“Nice to meet you,” I said. “I’m Blaze.”
I felt an undercurrent of electricity between us, the same heat we’d had in the hotel. It ran through my veins and I felt my blood boil, thinking about her touch. I wanted to scoop her up in my arms, carry her away and get her out of here, away from this life. It was some kind of primal instinct. It took everything I had to stand there, rooted in the ground, and not rush to her.
“I'm Dani,” she said, her gaze never leaving me, heat flashing in her eyes.
When she spoke, I knew it. I knew it more than I’d known anything else in my life. I knew that this girl would wreck me.
"This is such bullshit!" Balling up a tee-shirt, I threw it in a bag. “I’m so glad I unpacked everything just to have to repack it all. Where am I being banished, anyway?"
My father stood just inside my bedroom, scowling. “It's for your own protection. We talked about this."
I returned to my closet to grab shoes. I picked up a pair of Jimmy Choos, then set them back down. Obviously there was no need for dress shoes. I glanced at the safe in the back of my closet. Should I bring a weapon? I grabbed a more sensible pair of sneakers and walked out of the closet. “So you’re telling me I'm supposed to just sit in a fucking house somewhere. You won’t even tell me where. And with some guy I don’t even know."
"It will be someone safe, someone I trust." My father paused. "Clean up your fucking language. I won't sit here and listen to you yell at me with that filthy mouth. You're not a thug."
"Daddy, please." I sat on the bed. I didn't need this now. I came home to get away from Billy, clear my head, have a little fun this summer. Suddenly the issue with Billy paled in comparison. It seemed like it happened a million years ago. "I want to see my friends, hang out at the beach, do normal stuff regular college students do."
"You're not a normal college student." My father sat down in an overstuffed chair near my bed. "I'm sorry you don't like it, but all this?" He gestured at the room. "All this is because of my work. You are where you are because of it, and you could express a little more gratitude for your present situation."
"The present situation is that I'm being shuttled off to some craphole in the middle of nowhere, away from everyone I know, for my protection." I spit out the last words, furious with him. I had friends in Los Angeles, people I knew. "I don't even know where I'm going."
"You don't need to know. It's for your own good."
I laughed bitterly. "How come everything is for my own good? I'm sick of hearing that. I'm sick of all of this."
Anger flashed in his eyes. "I would highly advise that you don’t say something you’ll regret. If you don’t like all of this, as you say, I can arrange so you won’t have to deal with any of it ever again.” It wasn’t simple fatherly advice. It was a direct threat, coming from a man who had power and influence that was more far-reaching than I could begin to imagine.
"Is this because of what happened with Billy?" I just couldn’t help myself; I had to continue. I swear I didn’t have a death wish.
"No, but he'll be dealt with suitably."
"I don't want him dealt with," I said. "I didn't come home so you would have him killed. Tell me you're not going to kill him."
My father stared at me, unblinking. "Does he deserve to live?"
Not really, I thought reflexively. Then, yes, of course he does. "He was high. He choked me. You can't kill him," I protested. I knew a moral argument against killing him would not sway my father, but maybe a practical one would. "Do you know who he is?"
"I know who he is."
"He's somebody, daddy." I waited to see if anything I said was registering with him. I hoped it was. "He's one of the Randolphs. I don't care what the hell he did to me. You can't just have him killed. You can't. They will come after us."
"It's not for you to worry about."
"Yes it is, daddy. It's absolutely my concern. How can you say it doesn't involve me?"
"It's not your concern," he said.
"Promise me you won’t go after him."
"I won't make that promise."
"Promise me," I begged. "Please don't kill him."
"It won't connect to us in any way."
"You can't, daddy," I pleaded. "It will come back to us. If someone touches him, it will come back on us." My stomach lurched. I knew coming here was a bad idea. At my core, I had hoped that my father was a reasonable man, that he wouldn’t do something insane like go after Billy. I thought he would understand that it was too dangerous. The Randolphs were just too influential. I should have stayed at school, distanced myself from Billy, waited until he got bored and moved on to someone else.
What was wrong with me? You knew he would kill Billy. Some part of you knew, and that makes you a killer too. You’re your father’s daughter.
No, no, no.
My father kissed my forehead. "I promise you. It won't connect to us."