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Trent smiled at something my father said before staring at me. His eyes were a watery blue, and I flinched when his gaze touched me. He didn’t just look. He scanned me head to toe. My skin crawled. There was something shrewd in that weak gaze that I didn’t trust at all. Calculated sleaze.
“Duncan, nice to see you,” I said dutifully and let my father’s friend shake my hand. His was clammy.
“Please, sit. Let me see how Charlie’s little girl is growing up.” Duncan’s tone was jovial enough, but there was something lurking behind those seemingly harmless words.
“So, I know it’s been a while since you kids got together, but do you remember Trent? He remembers you.”
The only person worse than Duncan was his asshole son.
I forced a smile. “Of course.” Who could forget one of the worst people they’d ever met?
The last time I’d seen him, I’d been fifteen on a boring day trip to New York, where my father and Duncan had sent me and Trent off to Central Park Zoo with our drivers. Not a single enclosure had escaped being banged on by Trent, and at the end of the day, while we’d been waiting on the cars to be pulled around, he’d ripped a fifty-dollar bill in half to taunt a homeless woman sitting on a park bench. He’d let the other half blow away. When I’d confronted him about it, he’d proven his subhuman status.
“Why should she sit in the park, stinking up the place, right where I want to sit? She can chase around the rest of the bill, and we can sit and watch. Dinner and a show, what more do you want?”
His company was vomit-inducing, and I’d left him there, found the lady, given her all the cash I had in my wallet, and taken the subway uptown to wait for my dad in his office.
“He is really flourishing at HHU. Studying finance, or course, like his old man. One day, God willing, he’ll lead Invictus H.H Group and guide another generation of founding families to new heights of success.” Duncan smiled proudly.
“Exciting stuff,” I murmured flatly.
“Isn’t it?” Trent drawled, his gaze still on me. I regretted the pale-pink satin slip dress I’d decided to wear. I felt naked under his lecherous gaze.
“I’m so happy you two could finally have dinner together. It’s been far too long since the families have gotten together.” Duncan clapped my dad on the shoulder and smiled at him.
My father nodded, his eyes turning to me, full of hope and contentment. This was exactly what he wanted. To be surrounded by his family and old friends. This made the trip home worth it for him. I summoned a smile. I’d always managed to find one for my dad.
“Shall we open another bottle of champagne?”
I lasted an hour before making my escape. I needed a breather. Trent Fitzgerald was even worse than I’d remembered, as impossible as that should be. But my dad was laughing with his old buddy, and I liked the sound. That didn’t mean I couldn’t get a little help to make it through the rest of the evening.
I headed in the direction of the bathrooms. I’d grown up wandering the halls of The Dunes. It was where Invictus H.H Group met to discuss their investments, where my mom saw her charity committee friends, and where I’d had tennis lessons twice a week since I was five.
When I got near the bathroom, I veered off to the left and pushed through a door marked Staff Only.
Ramona had worked at The Dunes for years, and she was my pot hookup. She got it from her brother, who was a big-time dealer, apparently. She dealt to most of the younger members of The Dunes and made a good living from it. She worked as a bartender, but she’d told me once that the only reason to keep the job was the access to the trust fund kids of Hade Harbor.
I had no idea if she was working tonight, but we had a system where I sometimes took my delivery from her locker. I didn’t usually mess around with it when my parents were here. Dad, in particular, would be so disappointed in me. However, tonight was an exception, thanks to Trent and the dinner that would never end.
I hated to disappoint my father. Mom never seemed to care much either way. She was never disappointed in me, but she never expected much, either. She was just herself, absorbed in her own world of philanthropy, wellness retreats, and chairing numerous charities.
Dad traveled just as much, if not more. He called regularly; he remembered life events. He wished me luck on exams and came to my graduation. I knew it was a damn low bar, compared to other people whose parents were with them every day, but it was all I’d ever known.
Always lacking that finite resource of my father’s attention had made me crave it. I was a daddy’s girl, there was no point in denying it. My father tried to give me all the material things I wanted, and I tried not to disappoint him or rock the boat. I had this strange, contradictory feeling that while I was the apple of his eye, his love for me was always hanging by a thread.
The staffroom behind the kitchens was empty. I shot a quick message off to Ramona.
Me: Need my delivery.
Ramona: I’m off tonight. I left it in my locker. Have fun.
Satisfied, I tucked my phone away and went to Ramona’s locker. Typing in the code, I eased it open and looked for the envelope she usually left my stuff in.
I stuffed the white rectangle into my purse, just as a hard voice spoke from behind me.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Asher
