Chapter Six #2
“Don’t hang up. Your father isn’t here. We need to discuss the importance of having you as a character witness for your father’s trial,” he says hurriedly, probably well aware of what little patience I have for this conversation.
“A character witness? You’re joking,” I bite out, loud enough for Ainsley to throw a pinched brow my way.
I wave her off, but I’m sure she sees the absolute rage rolling off me. How dare he call me at my job about this?
How dare he call me at all?
“Miss Thorne, I assure you, I’m not joking.
With the new evidence being brought in against the Arias Oil Corporation, your father doesn’t stand a chance unless we can provide reasonable doubt and convince a jury of his innocence.
You need to do your duty as his daughter and tell the court what a good man he is and how he has done nothing but provide for you and your mother. ”
A sick and twisted laugh escapes me as I breathe in a rage that fills my lungs and leaves my body buzzing.
“Let me make something perfectly clear to you.” I turn my back to the customers and take a deep, steadying breath.
“The last thing I’m going to convince anyone of is my father’s innocence.
I will not be sitting in front of a jury playing daddy’s little girl to a man who put his business and work before me my entire life.
A man who, at every opportunity he had, spit on the chance of spending time with me, let alone getting to know me.
Every birthday, every holiday, every cheerleading competition, and every possible big moment that I have had in my life, he was too busy to be bothered with, and thought throwing money at me would make it all better. ”
Harding tries to say something, but I cut him off.
“Did I say I was done? No.”
A surprised gasp, covered up by a cough, sounds through the phone, telling me I have his attention.
“I’ve read the case files, Mr. Harding, and if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that my father had his greedy hands all over this mess without ever thinking about how it might blow up in his face.
I spent twenty years of my life trying to make him proud of me, trying to win his affections, and realized that the only thing that man will ever love in this world is his money.
So for the last seven years, I’ve done everything I can to spend it. ”
“Miss Thorne, there’s no way you could have seen the case files. And no chance you could understand the information even if you did.”
The downfall of men will be their persistent underestimation of women.
This man should have taken the hint when I didn’t answer.
“No, Mr. Harding. You clearly don’t understand me.
A smart woman has her ways, and when I set my mind to something, there isn’t anything that will stop me.
For example, if I decided to dedicate all of my free time to filing a harassment suite against you for disturbing me at my place of work after receiving a tumultuous amount of unanswered phone calls from your personal number, how long do you think it would take for me to convince a judge to disbar you for intimidating a witness and coercing them to lie on the stand? ”
Silence greets me from the other side of the line. A solid beat passes before he clears his throat.
“I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Miss Thorne. It won’t happen again.”
He hangs up the phone, and I slam ours onto its receiver, feeling more like my old self than I have in months. My blood is still boiling hot, but I’m riding on a sense of empowerment after putting that lawyer in his place and hopefully ending his and my father’s incessant calling.
Ainsley casts me a sideways glance as she enters another order. “You’ve got this look in your eye that reminds me of a crazy bull ridin’ uncle I had growin’ up. You alright?”
I pile the firefighters’ orders onto a tray and whip around, a smile plastered to my face as I walk by her and toward them. “I’m peachy.”
I place everything in front of the group as they mutter their thank yous, and I’m about to walk away when Levi sputters out his coffee like it’s personally offended him. It’s obvious his actions are nothing more than theatrics meant to piss me off, but I’ve had enough.
“Let me guess,” I say sharply, tucking the tray under my arm and popping my hip. “You hate this one, too.”
“How is it that you manage to make each cup of coffee worse than the last?”
“Have you ever considered that I’m not the one with the problem, and maybe it’s actually you who wouldn’t know a good cup of coffee if it hit you in the face?” I look around the cafe, waving my hand. “No one else seems to have an issue here.”
“As if they would tell you if they did,” he snorts. “So sad, the spoiled rich girl doesn’t know how to make a decent cup of coffee, and now it tastes as bitter as she is.”
Gasps sound from around his table, and now his smug smile is on full display. Clearly, someone’s been filling his head with stories about me. I should have known it was only a matter of time. Fine. I know how to play this game, too.
Only, I know how to play it better.
“You think you know me?” I lean over the table and shove the tray that was tucked under my arm flat against his chest until he’s pushed straight back in his chair and our faces are inches apart.
“You don’t. But I know exactly who you are.
” My eyes sharpen, and I lean in closer until my lips brush against his ear.
“You’re the guy who walks around here making everyone near you miserable because your fiancée thought you were someone worth saving,” I whisper.
He flinches, so I press the tray harder against his chest as I tilt my head back to look him in the eye.
“And I think it’s a fucking shame that instead of taking the second chance that most people never get, you’re spitting on her sacrifice and walking around here being the biggest bitch this town has ever seen.
And that’s saying something since, as you must now know, I’ve lived here my whole life.
” I use his chest and the tray to shove myself upright, lifting an eyebrow as I straighten, daring him to challenge me.
No one at his table moves. “Did she just call him a bitch?” Mark whispers, but to whom, I’m not sure. My eyes are locked on his jade-green eyes as they flash with rage.
“I hate you,” he growls out.
“No. You don’t. You hate yourself. And until you start acting like someone worth saving, I don’t see that changing.” I rip the receipt out of my server’s book and drop it in the air, allowing it to float down to the table. “Your month is up. Pay at the front when you’re done.”
I stride back to the counter, so damn proud of myself for putting him in his place, finally stunning him into nothing more than a pathetic comeback.
He hates me? Boo-freaking-hoo. Join the club.
I’m sure by now they have T-shirts. I’m almost there when someone screams, and the little kid from earlier falls out of his chair and collapses on the floor right in front of me.
“He can’t breathe!” the little girl he was sitting with screams, sounding absolutely terrified.
I’m still frozen in place, shocked, and not sure what to do as the kid thrashes on the floor, clenching his throat.
Everyone around looks to each other, wearing matching expressions of panic, but without hesitation, all of the firefighters rush to his side.
Without thinking, I pull the little girl into my side and hold her as she cries, both of us scared and equally as helpless as we watch, silently praying he’ll be okay.