Page 38 of A Lesson in Deceit (Mystic Riegan Duet #1)

River

I ’d gone back and forth on whether to show up to his stupid meeting, but I decided it would be more of a hassle not to go.

At least he had picked a Thursday when I have a class in an hour, so I didn’t have to stay here forever.

I walked through the door, stepping up to my dad’s front desk receptionist, Dorthea.

She was an older woman, with kind eyes and tiny crows feet at the corners.

She was far too good to work for my dad.

“River, oh my gosh, how are you?” she asked, smiling at me.

I granted her a genuine smile. “Good, Dorthea and you?”

“You know, same old. Picked up another hobby.”

I rapt my knuckles against the wood of the counter. “Crocheting didn’t pique your interest?”

She wagged her finger from left to right. “Hated it. It’s for some people, but I am not one of them. Felt like I was giving myself early onset arthritis.”

I laughed. Footsteps and a throat clearing had my laughter ceasing.

“River, come on in.” My dad motioned for me to follow him. I sighed, cracking my neck and giving Dorthea a nod before stepping around her desk.

My dad’s office was clean and put together.

It reminded me of Asher’s, but at least my brother tried to decorate his desk just a little.

Even if it was just a fake plant. There were two chairs on the opposite side of his desk, so I chose the one closest to the window.

I could look outside every so often if I got bored during this little encounter.

My dad unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down in his chair. “How are you?”

“Same as last time.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve spoken.”

“Not long enough,” I mumbled, leaning back in my seat.

He rubbed his eyebrow, clearly already frustrated. “The fact that I have to force meetings on you doesn’t make me happy. You know that, right?”

I let out a choked laugh. “Then why do you do it?”

“I want to spend time with my son.”

I sighed loudly, looking over his shoulder at a picture of all of us on a shelf behind him. I couldn’t remember how old I was during it, nor did I remember if I had been happy. Just because I was smiling didn’t mean much.

“Are you seeing anyone special?”

My eyes widened. “Spying on me?”

He scoffed, sliding his hand down the front of his jacket. “No, River. I work at this school; I happen to see you every now and then. I’m just assuming.”

I shrugged. “You assume right. She’s not up for discussion, so I suggest you move to the next topic. She’s a human, I love her, and she already knows she won’t be engaging with you anytime soon.”

He leaned over his desk, resting his forearms on it. “I’m sure your mother would like to meet her.”

“Maybe she will, but not when you’re around.”

He let out a sharp laugh. “You act like you had this horrible childhood, that you weren’t given everything you wanted. I have done nothing but want the best for you. You are the one who chooses to see it differently than the rest of us.”

I reached out and wrapped my hands around the end of the arm rests. “The rest of us? Are you talking about Asher? You really think just because he teaches here and lets you oddly dote on him that he doesn’t resent you?”

“Despite what you think, everything I’ve ever done has been in your best interest. You and your brother.”

I squeezed the ends of the arm rest, looking down at my knuckles.

They were turning white with the amount of pressure I was using.

“You had me stand in front of a bunch of strangers and wanted me to fuck with their minds, Dad. You wanted to show me off to your fucking friends, you wanted me to enhance my powers when I was still going through puberty.” I pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“ You resented me when you couldn’t get what you wanted and somehow you think that because you keep me monetarily satisfied, I’m going to like you? !”

He ran his long fingers over his mouth, staring at me. “None of those people would have gotten hurt. It simply would have been practice for you. They were willing participants, River. You were just too young to understand. Your brother can attest that no harm came to those strangers you mentioned.”

“You of all people should know that mental magic used for too much malicious intent can do harm more deeply than anything physical. I may do some reckless shit, Dad, but I at least know how to maintain my own powers.”

“River, lets just leave the past where it’s at and focus on the here and now.

” He always did this. Glazed over the past and kept trying to focus on the future.

It was irritating. I didn’t let my past linger so much that it ruined how I saw my life and my relationships, but that didn’t mean I’d forgotten.

I didn’t care much about an apology. I just wanted the man to leave me alone.

I shook my head, pushing the chair back and standing up. “I think I’ll go. You know if it wasn’t for mom’s continuous pleading for me to go to Mystic Riegan, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t know what you said to make Asher come here, but knowing you, it’s probably not good.”

I moved to start walking towards the door.

“River, sit down.”

“Yeah, right.”

I felt my body stop moving, feeling myself wanting to walk back over to my chair. I tried to push back against my mind, but I couldn’t. Something much stronger was taking over.

“Sit. Down. River.” My dad’s voice was forceful and lacked any gentleness he tried to have before.

I quickly did as he said, grinding my teeth together at my lack of control.

My dad had telepathy just like me, but he’d focused much more on controlling the mind and thoughts, rather than just reading minds.

It was very on brand for him, so whenever this kind of manipulation came out to play, it wasn’t shocking.

“This is how you spend time with your children. You force them,” I said through my teeth, continuously trying to push past his abilities to find the strength to leave. I was at a major disadvantage with my dampener ring on and he knew it.

“I don’t like doing this. You want to be stubborn, well I can as well.” My dad smiled at me as if we had been having the most pleasant conversation this entire time. “I could have forced you to do what I wanted when you were younger, but I didn’t. That counts for something.”

He walked around his desk and stood in front of me, his eyes assessing every single thing about me. “Now you are going to sit here and have a nice conversation with your father before your class, like the good son I know you can be.”