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Sinking into his chair, he stared at the screen while rubbing the back of his neck. “You didn’t eat.”
I frowned, unable to follow the change in conversation.
“You sat here all day and didn’t eat. Or did David bring you food?” He looked up at me and must’ve seen the answer on my face. Letting out a giant sigh, he shook his head. “Go eat, Ada.”
I hesitated. “I’m not fired?”
He stared at me and for a second I saw just how tired he was. He looked ten years older than he was as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “No.”
Because I was a bleeding heart and because I felt partially responsible for some of the pain I could feel radiating off of Joe, I walked back around the desk and rested my hand on his shoulder. “Fifteen is a hard age for a girl. I don’t know what happened between you two today but you can fix it. You have to. Tomorrow, though. Maybe take a shot and a bath tonight. Get yourself another pedicure.”
“I don’t-” Joe cut himself off and huffed out a laugh. “Go away, Ada.”
I didn’t know when to stop. I wrapped my arms around his head and hugged him tight. “Thanks for not firing me.”
Joe was still for a few seconds and then he gripped both of my hips and eased me away. “Goodnight, Ada.”
I patted his cheek and then bent down to kiss it. “Goodnight, Joey.”
I’d already reached the door and was pushing it closed when I heard him mutter. “Fucking menace.”
22
***Collin***
IstaredacrossJoe’sdesk at him and tapped my fingers on the arm of the chair I sat in. “She locked me in a room for eight hours.”
Joe twisted his head from side to side, popping his neck. “Yeah. She did.”
“She’s an absolute pain in the ass, Joe. She locked me in a room. Are you hearing the words I’m saying? Our nanny locked me in a fucking room. With quarters. That part is just insulting, by the way. I was held in a room with five quarters and the whim of a twenty-something.”
He leveled a stare at me. “If you’re going to fuck outside of the bedrooms in this house, you should know to erase the footage.”
I clenched my jaw and sat back. “Is that what’s gotten you in a pissy mood?”
He looked like he wanted to swing at me. “What’s gotten me in a pissy mood is that I spent the day with my daughter and she hated it. She told me that she knew Ada was up to something and went along to make Ada happy. If not for Ada, she said she knew we wouldn’t be hanging out together because I’m a jerk who would rather play on his computer than talk to his family.”
My mouth fell open. That was harsh. I’d felt some of that when I’d realized I was locked in a room with my sons and they were staring at me like I was a stranger they didn’t know how to talk to. It hadn’t felt great.
“And yeah, asshole, I’m a little pissy that you fucked the nanny. We don’t do that shit.”
I raised my hands in surrender. “You’re right. It’s never happened before and it wasn’t anything I planned. There’s just something about Ada that gets under my skin. That’s not what we’re talking about right now, though. We’re talking about you and Kendall.”
He shook his head. “No. We’re not. I’ve already heard that I’m a shitty father two times today. I don’t need to hear it again.”
“She said you were a shitty father twice? The first time wasn’t enough?”
“No.” Joe’s eyes moved to his computer screen. “Her. The parasite that’s gotten under everyone’s skin.”
It took me a moment to understand what I was seeing and when I did, I let out a shocked bark of laughter. “What the fuck is she doing?”
Ada was in the middle of the hallway in front of her suite, ass in the air as she crawled around on the floor. Joe snorted. “She dropped something fifteen minutes ago. If she doesn’t find it, I’ll tell her later that it rolled under the door into her room.”
I grinned at the screen. “This might be my new favorite pastime.”
“She told me that I’m a shitty father earlier today and when I got home, she comforted me and gave me a pep talk and a kiss on the cheek.” He rubbed at his cheek like he could still feel her lips. “I think she might really be unstable.”
“I’d buy that.” I went back to watching her on the screen. It looked like she’d given up. She laid flat on the ground with her arms and legs spread out around her. Before I could think better of it, I pushed the button for the intercom inside her room, knowing the sound would reach her. “Hey, Ada? What exactly are you doing and does it require medical assistance?”
