With reluctance, I agreed. My dad looked past me, peering over my shoulder in the direction of the door before speaking again, his eyes locked on mine.
“Listen, a rumor’s going around the lockup. There’s a man in there… He’s got gang ties. Shithead has a nephew who’s a lowlife like him, apparently earning his living as a hitman. Seems crime runs in their shitty family. Thing is, the two of them are close, really close. In fact, the nephew’s been in for visitation a couple of times.”
I had no idea where any of this was going. For being concerned about time, he sure took a lot of it to make his point.
I cut him off, still whispering. “What does any of this have to do with me? Todd? What’s this rumor you’re talking about?”
My dad reached towards me, wrapping his fingers around my forearm. He looked into my eyes without so much as a blink. “One last time. Where is he?”
Exasperation got the better of me. I didn’t want to keep this secret from him, but the less he knew, the better. Even so, it was obvious he had no intention of letting me out of the room without an answer to satisfy his curiosity.
“Tempest!”
“All right! All right!” I snapped, balling my hands into fists. “Todd is…”
But before another word passed through my lips the door to the room opened, and Dorian walked through it, followed by one of the detectives.
I shut up quick, turning and looking up at them.
Shit. What did they hear?
Dorian cleared his throat. “It’s time for your dad to go.”
I nodded and looked at my father.
“I’m sorry.” I said, hoping that would be good enough. I knew it wasn’t, but what the hell was I supposed to say? There wasn’t anything I could do about it.
My dad forced a smile to his lips, standing at the same time. All the while, he looked at me in a way that suggested he knew I was keeping something from him. But I wasn’t the only one. He never did get to finish telling me about the prison rumor. For now, all of that would have to wait.
We hugged.
“I love you.” I said, squeezing him tight and feeling those familiar emotions once more. Every time I had to leave him behind in jail, a little piece of my heart stayed there. The only difference now was he was the one leaving.
We separated, and he kissed me on the cheek. “I love you too.”
Not long after, the detective escorted him out, leaving me alone with Dorian.
He wasn’t happy.
A wave of helplessness washed over me. I suddenly realized there was no escaping him. No one, not even the police, were willing to help me. For several seconds we stood there in awkward silence until at last Dorian cleared his throat for a second time.
“Do you plan on following through with that threat of yours?”
Dorian slid his hands into the pockets of his pants, gliding them slowly inside. His eyes never left mine.
God, I wanted to slap him. Just slap the shit out of him.
I resisted the urge, answering his question instead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What threat?”
Dorian grumbled a chuckle. He took a step towards me. He still hadn’t blinked. “The threat where you told the police I was holding you captive, keeping you as a prisoner?”
The feeling of wanting to slap him changed. Now, I wanted to scratch his eyes out, but I knew it wouldn’t do a bit of goddamn good.
Swallowing hard, I returned his icy stare. “What do you want me to say? You win. You always get what you want, don’t you? Isn’t that…”
He cut me off. “This isn’t about me getting what I want. I don’t understand why you ran away. Don’t you enjoy being in my company?”
Oh my God. Did he seriously just ask me that? Again?
I groaned. “It’s not about that either. We already talked about this! Of course I enjoy being with you. What woman wouldn’t?”
Dorian scoffed at me, shaking his head. “Then I guess I don’t get what the problem is here.”
“That’s exactly right, you don’t. I tell you what, I’ll make it real easy for you. Okay? The problem is that I can’t come and go as I please. I can’t live my life…”
He interrupted me again. “It’s just temporary and…”
“Just let me finish!”
Looking into his eyes, I could sense the frustration, the anger rising in him. Sucking in a deep inhale, he nodded at me. “Go ahead.”
“You told me it’s temporary a bunch of times. But how long is that exactly? It’s already been a week now.”
Wrapping one hand around my hip, I extended my other arm, pointing in the direction of the door. “Hell, even my dad is suspicious.”
“He is? About what?”
I dropped my arm back to my side. “I’ve explained this to you. I haven’t missed a visit with him in almost three years. We are all each other have. Don’t tell me you’re surprised he’d be wondering about what’s happening with me.”
For a split second, I almost mentioned my dad grilling me about Todd, asking where he was, but I thought better of it, deciding to keep it to myself.
Dorian didn’t appear any the wiser. “Well, I’ve got something in the works for your dad.”
In the works?
“What are you talking about?”
“Look, I know the reason your dad is in prison. I also know he shouldn’t be there. You have my word I’m going to do something about it.”
I blinked, not sure I’d heard him correctly. “What?”
“You heard me. There’s no reason for him to be in that fucking hellhole. I need some time but I’m going to make it happen.”
I didn’t know what to say, how to respond. I didn’t understand any of it, but the simple fact was he had enough influence to get my dad to Vegas. Maybe he was telling me the truth.
Dorian stepped closer to me. “For what it’s worth, I think your dad did the right thing. It’s what any man should do for the woman he loves.”
When he stopped talking, he reached for me and wrapped his fingers around my upper arms. I didn’t realize how much I needed to feel his touch. He applied gentle pressure, squeezing me and looking into my eyes.
“Thank you for saying that. I feel like I lost both of them at once. First mom dying and then, well…”
Dorian nodded. “I know.”
“What did you mean by ‘in the works’? Like, you think you can get him out early?”
Dorian dropped his hands away from my shoulders. “I’m not sure about the timetable but, yes. There’s someone I need to talk to about it. Here’s the thing though… I can’t make any of this happen without your cooperation.”
I frowned at him. “My cooperation?”
“Yes. This little escapade of yours tonight was very time-consuming. If you want me to help you with your dad, I need you to promise me you won’t keep trying to run. It’s too distracting and too fucking dangerous. Promise me, Tempest.”
The anger that swelled up inside of me earlier left my body in a rush. In its wake, confusion about how I should feel. The facts were that in spite of what I’d done, he’d brought my dad to see me, and now he’d offered to help get him released early.