An Act of Persuasion(84)
“He’s not an option. He’s nothing to me. He’s just some name on a birthday card or a Christmas present.”
Mark stepped forward. “Sophie, your grandparents and I have discussed this a lot. You know them. Do you seriously think they would let you live with me if they didn’t think I could offer you a better option? Dom and Marie need the care. You’re a smart girl so you know this. They can’t keep traveling with you and you’re too young to travel by yourself. And they can’t continue with the way things have been just to make you happy. It’s not fair to them.”
“Not fair?” She was screeching now in a total teenage meltdown. “Not fair? What about what happened to me? My mother died. That’s not fair. Now my grandparents—the only family I have left—are going to leave me, too. To you?” She turned on Dom and Marie. “How could you? How could you?”
Marie was openly sobbing and Dom was doing everything he could to maintain his composure. Mark knew his daughter was hurting, but she was deliberately and maliciously hurting them all and he wouldn’t have it.
“That’s enough!” Mark got in her face so she could see he wasn’t playing around. “I know this sucks large for you, but this is your life. I am your father. You will live with me. And you will let your grandparents off the hook. This is not their fault. Everyone keeps telling me how mature you are...well, start acting like it!”
She jerked and he could see she was thinking about heading for the front door. Thinking of making a run for it, he imagined. It was exactly what he would do if he felt similarly cornered. Fortunately, paranoid former operative that he was, he’d installed a lock that required a key to function on both the inside and outside. And he’d had the foresight to lock it as soon as they walked through the door.
He shook his head. “You can’t run—the door’s locked and I have the key. However, if you would like to take some time to enjoy your lovely new room—”
The words were barely out of his mouth before she stormed down the hallway. The slam of a door closing echoed throughout the space.
Mark turned back to a sobbing Marie and a stalwart, but wounded, Dom.
“That went as well as we could have expected, I think.”
A crash sounded from inside the bedroom accompanied by a host of discordant electrical noises. Mark had a feeling she would need a new keyboard.
His daughter, it seemed, had a temper.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“HE WANTS TO LIVE with me.”
“That’s funny. She doesn’t want to live with me.”
Anna and Mark were sitting in his office eating what constituted a ridiculous amount of Chinese food. To be fair to Mark, most of it was for her.
It had been several weeks since Ben asked the question and she still didn’t know the answer. She’d been able to hold him off each time with her standard line that she would think about it. So far all that thinking hadn’t gotten her far.
And she realized the debate was starting to become moot. He came over to eat dinner and watch TV with her every night.
Slept with her every night.
The days of telling him she needed space were gone, because the reality was she didn’t want space. Not from him. Even now he’d taken possession of closet space and two drawers in her dresser. Not to mention the master bathroom cabinet filled with shaving foam and razors.
Man stuff.
She was fairly certain the only thing Ben didn’t have at her place was his furniture and the tuxedo she knew he owned.
“I take it Sophie hasn’t come around yet to her new reality.”
“No. She’s threatening to petition the court for legal status. Her grandparents are a wreck. I’m a wreck.”
“She’s a wreck,” Anna added.
Mark tossed his chopsticks aside and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah. She’s a wreck. And I don’t know how to get through to her.”
“Don’t stop. That’s all you can do. If you stop, she’ll feel like you’ve left her all over again.”
Mark shrugged. “I wish I could believe persistence and patience will work. Turns out my daughter is very stubborn.”
“She and Ben have a lot in common. Are there any dumplings left?”
Mark checked one of the containers. But Anna already knew there would be more. Certain one order of dumplings wasn’t going to be enough she had made sure to order three. That should have given them plenty even if Mark was a dumpling man.