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“You’re done when I say you’re fucking done.” He spits again.

Say it, don’t spray it, old man.

I sigh, wishing I could rub my eyes a few times.

“I’ve not really worked for you for a long time, Dad. This isn’t going to be any different from the last two years.”

“Austin, your brother is not up to this and you know it.” His voice tinges with desperation.

“I’ve already spoken to Augustus to let him know I’m out.”

“Oh, and how did he take that?”

“He was rather indifferent, actually.” Not quite a lie. “He was busy with work and didn’t have long to chat, so we kept it short.”

“How wonderful to hear you’re getting along.” His tongue clicks.

“Quite remarkable despite all the effort you put in to make us hate one another.”

He nods, smirking. Man, I wish I could bitch-slap that right off him.

“I tell you what, if you don’t come back, neither of you can work for me.”

What?

He laughs manically. “Oh yes, this is perfect. If you’renot there to keep your brother in line, then he’s of no use to me. I’ll rid myself of him, and he’ll only blame you. What a novel idea.”

He tips his drink to his lips, his eyes fixed on mine, goading me to make a scene. He’s always thought me weak, and in a way, he’s right. I worked for him for years, doing unspeakable things, but in the end, my body, my brain, my fucking heart just couldn’t do it anymore.

I remain silent, stewing on my next move. Mine and August’s relationship has taken one tiny step forward today, and in one conversation with our father, I might as well have not bothered. There is no recovery from this. Because Augustus will see this as my fault.

I move to stand. The conversation is over, and he knows he’s won this round.

I reach for the fake diamond door knob and roll my eyes.Fucking pretentious twat.

“Oh, Austin?”

I twist back, and he’s made his way to the side of the desk once again, pulling down his zipper.

“Send the girl back in.”

Chapter Fourteen

Olivia

The rest of the day, I try to avoid thinking about Austin. It’s terrifying how quickly he’s taken over my life.

I work on a few things for my channel, re-doing the product review from the week before and editing a few other videos from the “almost done” column on my planning spreadsheet.

However, the evening feels mainly like a distraction. I am tempering my emotions, reminding myself that Austin wouldn’t hurt Danny, because hurting Danny would hurt me.

Still, he left without so much as an explanation. Is he going to talk to him? Or is he going somewhere else? He's left me alone on a Saturday night, so presumably, he has plans. Plans he can't tell me about. Although my thoughts run rampant, they don’t quite make sense in my mind. It’s like I am trying to convince myself that he must be doing something bad. If only so I expect the worst from him. If I do that, then at least I won’t be disappointed when this inevitably hits me like a pie to the face. Luca’s voice rings in my ears:What are you doing? Playing with your food?I need to protect myself at all costs.

I curl up in bed, tucking the blanket right up to my chin. The soft light from the lamp fills the room in a pink hew as I attempt to read. I scan over the same sentence five times until I finally admit defeat.

For the past few days, Austin has been letting himselfinto my house at night and heading straight to the basement. I’ve been trying to tempt him to change paths, but it hasn’t worked so far. The red light that bathes my bedroom filtered down the stairs, tempting him from the downstairs hallway. I know he’s seen it. I checked one evening, and the glow practically lit up the wall against the stairs. But even my suggestive lighting hasn’t been enough to encourage him. Am I hoping the books I've lent him will encourage him to make a move? Sure. But the man has the patience of a priest.

Well . . . a good priest.