Chapter 10
Michael
Three weeks later
Iscrubbed a tired hand down my face as I closed my laptop.
The school lunch hour was almost finished, so I had ten minutes to get back to my classroom.
Usually I’d look out for Lucy to check whether she was where she said she’d be, but I decided to give myself a day off from playing her parole officer.
I also wasn’t an idiot. As much as I wanted to trust my daughter, I knew her unfortunate…dalliance with a certain member of the faculty would overrule her better judgment. I also couldn’t trust him to stay away, although they were both quick to promise me as such after I’d caught them.
But today, I was too exhausted to track Lucy down. I took my packed lunch and sequestered myself in the small office attached to my classroom. I tried to eat and work, but I simply stared at my blank screen and thought about her.
Dina.
I missed her like crazy. And knowing that I hurt her by running away—again—and ignoring her calls and messages was a tough pill to swallow. I wasn’t a good man. Certainly not good enough for Dina.
My only excuse was my karma smacking me dead in the face. Coming home and catching Lucy with a man almost twice her age, and a person of authority, was like having water poured all over me. I was a fucking hypocrite.
How could I blow up on my daughter and Roman Drake without taking a long, hard look at my own actions? If I thought their relationship was disgusting and inappropriate…then what did that make me? No better than Roman fucking Drake.
But giving Dina up, knowing I had made the right decision, didn’t make me feel any better. My heart and soul revolted against me, determined to punish my body and appetite for denying them their balm.
I missed her. I missed her so fucking much that it was hard to breathe at times. I’d only had the briefest taste of heaven before it was snatched away.
No. Before you wised up.
Lucy would look at me at times, worriedly examining the dark circles under my eyes and the weight loss from my lack of appetite.
Her face would cloud with guilt, and I knew she thought my tired appearance was due to her secret and highly inappropriate relationship with Roman.
I couldn’t absolve her of my worried nature completely, but it certainly wasn’t the main cause. Worrying Lucy only piled on more guilt.
It was too late to fix things with Dina now, even if I could. She was mad at me, and rightfully so. She’d called me and left countless unread text messages and a few missed calls before she finally realized I was serious. I hadn’t heard from her in over two weeks.
God, there were so many times I almost got into my car and drove back to Koby Plains, determined to beg on my knees for forgiveness.
But I couldn’t do that again to her. I had to let her go.
She’d find someone else, someone more appropriate.
It didn’t matter that the thought of her with another man made me want to punch a wall—which wasn’t ideal since I’d already bruised my knuckles punching a wall at our house when I discovered my daughter with Roman.
I shook my somber thoughts aside and scrubbed a hand down my face, trying to wipe away the shame and agony. I got up and decided to stretch my legs to fill my water bottle up before my next class. No point wallowing the whole day away.
As I walked down the hall, my tortured thoughts turned to anger when I spotted Roman fucking Drake walking towards me.
The fucker looked perfectly calm and relaxed…
even though his hair looked a little tousled, not like his usual perfectly groomed style.
My eyes narrowed like slits as I stared at his rumpled shirt.
Roman nodded at me politely, not even a care in the world that he’d caused such grief and distance between my daughter and me.
“Michael,” he acknowledged as he passed me by.
I gritted my teeth. “Roman.”
I kept on walking even though I cursed him to hell and back.
He was a very real and somber reminder that I couldn’t have what I really wanted.