didn’t… Why does this always happen with us? Must you be so invested in my sex life?”
“Must you be such an exhibitionist?” He shrugged.
Ash tore his gaze away from us. “I pissed her off, she left, I hate her, end of story.”
Dad burst out laughing, shocking me so much I nearly dropped my mug. “Damn, that’s exactly what I was thinking while she rode you like her favorite pony, while she screamed your name and while you nearly bit sucked off her neck multiple times while sucking on her lips… how much you hate her. Sure, I’ll buy it.”
Ash flushed.
He actually flushed.
I looked between them.
Dad shook his head slightly, like silently warning me to leave it.
But how did a person leave that?
“Ash, you know it’s okay to…” I licked my lips. “It’s okay to be happy.”
“No.” He shoved his chair back. “It’s actually not.” He stormed out of the room and ran up the stairs, most likely to find Mom and say good morning like he did every day when he came over for breakfast.
I was the daddy’s girl.
He was a total mama’s boy.
It’s probably why the girls all loved him—he knew how to get them to eat out of the palm of his hand even when it wasn’t on purpose.
“As I was saying…” Dad ignored the outburst. “The only reason he gets to keep you is because he’s a boss, a powerful Petrov boss. He would burn the entire world to keep you safe. He would use every resource, every cent he has, and now he has it all, and he’s able to do it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t already have men trained on you.”
I flinched at the thought. “Breaker would have had men too, right?”
“No.” Dad shook his head. “That’s up to the boss. You know how the hierarchy works. At best, he would be a made man, at the worst, he’d be a captain on the Campisi payroll—” He held up a hand. “I take that back. if someone died, he was second in line, but we don’t hope for death in our families, we hope for life, so I wouldn’t have taken that into account.”
I exhaled. “All right then.”
“So.” He folded his arms. “You’ve made your choice?”
“Dad…” I sighed and walked over to him. “You make it sound like I’m choosing him over you.”
“In a way, you are.” Dad’s smile was snide. “But that’s what marriage is.” He stood and pulled me into his arms. “I’m so damn proud of you.”
I sniffled. “I leave in three days.”
His arms tightened around me, and then he whispered, “Sweetheart, if you love him like I know you do, there is absolutely no reason for those three days. You think time will heal, but more often, time just makes us overthink decisions that have already been set in stone.” He kissed my temple. “Go to him.”
“But I have to say goodbye, and I have to pack, and I have to—”
“New life.” He drew back without completely letting me go and winked. “New things. Let him take you shopping, I bet he’d love it, let him help you start your new life in Seattle.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Go to him.”
I frowned. “It’s so confusing when you’re not scary and suddenly make sense.”
He winked. “It’s part of my charm.”
Mom’s snort came up from behind me. “Yes, oh so charming, do tell your daughter how you fell asleep drinking with Valerian last night, woke up and stumbled to bed, and snored all night long.”
“Luc,” Dad growled out her name. But then he reached for her, tossed her over his shoulder, and carried her out of the kitchen, calling back, “Good talk, Vi, I’ve got a busy day.” He slapped Mom on the ass.
I could never unsee the blush on her cheeks.
And then Ash was storming back into the room like an angry tornado looking for houses to break.
“Who pissed in your Cheerios?” I crossed my arms.
His fists were clenched, eyes glazed over.
I sighed. “Are you high?”
“No.” He gritted his teeth. “I wish.”
“Do you need to get away for a bit?”
His jaw flexed. “What did you have in mind?”
“A little trip to Seattle with your favorite sister?”
“I’m his favorite, but nice try.” Stepping into the kitchen, Izzy yawned and smacked him on the back of the head as she walked by.