Page 10 of Past

We spend the rest of the day shopping before Emilia and I go home. I spot my dad’s car in the parking lot as I pull in. I smile as I see him get out. I go to get my bags out of the boot, and when I close it, I see Blake chatting with my dad. Emilia takes her bags and walks over with me to my dad. I know Emilia knows who he is because he has been at our apartment a few times to pick me up.

"You best be staying away from my daughter, Mr. Frost. I would hate for you to owe me anything," my dad says with a cold tone I haven't heard before.

"Only ten fights left before they can all walk away, Arthur," Blake sneers before seeing me and smiling.

"Hey, did you have a good shopping day?” Blake asks as we get close.

“Yes, Izzy bought some new things,” I say to Blake, who grins.

“I like you, Allie.” He chuckles and then says, “Speaking of Izzy, I’ve got to meet up with her. So bye, guys, see you around, Mr. Lewis." He looks at my dad, but I can’t see his expression before he walks off.

"Hey, baby girl." My dad walks over to me with a big grin and kisses my cheek.I really love my dad. Although he is almost always away on business, he checks up on me. We chat every week on the phone, and we go out for meals at least twice a month. He is always there for me if I need him, and I love that. I wish he and Tristan were as close as we are. They seem to hate each other, and I’m not exactly sure why.

"Dad, I don’t know if you’ve met before, but this is Emilia," I say, noticing how tight Emilia’s face gets.

"Ah, Roddy's daughter," he mumbles, looking her over.

"Yes, I've seen you with my dad before at the–"

My dad cuts her off by rudely interrupting, saying, "At the pub, yes. Lovely to see you, dear.

“Alexandria, we have dinner plans." I flinch at his use of my full name. I hate it because it's my mother’s name, and thinking of her only brings pain.

"Em, can you take my shopping bags in?" I ask Emilia, who nods, not looking at me before walking away.

"What was Blake saying about only ten fights left?" I ask, following my dad back to his car. I notice straight away how tense he gets before he laughs it off.

"I have no idea, baby girl."

I know he is lying to me, but I decide not to press it. My dad has a short temper, and pissing him off would only mean a very long night.

"Right. Is Tristan coming?"I ask as I get into the car and do up my seatbelt.

"No," my dad says curtly before driving off.

The whole meal is tense, and I'm not sure what's wrong with my dad. Tristan is all over the place, and I need answers, which I know my dad has but won’t give me. Sebastian once told me that Elliot knows something about my brother. The phone call a few days ago pops into my head, when Tristan told me to stay away from Elliot. So maybe Elliot does know something.If only I could have a whole conversation with him without wanting to kill him.

Chapter 4

Elliot

"Idon't get why you hate her so much," my girlfriend, Lily, says as I glare at Allie chatting to a classmate of ours, Daniel. I watch as he holds her hand, and despite the fact that I can't stand her, I want to go over and rip his hand off of her.

"Baby, are you listening to me?" Lily asks me and kisses my neck, drawing my attention to her.

Honestly, I'm only dating her to piss off Allie.I’ve broken up with her countless times now, and then, somehow, we end up back together. Lily has dated other guys while we’ve been split up; I know she slept with at least one of them. I haven’t gone that far with her yet because of my fucking father. I don’t want to take it farther and then be forced to sleep with whoever my father finds for me.

"Yeah," I mutter, kissing her on the lips; she does taste nice, and I am a guy.

Lily is a beauty, with long, red hair and a great body. Being fifteen, and a man, does make me want her in a way, but every time I kiss her, I see the older women’s faces, stopping me from going farther. I pull away thinking of my stitches on my back. My dad stitched me up after cutting me for not listening when he made me and Luke fight. It wasn't that I wasn't listening, but I refused to kick the crap out of Luke like he wanted. In the end, he punched me, knocking me out again and drew another cut along my back to match my others. I screamed until I passed out again, but what was worse was when I woke up to see him cutting Luke in the same place because he refused to do the same to me.

"You’re still not listening to me," Lily whispers in anger. I walk off toward Allie and Daniel, ignoring Lily because she is getting annoying.

"Hey, man, can I chat with you?" I step in between Allie and Daniel so my back is facing her, and to my relief, he lets go of her hand.

"Sure," Daniel says, looking annoyed at me but following me into the empty classroom I go into.

"What do you want, dude? I need to get laid, and Allie was totally into me." He grins, dropping his bag onto the desk.