Entwined with You(64)

My mom looked at me then and I couldn’t think of a thing to say to her. I was almost as disgusted by the look of guilt on her face as I was by the thought of her cheating on Stanton. If she was going to do it, she could at least own it.


My dad chose that moment to join us. He walked into the room dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, with bare feet and hair still damp from a shower.


As always, my luck was impeccably bad.


“Dad, this is my friend Megumi. Megumi, this is my dad, Victor Reyes.”


As my dad walked to Megumi and shook her hand, my parents gave each other a wide berth. The precaution did nothing to stop the electricity arcing between them.


“I’d thought maybe we could hang out,” I told him to fill the sudden awkward silence, “but now I’m not feeling up to it.”


“I have to go,” my mom said again, grabbing her purse. “Megumi, did you want to ride with me?”


“Yes, please.” My friend hugged me good-bye. “I’ll call you later and see how you’re feeling.”


“Thanks.” I caught her hand and squeezed it before she pulled away.


The moment the door shut behind them, I headed to my room.


My dad came after me. “Eva, wait.”


“I don’t want to talk to you right now.”


“Don’t be childish about this.”


“Excuse me?” I rounded on him. “My stepdad pays for this apartment. He wanted me to have a place with great security so I’d be safe from Nathan. Were you thinking about that when you were f*cking his wife?”


“Watch your mouth. You’re still my daughter.”


“You’re right. And you know what?” I backed up toward the hallway. “I’ve never been ashamed about that until now.”


I lay on my bed and stared up the ceiling, wishing I could be with Gideon, but knowing he was in therapy with Dr. Petersen.


I texted Cary instead: I need u. Come home ASAP.


It was close to seven when the knock came on my bedroom door. “Baby girl? It’s me. Let me in.”


I rushed to open it and surged into him, hugging him tight. He picked me up so that my feet left the floor and carried me into the room, kicking the door shut behind him.


He dropped me on the bed and took a seat beside me, his arm around my shoulders. He smelled good, his cologne familiar. I leaned into him, grateful for his unconditional friendship.


After a few minutes, I told him. “My parents slept with each other.”


“Yeah, I know.”


I tilted my head back to look up at him.


He grimaced. “I heard ’em when I was heading out to the shoot this afternoon.”


“Eww.” My stomach churned.


“Yeah, doesn’t work for me, either,” he muttered. His fingers sifted through my hair. “Your dad’s on the couch looking beat. Did you say something to him?”


“Unfortunately. I was mean, and now I’m feeling awful about it. I need to talk to him but it’s weird, because the person I’m feeling most loyal to is Stanton. I don’t even like the guy half the time.”


“He’s been good to you, and to your mom. And getting cheated on is never cool.”


I groaned. “I’d be less freaked about it if they’d gone somewhere else. I mean, it’d still be wrong, but these are Stanton’s digs. That makes it worse.”


“It does,” he agreed.


“How would you feel about moving?”


His brows rose. “Because your parents shagged here?”


“No.” I stood and started pacing. “Security was the reason we got this place. It made sense to let Stanton help out when Nathan was a threat and safety was a priority, but now …” I looked at him. “It’s all different now. It doesn’t seem right anymore.”


“Move where? Someplace else in New York we can afford on our own? Or out of New York altogether?”


“I don’t want to leave New York,” I assured him. “Your work is here. Mine, too.”


And Gideon.


Cary shrugged. “Sure. Whatever. I’m game.”


Walking over to where he still sat on my bed, I hugged him. “Would you mind ordering something in for dinner while I talk to my dad?”


“Got anything particular in mind?”


“Nope. Surprise me.”


I joined my dad on the couch. He’d been surfing through my tablet but put it aside when I sat.


“I’m sorry about what I said earlier,” I began. “I didn’t mean it.”


“Yeah, you did.” He scrubbed wearily at the back of his neck. “And I don’t blame you. I’m not proud of myself right now. And I have no excuse. I knew better. She knew better.”


Pulling my legs up, I sat facing him with my shoulder resting against the back of the sofa. “You guys have a lot of chemistry. I know what that’s like.”


He shot me an examining glance, his gray eyes stormy and serious. “You have that with Cross. I saw it when he came over for dinner. Are you going to try to work things out with him?”