I snorted a bitter laugh. "No shit," I replied. "Too busy fucking my new mommy?" Gray-eyes wrinkled his nose, and I sighed. "Whatever. Do you work for him or something?" As badly as I wanted to castrate this asshole and his two friends... I wanted a shower more. There was something about sitting on a plane for the better part of an entire day that made a shower seem like the holy grail.
The guy shook his head slightly, then nodded to the car again. "Why don't I explain on the way? You must be pretty wrecked. How long was the flight from Singapore, anyway?"
My lips pursed. "Siem Reap," I corrected him on where I'd flown from. "Fucking long."
I wasn't in the mood for idle chit chat with this prick.
"Okay, so..." He took a step forward, reaching out for my case.
"So, nothing." I snatched my luggage out of his reach and backed up a few steps. A taxi was approaching from behind Gray-eyes, and I much preferred that mode of transport. I stuck my hand out, waving it down.
"Seriously?" he asked, his brow creased with confusion. "I literally came here just to pick you up."
I shrugged, letting the taxi driver take my suitcase and load it into the trunk. "Well then, for one thing, you should have been here an hour ago when I landed. And for another, you shouldn't have fucking framed me for breaking and entering and manslaughter. So thanks but no thanks, Gray." I grabbed my sunglasses from the strap of my fringed, boho handbag and slid them onto my nose. "Next time I see you, I won't be so nice. Stay out of my fucking way."
I dropped heavily into the backseat of the taxi and slammed the door shut. The window was halfway down, so while the driver slipped back into his seat and shifted the car into drive, I could hear Gray-eyes mutter something.
"What?" I demanded, refusing to let him have the last word, even if I couldn’t even hear it.
"I said, Steele. My name's Steele, not Gray." His infuriating grin grew wide again, flashing the metal of his tongue stud, and he winked one of those steel-gray eyes. "Close, though."
My taxi pulled away from the curb then, sparing me the need to reply, and I dropped my head back onto the seat with a groan.
Steele. What a stupid fucking name. It suited him.
My phone buzzed in my pocket when the taxi’s GPS showed us about five minutes from my father’s new home.
"Hello?" I answered, barely bothering to glance at the screen. Only two people even had my number, and one was dead.
"Madison Kate," my father's gruff voice sounded on the other end, "I was hoping to see you before we left, but Steele just arrived back without you."
I rolled my eyes, biting my tongue before I snapped at him. He hadn't believed me on Riot Night when I told him about the three boys who'd gotten me out of the amusement park and left me on the side of the road. He hadn't believed me that the stolen master key was only in my pocket because the whole jacket belonged to a gorgeous, flirty, green-eyed boy. So I wasn't going to waste my breath now telling him of Steele's involvement. Nope, I'd just have to get my own revenge for the destruction he and his buddies had rained down on my life.
"I don't accept rides from strangers," I replied with just a tiny hint of sarcasm. "Why didn't you come to pick me up yourself? I’d have thought you wanted to see your only child after exiling me for months."
My father made a vexed sound, and I could hear a woman's voice in the background. Ugh. Cherise. His new girlfriend. I definitely wasn't looking forward to that introduction.
"I'm sure I told you, Madison Kate," my father replied, sounding annoyed and distracted. He didn’t even acknowledge my comment about what a shitty, neglectful parent he was. "Cherry and I are leaving today for Italy."
It shouldn't hurt. It shouldn't. He hadn't visited me once in Cambodia and had only called when he absolutely had to. But still, hearing he'd planned a vacation with his arm candy for the same day I was arriving home? Yeah, it stung.
"Right," I said back, my voice flat and devoid of emotion. "Of course. I guess I forgot." Or he never told me. "How long will you be gone?"
"Eight weeks. But don't worry, your room is all set up for you."
I clenched my jaw to hold back a sigh. My room. I'd never even seen his new house. Our old one—the one I’d grown up in and the one I’d seen my mother murdered in—had been one of our many homes burned to the ground on Riot Night.
"Okay, sure. See you in two months, I guess." Despite my best efforts, bitterness crept into my voice.
More murmuring in the background of the phone, Cherise saying something to my father, then he spoke again. "Thanks hon. You won't be too lonely, though. If you need anything, I'm sure the boys can help you out."
Wait, what? The boys? What boys?
"Dad—" I started to say, but he cut me off.
"Got to run, our car is here. Give me a call on Monday and tell me how your first day at SGU goes. You know how important that project is to me." He didn't even wait for me to reply before he ended the call, and it took all of my willpower not to throw my phone out of the window.
A minute later, a blacked-out Rolls Royce glided past us, and I knew it was him. He couldn't even wait two more minutes for me to get home.
Bastard.
His words sat like a lump in my gut. What boys would be able to help me out? The fact that Gray-Eyes—Steele—had been sent to pick me up from the airport... I had a seriously bad feeling about what I was going to find at my father's house.
"Is this it?" the driver asked, breaking through my distraction.
I peered out of the window and up at the enormous mansion behind high, ornate gates. Worked into the iron was a fancy monogram of a D. For Danvers. Ugh, Samuel Danvers was so arrogant.
"Yep, I guess so," I replied with a sigh. I paid the guy with some crumpled cash from my bag—US currency that had sat untouched the entire time I'd been away—then retrieved my suitcase from his trunk.
"You going to be okay, girl?" the cabbie asked me, giving the monolithic structure behind me a wary look.
My smile was tight. "I'll be fine," I replied, silently praying I wouldn't be proved wrong. "Thanks."
The guy nodded, then climbed back into his car and drove away, leaving me standing there with my bag at my feet. I didn't even have a fucking code to open the front gates; how messed up was that?
"Thanks a lot, Dad," I muttered under my breath, heading over to the intercom. I could just call him and ask, but I was pissed as hell that he hadn't waited to see me. Hopefully one of these "boys" could let me in instead. Failing that, my father always had staff lurking around in the shadows.
I pressed the buzzer heavily, then stood there fidgeting when I heard the security camera click on. No one spoke, and I stifled an annoyed sigh.
Count to five.
Breathe.
"I know you're there, asshole," I snapped. Whoops, maybe I should have counted to ten.
"Can we help you?" A smooth, male voice asked. It wasn't Steele... I didn't think. Maybe a butler? But the kind of hired help my father employed took politeness to all new levels. They were basically invisible for the most part, and impeccably mannered when seen.