Page 123 of Rush

“What do you fancy?” I ask him.

“Mint chocolate chip.”

“Me, too.” I grin at him.

I serve the ice cream into the three bowls that he’s laid out for us, and we carry them through to the dining table. I’ve just sat down, ready to resume our card game, when my cell starts to ring on the table.

I glance down at the number, not recognizing it. I hesitate for a moment, deciding whether or not to answer it, and then pick it up, connecting the call.

“Hello?”

“Arianna.”

“Yes.”

“It’s Officer Knight. I just wanted to call and let you know that Leo Parsons was assaulted last night.”

“He was?” I say, surprised. “I’d say I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m not.”

“I didn’t think you would be.” Her tone is so even that I can’t tell where she’s going with this. “A couple of guys broke his nose and a couple of his ribs. Bruised him up pretty bad,” she adds. “There were no witnesses, and he couldn’t identify the perpetrators.”

“Okay…but why are you telling me this?”

“I just thought…all things considering, this might be something you’d want to know.”

I finally hear the inflection in her voice, and I smile.

“Well, I appreciate you calling to tell me.”

“No problem. I’m just sorry there wasn’t anything more I could do regarding your case.”

“That’s okay,” I tell her. “I understand.”

“Well, that was all I called to say. You have a good night now.”

“I will. You, too.”

I hang up my cell, placing it back down on the table.

“Who was that?” Ares asks.

“The cop who dealt with my complaint. She called to tell me that Leo was assaulted last night. Broke his nose and a couple of ribs. Beat him up pretty bad.”

Neither of them says a word.

And, suddenly, the silence at the table is deafening.

My eyes move from Ares to my dad and down to my dad’s cut-up hand.

Then, they fly up to his eyes, and everything I need to know is written there.

A lump appears in my throat.

I don’t condone violence, but…he did that for me. He went there and kicked the shit out of the guy who had drugged me and hurt me because…my dad loves me.

It might not be the ideal way to show your love to someone. But it’s my dad’s way.

“Dad…did you…beat up Leo Parsons?”