Page 93 of All for Love

Surprise trickled through me. I reached for two glasses and grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the shelf behind me. After making our drinks, I pushed his across the counter and sat down on a stool, motioning for him to do the same.

“Margaux kicked you out of your own house?” That seemed rich to me, but what did I know?

My father shook his head, tossed back a large gulp of the whiskey, and flinched slightly once he’d swallowed it. “Nah. She didn’t kick me out. She just said she needed some space after the huge truth bomb you dropped on us.”

I looked at him, seeing the worry and hurt in his eyes and knowing that there was more to this story. “And?”

“And what?”

I lowered my chin. “Why did you need to get out to give her the space she needed?”

He held my gaze as he took a few more sips of his drink. “It seems sharing a bed, or a mansion for that matter, with the father of the man sleeping with her daughter made her feel physically ill.”

Guilt streaked through my insides, but as it did, I realized that said insides were also still in pain. I pulled a bottle of painkillers they’d given me at the hospital out of my pocket and took two with my next sip of whiskey.

Dad cast a worried look my way. “You probably shouldn’t mix those two. Painkillers and alcohol.”

I silenced him with a sharp glare. “I’m not driving or going anywhere tonight and I’m going to bed just as soon as this drink is done. Physically ill, huh?”

Dad nodded, his expression forlorn. He lowered his gaze to the amber surface of the liquid in the tumbler. “Yeah, it seems so.”

“Think it’ll pass?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. I thought you’d said everything you needed to say about it?”

“I have. Doesn’t mean you did.”

Lifting his gaze, he let it hover on the cast and the blood, and then shook his head. “Also doesn’t mean it has to be right now. You’ve had enough of a day. Tomorrow is another one.”

Gratitude swept through me as I nodded. I felt bad that he was in need of a place to stay because of me, but I also didn’t think he’d really have to leave the damn mansion because of it. If he was pandering to Margaux’s drama, that was on him. Not me.

I’d had a lot of time to think while I’d been lying in that hospital bed, and as far as I was concerned, she’d overreacted greatly. It looked like she still was. I hadn’t forgiven her for saying that my relationship with Mercedes was disgusting—didn’t know if I ever would—and now she’d kicked the Wagner patriarch out of Wagner Estate on account of needing space.

That place was huge. If it was space she wanted, then she had more than enough of it there, even if he had stayed. I knew Mercedes and I were the ones in the wrong here, but still, she was taking it a bit too far.

Dad, on the other hand, seemed okay. If not a little sad. He definitely didn’t seem as fueled by anger as Kaden and Brooke had been, and just as I’d thought, he hadn’t keeled over at the news. If anything, he seemed introspective. Sad but not devastated. Worried but not afraid.

I knocked back the rest of my drink and got up. “Well, I’ll give you some space too. I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning, old man. Feel free to make yourself comfortable in the guest room. It’s made up and you should find everything you need there, but if not, help yourself.”

Dad gave just a hint of a smile as he nodded. “Thanks, boy. Take a shower before you crash.”

“Planning on it.” I double-tapped my knuckles on the bar and left him to it, then quickly washed off the blood and hospital grime before falling into bed.

My phone lit up as I was getting comfortable, reminding me that I had a bunch of missed calls and texts from Mercedes. I groaned. Shit.

Me: Hey, you. I’m sorry I’ve been MIA. Will explain everything tomorrow. Sleep tight! x