28. Sabrina

Ichecked my phone for the hundredth time since Chase and the others rushed from my bedroom in the middle of the night. Nothing. I’d left Chase a voicemail after sunrise with no answer. “Fuck.” I hated being shut out like this. The incessant gnawing of abandonment wrapped around my throat, threatening to choke me to death. It said they didn’t want me anymore, that they’d gotten all they wanted from me and now I was on my own. Again.

Not true. Closing my eyes, I forced my turbulent thoughts back to last night and remembered every touch, every word.

No human could shut that off without a backward glance. An emergency at Grady pulled Chase away from me. Nothing else. The fact that he hadn’t called to update me meant nothing.

And I refused to sit here moping all day. I heaved my sore body from the bed and dressed in a casual print dress and low-heeled sandals.

Keith stumbled from his room and plopped onto the couch. “Are we going somewhere?”

“Yes.” I managed a tight smile. If I couldn’t get ahold of Chase to find out how I could help him, I’d go see my father. We needed a resolution to our problems. One way or the other. “How about we go see Grandpa Leon at work?”

“Awesome.” Keith bolted from the room and tore down the hall. His bathroom door slammed, and I had just enough time to wonder if I’d made a huge mistake when he raced back into the room. “Ready.”

“Great. Let’s go.” Smile still in place though it felt wrong and uncomfortable considering I had no idea what we’d be facing, I ushered Keith from the house and into the car. Dad was still ignoring my calls, but surely he wouldn’t leave us standing outside his office door. I just had to get past the dragon lady he called a receptionist. As long as Bailey hadn’t gotten ahold of the woman, I had a chance.

Keith wiggled in his seat and chattered. “Do you think Grandpa will be mad at me for getting into a fight? Garrett says I did the right thing. And so did you. So, if Grandpa gets mad, does that mean he’s right or wrong?”

The menagerie of questions rattled around in my brain the entire drive. “I think it’s complicated,” I finally offered when Keith continued to pursue the same question.

The modest skyrise where Dad worked loomed three blocks ahead. I tightened my grip on my meager control and willed my emotions not to run away with me. I was capable of a calm, controlled conversation.

Darkness closed in around us when I pulled into the underground parking lot. Everything looked the same, from the bright white lines on the concrete to the old, white-whiskered man sitting in the booth by the elevators. I nodded and passed him a stack of quarters. “Tell your granddaughter to play a game at the arcade for me.”

“Maybe you could bring Keith by sometime to play.” He tipped up his cap and grinned at Keith. “She’s always looking for someone to challenge her in air hockey.”

“We’d like that, wouldn’t we, Keith?”

He put his palms on the low counter and jumped until he could high-five the old booth keeper. “Tell Keisha I said hi. I miss her at school.”

“Sure thing, son.” He shot Keith a wide grin. “Don’t be a stranger.”

It was never my intention, but circumstances continued to push me further away. We entered the elevator, and Keith pushed the button for the eighth floor where Dad kept his office. He might not have as large a company as Grady International, but he maintained a generous staff. For the first time, I wondered about Dad’s process for coming up with new tech. He’d had a few successes over the years, with his most well-known app hitting the number-one spot seven weeks in a row and cementing his place in the industry. But he was no Chase Grady.

My heart leaped into my throat when the door opened and I was confronted with the oval desk where a pencil-thin woman with thick eyebrows and hair from a fifties sitcom sat filing her nails. She even smacked her gum, and her oversized bubblegum pink earrings jangled when she raised her head.

“Morning, Mrs. Appleby. I’d like to see my father.” I prided myself that my voice didn’t shake, and I made it all the way to her desk without the slightest hesitation in my step.

Gum popping, she waved me on with her nail file. “Go on in, sweetheart. He’s not busy.”

What the hell? Why was it that I could walk in and see him without a problem, but every phone call got redirected, or I was hung up on, or I sat on hold for hours? Even though it made no sense, I decided not to push my luck but hurried to Dad’s closed door and pushed through before the woman changed her mind.

The place hadn’t been updated in years. Same bland white walls and scratched-up glass and chrome desk. Same leather sofa with the stain I’d given it five years ago from a cup of coffee.

Dad sat stooped over his work desk, his fingers tapping across the keyboard and his gaze focused on the screen. He glanced up at the sound of the door clicking closed, then did a double take. “Sabrina? What are you doing here?”

While it wasn’t a warm or enthusiastic welcome, I took it as good news that he didn’t throw me out of the office. “We came to see you.” I inched closer. “Can we talk?”

“Sure. Sure.” He motioned me closer. “Keith, Markus is in the room right through there if you want to say hello.”

Keith looked at me for approval. I granted it even though I wished he could stay with me. Markus’s influence was minimal, and of my half brothers, I preferred him.

The door closed behind Keith and I dropped into the chair closest to Dad.

“So. What’s wrong?” Solemn and serious, he eyed me over his glasses. His hair had grayed more this year, and the rumpled lines in his suit looked too old for this time of morning.

“Dad, I need to know why you’ve been avoiding me. Why do you ignore my calls?” I crossed my ankles and tucked my hands against my stomach to hide the tremors racing through me. I’d never confronted him like this before. It was time for some answers, and I’d be damned if I left without them this time.

Twin lines appeared between his eyebrows as he picked up his phone and unlocked the screen. “Did you call today? I’m not seeing anything.” His frown deepened. “Sabrina, I don’t have any calls from you since New Year’s.”

“What?” My voice screeched up an octave. I palmed my throat and winced. “I called you last week. Like a dozen times. I was sent straight to voicemail.”

“I swear it, honey.” He locked eyes with me, and in the depths, I saw his honesty. “Here. See for yourself.” He passed me the phone and locked his fingers together on top of the desk. “I’ve been busy lately. Too busy.”

The weight of his words, and his concern, tempered the anger rising within me. “I agree. You’re so busy that you didn’t even notice when Bailey kicked me out of the apartment. Didn’t seem to care that she cut me off from the bank account.” I left the phone lying there. “I expect that kind of bullshit from her. She’s always hated me. But I expected better from you. I deserve at least one parent who loves me.” Damn it all. That was not what I came here to say, but now that I’d started, it was the thing that mattered most.

“Hold on.” Dad’s voice sharpened. He held up both hands, his eyes cold with fury.

I waited for him to tell me not to talk about Bailey that way. He’d done it before, demanding that I respect her as my mother. I’d bitten my tongue until it bled back then. Not anymore. There was nothing else she could take away from me. “She’s blocked me from your phone. Check your contacts. I’d bet every last dollar I own that my name’s not there anymore.”

Dad’s lips thinned, but he picked up the phone and scrolled. Each second that ticked past on his Rolex churned my stomach tighter and tighter. I’d managed not to be sick this morning, but that might not last much longer. “Why do you think Bailey would do this?”

I waved off the question. “Forget it. You always take her side, so it’s not worth my breath to argue. I came here to talk business.” I’d let myself be sidetracked by my emotions. Time to reel it all back in. “Are there any updates on the stolen tech?”

Dad blanched, sweat beading on his brow. “I’d rather not talk about that.”

“Come on, Dad. It was all you could talk about two months ago. Are you still losing tech? Have you made any headway in figuring out who’s taken it?” My pulse skipped and my head throbbed at the surges of emotion colliding together.

“It was a one-time theft. We never recovered the tech, but we’ll do okay without it. I have a new line on more apps that will put us back on top.” The phone hit the desk and skidded off to the side, where it lay spinning.

I pursed my lips. “Dad, are you buying tech from other companies or creating it in-house?”

“Why do you ask?”

The question left me on the edge of discovery. Swallowing hard, I took the leap. “I’ve heard that Grady International is suffering the same kind of problem. It made me wonder if others are too. First you, then Grady? It’s suspicious.” I held back before I revealed that I knew Chase had lost tech first.

If they knew I was here, or even suspected who I was … I attempted to quiet my mind from the churning what-ifs.

“How do you know about Chase?” Dad’s knuckles whitened where he gripped the edge of the desk.

The best way to tell a lie was to pepper it with as much truth as possible. “You talk about him sometimes. Complain, mostly.” I tried a smile that fell flat. This was my chance to tell him the truth, to come clean about all of it. By doing so, I risked everything. We were talking for the first time in years. He might understand me going to work undercover at Grady to find out if Chase really had stolen from him, but the rest of it? No, he would never understand how I’d managed to fall in love with his three best friends. I loved them so much it hurt to realize we could never be together in every way that mattered until I told everyone the truth.

God being an adult sucked sometimes. There was no easy way out this time. I hated to ruin the confidence we’d built, even if it was all stacked on a hill of lies.

Dad loosened his grip. “You heard me talking about Chase at dinner.” A thoughtful expression crossed his face. “I was angry and I said I thought he’d stolen from me.”

“Did he?” It was the question he’d expect me to ask, and it directed him away from how I knew anything more about the situation. I needed diversion tactics until I knew what to do.

Dad’s sigh sounded like a balloon leaking air. “I don’t think so. Not based on the current circumstances.” He stood and rounded the desk, dropping into the seat beside me. “Look, Sabrina, things have been tough at home. I’ve let a lot of things go.”

I snorted, unable to help myself.

“You said Bailey cut you off from the bank account and the apartment?” This time when his brows furrowed, I read the anger rising to the surface. Dad’s temper was a legendary thing. He held onto his control, but once it blew, everyone within five miles had better watch out.

Dad never held back. He held the longest grudges of anyone, and he knew exactly how to cut the deepest with minimal words. It explained why he ignored a lot of shit to keep from losing it every single day.

Telling him about me and his friends would put me on his shit list for years, maybe even the rest of my life. He loved me, but I had no guarantees he’d ever forgive me for a betrayal that size.

“She’s a menace, to me and to Keith. Always has been. I’m sorry we never got along, but I wish like hell that you’d paid better attention through the years. I love you, but I can’t keep letting her do what she does.” Taking a breath and holding it, I held his hands between mine. “I will never have anything else to do with her. I don’t need money or a place to live. I’ve managed to get by.” Thanks to Russell and Chase, but that was a conversation for later.

“Honey, I’ll fix this.” Dad’s temper shortened with every word I said.

Even as I pressed my lips, determined not to dig myself any deeper, the need to admit everything threatened to overwhelm me. I felt safe in his office, not the same way I felt safe with Chase in his, but safe enough that I thought he’d listen if I told him about Chase losing tech.

We could converse like adults. I could earn his respect like I’d set out to do and prove that I had what it took to earn the Adams name.

“Sir, the men from Grady International are here for their meeting.” Mrs. Appleby’s nasally voice echoed from the intercom. “Shall I send them in?”