Finnegan
Guess who’s here right now, Dad? I’ll give you a clue, it’s not the King of England.
Angel’s text must have co in while Abigail and I fucked like rabbits in the car.
It wasn’t until my phone rang with the call from her that I saw the ssage. Guilt ate at my insides. My daughter had needed , and I had been balls deep in my assistant, moaning her na like a song.
I couldn’t even pick up the call because Abigail was in the bloody car. I had always kept my life private, from the dia, from the news, from work, especially.
But this thing with Abigail was blurring those lines. She wasn’t just an assistant to anymore. That didn’t an she had to know about Angel or Victoria. As long as I could keep the two worlds separate, I would be fine.
Yeah, easier said than done.
I had been less careful, considering she already even knew Angel’s na.
I reread Angel’s text. It couldn’t be what I was thinking, could it? I connected the phone to the car’s bluetooth and returned my daughter’s call.
"Well, well, if it isn’t my father," Angel’s sarcasm was so evident imdiately she picked. "I was beginning to wonder if you’d pulled a Judas on ."
"Angel, I’m sorry,"
"You left to the wolves, abandoned the ship, and went completely AWOL, soldier. What do you have to say for yourself?"
God, she and her dramatics.
I couldn’t stop the slight quirk of my lips at her words. My daughter seed to have made it her life’s mission to make laugh whenever she could.
Just like Abigail.
A mory of Abigail cheering when she made laugh filled my head, and the smile died. I shouldn’t be thinking about her right now.
"Victoria’s there?"
"Yep," Angel drawled, "My loving mother finally shows up at my school for the first ti in three years, and it just had to be when we’re going on a sumr vacation."
"Hey!" I heard Victoria yell in the background, and my blood boiled. The nerve of that woman. What was she hoping to achieve by doing this?
"She’s currently standing in my room, touching my things and glaring at for calling you."
"Don’t antagonize her, Angel,"
"I’m sitting on my bed with my hands in my lap, Dad. This is my most peaceful configuration setting."
"Angel," I groaned.
"I’m just saying I’m not doing anything."
I swerved the car onto the main road, the city moving past the windows in evening light. I was supposed to pick Angel up tomorrow from school, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around why Victoria would go to pick her up when she hadn’t even seen Angel since the winter vacation.
Victoria’s voice in the background reached my ears. "Is it really necessary to call him? I just wanted to spend so ti with you and pick you up. Get your things,"
"I’m going to wait for my Dad, if it’s all the sa to you, mother,"
"Just go with her, Angel," I sighed, my fist tightening around the steering wheel. "We’ll et at ho."
Well played, Victoria, I thought as I drove back to the one house I had hoped I wouldn’t step foot in again.
Our matrimonial house looked the sa as it had before the repairs. It put up the usual facade, looking hoy and happy on the outside. I had paid for every inch of it, and yet I still felt like an intruder pulling into the driveway.
The front door opened before I reached it and
Angel ca through it at speed, her dark hair flying, her school bag slung over one shoulder. Her body hit with so much force that I took a step back.
"Dad!" She hugged tight, burying her face in my chest.
My arms went around her as I picked her up and pressed my lips to the top of her head.
"Hi princess,"
"Hmmm," She pulled back and looked up at with those green eyes, narrowed in scrutiny. "You look worried, Dad. Are you okay? Did sothing happen?"
Yes, your Grandmother has been actively trying to set up for cris I never committed.
I couldn’t imagine telling her that. How much more of a dysfunctional ho could I give her? She already had a crazy mother; I couldn’t let her know her grandmother was just as cruel.
"I’m fine."
"You always say that." She scoffed, pushing away from . I lowered her to the ground. She had grown taller; it was terrifying seeing how quickly she grew every month.
"Because I’m always fine."
"Dad." She tilted her head. "Mrs Davies says that deflection is a coping chanism."
"Mrs Davies should focus on teaching and not being a therapist."
That got a grin from my teenager, and it felt like I had launched rockets to the fucking moon.
"Honey, is that you?" Victoria called, and the smile on Angel’s face fizzled out quickly.
I steered her gently to one side and stepped into the hallway.
Victoria was in the doorway to the sitting room, a mug in both hands, her brown hair down around her heart-shaped face.
"Why did you pick her up?"
"Hi to you too, Finnegan," She cocked her head to the side, beaming at . "I just thought it would be nice to pick her up. It’s been a while."
"She was coming ho tomorrow." I tried so damn hard to keep my voice even, especially when she began walking towards . "We had an arrangent."
"Arrangents can cha-" she stopped before , her head tilted slightly, brows pulling in a frown.
Her eyes moved over , slowly from my head down to my shoes. "Did you change your cologne? You have that scent again."
Shit. Abigail’s perfu still clung lightly to my shirt. Ignoring Victoria, I turned and held my hand out to my daughter. "Get your bag, we’re leaving."
"Already have it." She appeared at my elbow, bag over her shoulder.
"Good, let’s go-"
"Would you really do that?" Victoria chuckled dryly, holding her mug to her lips. She pursed them to blow over the rising steam. "Or have you forgotten what tomorrow is?"
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