26 #2
The look Rhys leveled at her was enough to make her sit back down, but it didn't erase the petulant look from her face. He decided to dispense with any pleasantries.
"Exactly why did you want me back in Chicago? Since I've been here you've done everything humanly possible to avoid me, and I want to know what all this was about."
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "I have not been avoiding you. I have a life, okay?"
"And I had one in Dallas, one which you disrupted for some reason. I want you to tell me why."
"Oh, please, Dad."
Christ, did they teach eyerolling in schools now? He took several deep breaths until he could speak without yelling.
"Please, what? You don't think I have a life outside of you or your brother? And I swear to God, Sienna, if you roll your eyes at me one more time, you'll discover that you're not too old to be spanked."
The look she tossed him was the text-book definition of patronizing.
"I know you have a life, okay? All I have to do is pull up music downloads or TMZ to see that.
But Dallas? Seriously." She huffed out a breath of impatience.
"You didn't even have a place to live there.
You were just staying in that guy's condo.
And it's not like you were there anyway, right?
You recorded the album and then you went off on tour, just like you're about to do now. So why not Chicago?"
"Because I like Dallas better, and contrary to what you might think, I was planning to make my home there.
" For the life of him he couldn't understand her hatred of his choice to live in Texas.
"And since you haven't bothered to grace me with your presence since I've been back, I miss Dallas. A lot."
"What, are you talking about that Rhett person? Please."
A smug little sliver of satisfaction colored her voice, and Rhys's heart plummeted.
Unbidden, something Rhett said floated up from where he'd buried it deep in his memory: I'm not going to be the one forcing you to make a choice.
When she said it, he'd gotten angry at the implication that his daughter was manipulating him into choosing her over Rhett.
But Rhett knew. She hadn't come right out and said it, but she knew.
And his love for Sienna along with the guilt she laid on him blinded him to what was really going on.
"Actually, I am talking about Rhett." It hit him like a blow to the midsection when Sienna couldn't repress the pleased grin that pulled at the corner of her mouth. "But, of course, she and I no longer see each other."
One of her shoulders rose in a dismissive shrug. "Couldn't have been serious then, so it's no big loss, right?"
For a moment he couldn't speak. The shock that his own daughter could be so callous with his feelings constricted his vocal cords like a noose drawn tight around his neck.
"I never dreamt I could be so disappointed in you.
" He nodded when her mouth dropped open in shock.
"Yes, disappointed. I can't believe my own daughter manipulated me and lied to me to get me to come back here, and did it not because you needed me, but just to try to ruin something I had.
And you're not sorry about it. There's not one bit of remorse in you. "
"Ruin?" Sienna yelled. "You were going to get back with Mom, and that slut ruined it. We came to New York so you and Mom could make up, but no. You were in that hotel room banging that whore, and—”
"That's enough." It was a tie between shock at her assumption that he and Hayley were on the road to reconciliation, and anger at the terms she used about Rhett that made his voice hoarse. "I'll not allow you to speak that way about Rhett. Apologize now."
"Fuck that."
"Sienna Reese Collinsworth, I swear to God..."
"What? Are you gonna hit me?" The shine of angry tears in her eyes made them appear almost feral. "I'm eighteen, and if you dare lay a hand on me, I swear I'll throw your ass in jail."
"Oh for Christ's sake, you know I'm not going to hit you.
" He took a moment to rein in his anger, and to try to dispel some of the disbelief that the defiant young woman who sat across from him spewing venom was really his daughter.
"But I will tell you some truths, and you're going to listen.
I've never had any intention of getting back together with your mother.
None. That's not Rhett's fault, or any of the other women I've dated since we divorced.
I don't know what your mother told you, but if it had anything to do with some reconciliation between us then it was a lie.
I made that quite clear to her the last time Illicit played here, and if she filled your head with some fantasy fairy-tale then she's got a lot of explaining to do. "
Sienna dismissed his words with a violent shake of her head.
"You haven't spent one minute with her since you got here, so how can you know? I thought if you were here and away from that—” Whatever she saw in her father's steady gaze made her cut off whatever she was about to say.
"From that other person. If you had just been with Mom and took her out and stuff, then you could see that you could be happy with her again. "
"No, Sienna. Your mother and I are not ever going to be together again, and you need to accept that. As for Rhett..." He had to stop to take a deep breath.
"You barely even knew her, Dad. Get real."
"What I had with her was real, but I ended up sacrificing it for you. I lost someone special so I could sit here in this bloody apartment waiting for you to make the time to see me."
"It's not me you needed to see, it was Mom."
"Never gonna happen, Sienna." He picked up her purse from the floor next to the couch and tossed it to her.
"You're old enough to know that there are very few people I trust, given what I do for a living.
There are too many people who would be more than happy to take advantage of me for one reason or another.
I just never thought you'd be one of them. "
"Oh, yeah?" She tossed her head. "How do you figure I took advantage of you?"
"You have to ask?" He stared at her, eyes wide with disbelief. "You manipulated my feelings, Sienna. You played on my love for you."
"So what?" She slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder. "It didn't work, did it? So why does it matter?"
Rhys shook his head. "It matters because I do love you, but it's going to take a while before I can believe anything you say again."
Her shrug was nonchalant. "Okay. But you know what? Part of it worked. You’re not tied down to that Rhett bitch anymore, so there's that. Too bad, Dad. But if mom and I aren't happy then you can't be happy either."