Page 126 of Give In

Dad and he locked in a battle of compliments and pleasantries. There were offers of comped food and desserts followed by pictures and so many tags and hashtags, tween girls everywhere rolled their eyes.

By the end of it, I was exhausted, and I’d barely moved.

Once the owner left, Dad seemed in better spirits, his ego demon fed. “We’re flying out in a few hours.”

Thank the Lord, the deities, the demi-gods, and Thor himself.

“Oh? That was a short visit,” I said, genial and polite.

His eyes narrowed, but he smiled, which was not comforting so much as foreboding. “Your professor said that you’re doing well. Heaven knows they need infinite patience to deal with you.”

He’s definitely found a good method.

I cringed at the thoughts I shouldnothave around my parents. “It’s a good school.”

“Which is why your mother and I have agreed that you should finish the semester before returning home. We want you home for Thanksgiving, of course, but you can return and wrap up your term.”

I’d have choked had I been able to stomach any food in the first place. “What?”

“Like it or not, you’re a member of this family. You have a part in it. Responsibilities. You’ve done your own thing and managed to stay out of trouble, the news, or a gutter somewhere. Let’s call it a win and quit while you’re ahead.”

“I’m not coming home.”

My dad kept talking as though I hadn’t. “You can enroll in school there if it means that much to you to have a degree. Your mother has openings on many of the boards she chairs, so you’ll have your pick. You and she can discuss it later.”

Later being when he wasn’t around because it had nothing to do with him, and therefore was uninteresting.

“I’m not coming home,” I repeated, louder this time.

“Quiet,” he hissed, shaking his head. “You’ve clearly only thought about yourself. We’ve been patient all your life, but especially these past few years. It’s time for you to grow up and come home before people start talking.”

“Talking about what? That I’m a capable adult who can live on her own?”

His eyes cut to me, cold and calculating. “Voters will wonder why our only child has abandoned us to live states away.”

Voters.

Next year is an election year.

Sadness filled me, but not for the reason it should’ve. I wasn’t sad I was a pawn in his political games. That I was a prop, and the only reason my parents wanted me home was so I could smile and wave as they pulled me along the campaign trail.

I was sad because Iwasn’t. I wasn’t surprised. That part of me, the one who’d wanted our happy family image to be real, was long dead.

My mom smiled at me, reaching over to pat my hand. “You’ll come home. Matthew Davis is still unmarried. I think he’s engaged, but that’s easy enough to fix. You can get married and live in the house next to us, having lots of babies. And you can volunteer with me in between. It’ll be the perfect life.”

Maybe for some that was the perfect life, and I didn’t fault them. With the right man, parts of that didn’t sound so bad.

But it wasn’t what I wanted, and Matthew Davis damn sure wasn’t the right man. He was the son of the senator, and our marriage wouldn’t be anything more than a political move in an unending game of chess.

I glared at my father. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Language.” He leaned forward, a smile on his face when his tone was anything but happy. “We’re a good, churchgoing family, and you’d be smart to remember that. You may have lived like a woman with loose morals here, but that ends. Now. I won’t have you bringing shame to this family because you’re acting out like an attention...”

When his sentence trailed off, I gave a bitter laugh. “Whore? Is that what you were going to say? Well, if the forced marriage fits.”

My mom had the good grace to look ashamed, although that could’ve been the wine flush. My dad looked indignant on his high horse.

“You’re being dramatic,” he dismissed.