CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Jackson
I am not going to take any of Wester’s “I’m a rich guy” attitude. He’s used to being in charge, but he’s not in charge here—I am. This is my kid and my girl. I just have to make him see that.
Amelia and I wait for her father in his tiny living room area, which by military standards is a palace. Where they got the furniture, I have no idea, but we’re talking about mahogany and plush cushions. My little dancer rests her fists in her lap and grows whiter by the second. My crotch seam pinches, and as subtly as I can, I adjust my junk.
When the dad does come out, he’s wearing, so help me, a bathrobe. No guy I know would own one, much less get caught dead in one. In fact I didn’t know they made them anymore. Aren’t they for grannies?
One good thing, I don’t see a comm unit anywhere, and with him practically neutered in that robe of his, we could be out of here and on our way before he has a chance to do anything. Putting as much distance between us and any pursuit is key. We’ll just have to stay off-road where their heavy-duty vehicles are less likely to go.
Wester stops short and looks back and forth between Amelia and me. His eyes narrow. “Amelia?”
She gets this look. She’s faced down gangs of cannibals and eaten rats for dinner, but now she stares at her dad like she has a chicken bone stuck in her throat.
Fuck. So much for not being nervous. “Amelia and I—”
“When Jackson saw me the first time, I’d left the church and gone to this building I knew. It’s one of the places I went to dance. Jackson spotted me. He was with his squad, and he distracted them so I could get away.”
Wester nods, but his expression is guarded.
My balls pinch and I really want to fix it, but her dad is boring a hole through me. “I couldn’t stop thinking about her and I—”
“I kept seeing him, all over the place when they were out hunting survivors. I don’t know how many times I almost bought it. He kept helping me get away.”
“She was too little and pretty and too graceful to kill, sir. If I’d followed orders, she’d be dead, but I couldn’t. So I—”
“He looked for me everywhere, and when he realized I was living in a collapsing building and eating rats and mice, he tried to help me. He let me take a shower at his place and gave me a grilled cheese sandwich. He said come back anytime, but I was afraid it was a trap. The soldiers were shooting everyone. I mean, everyone.”
She glares at me like I’m going to challenge this. Fat chance. Her version is way better than the truth.
I cross my arms. “Go on. You’re doing fine.”
“So after that I kept breaking into his place at night and stealing food, and then this one time he caught me.”
The dad blinks slowly. “Do I need to sit down?”
“No,” says Amelia.
“Yup,” I tell him.
“He really liked me, Dad. He was always so kind.”
My little dancer is one hell of a liar. I owe her my ass.
“He let me take another shower and gave me his own clothes to wear. They were too big, but at least they weren’t things I’d been wearing every day for years.”
Her dad’s eyes narrow, and his face just gets redder and redder.
“At first he slept on the couch and I took the bed, but…I liked him too…”
Now she stops. Wester’s practically purple, and his eyes are narrowed to slits.
I swallow. “I didn’t know who she was. I never got past the Amelia part.”
“You didn’t even know her last name?” If smoke could pour out of his nostrils, I’m sure it’d be happening right about now.
“I just thought she was beautiful and sweet and she didn’t deserve to die like that.”
Wester snorts. “Sweet?”
“I hadn’t talked to anyone in years, Dad. You had to hide from everyone out there or you’d be killed. Jackson made me feel like nothing bad would ever happen to me again.”
“You’re in love with this Neanderthal?” He shakes his head at her.
Okay, I’m tall and brawny and my beard grows fast, but I’m not a Sasquatch. “Jesus. I’m not a—”
“Of course. Jackson thought I was worth saving. He looked everywhere for me, and he didn’t give up until he found me. I lived worse than a homeless person, but he didn’t treat me like I was nothing; he talked to me and he cooked for me and let me bring my cat. He made me laugh. I hadn’t laughed in six years, Dad. I cried plenty of times, but I never laughed once.”
He rubs his face in his hands. “Amelia…”
“No. He was there when I had no one and nothing, and he made me feel human. He’s good and he’s smart and he’s funny and he…” Her eyes go wide and she blushes. “I’m not interested in anyone else. No one’s going to be as loyal as he is. You’re just going to have to accept that he’s the one for me.”
“Oh, he’s the one? You’ve never been on another date in your life and he’s the only one?”
“You married Mom, and you dated plenty of girls first.”
He locks his jaw. He looks at me like I’m dog shit. “You took advantage of my daughter, didn’t you?”
“I… Absolutely. Yes.”
“You are getting out of my home, and you are never coming near her again. If I so much as hear that you’re—”
“She’s pregnant.”
There’s a heavy pause. “Jesus Christ.”
“Dad, it’s not the end of the world. I’m in love with him. I’m happy.”
“You’re barely eighteen years old!”
She shrugs. “Nineteen. Forty in street years.”
“This is not going to happen. Look at him. How could you want this beast? Honey, you were desperate, and I understand that. I’ll take care of it.”
I step forward. “You won’t touch her. Amelia’s mine and so is the kid.”
Wester shifts closer. “What did you say?”
“I was hoping you’d be happy for us. It would have made things a lot easier.”
“I promoted you because you gave me back my daughter, you perverted child-abusing prick! I’m going to—”
“I was nineteen,” Amelia interrupts.
He gawks at her. “What?”
“No child abuse. I was nineteen.”
The guy’s just not going to see reason. It’s time to pull out plan B. “We’ve distributed several letters that are to be delivered to the leaders of the closest territories if anything should happen to me, Amelia, or the baby. In it we outline the Arc’s long-term plans, our suspicions about what happened in Atlanta and Charlotte six years ago, and your whole genetic-superiority deal. The wording isn’t nice, unless you don’t mind references to the Third Reich.”
Dad pales. “Don’t you threaten me.”
“I don’t want to. Whether or not you like me, the whole thing’s a gold mine of great PR. You got your daughter back, and she’s in love with her rescuer. People love that shit. You can tell those elitist freaks I went to Cornell on scholarship and I’m smarter than you are. Which, now that I think about it, is probably true. As a bonus you won’t have to worry that the Wester line will die out.”
“Oh, about that…” Amelia does this thing where she looks down and up through her lashes at her dad. She looks like a naughty kitten, and the guy is riveted. “The fact that I got pregnant at all is a fluke. I don’t think I’ve had ten periods my whole life. I doubt this’ll happen again, so you should probably be thanking Jackson.”
Amelia beams up at me like all the things she said about me were true. How am I supposed to live up to that?
“Damn.” Wester stuffs his hands in his pockets and wanders over to the window. “I wanted better for you.”
She lifts her chin. “Better for you, not for me. You wanted me to be a senator, and I didn’t. You kept trying to get me to sign up for science classes, and I didn’t want that either. You wouldn’t let me do what I loved, which was dance. With Yellowstone it never would have happened for me, but still. I’d really rather not run off to Chattanooga and live on whatever their terms are, but I will if I have to.”
His head whips up. “Do you know what their health care is like? You’re not going anywhere.”
I grab Amelia’s hand. “You have no say. It’s up to us.”
“You mean you.”
I raise my brows. “You’re right. I will never give her back.”
“Come on, Dad. Jackson and I are more than willing to cooperate with whatever the Arc’s deal is. All you have to do is accept Jackson as your son-in-law and accept me and the baby.”
He flinches at baby and rolls his eyes to the ceiling.
“And you.” He snorts. “Obviously I’m not sending my little girl to Atlanta. She’s pregnant, malnourished, and she needs modern healthcare. So how do you expect to earn your keep? You’re not commander of anything now, I can tell you that.”
Spy on you and turn the info over to the resistance. I feel a glare coming on and I’d really like to choke the guy, so I take several calming breaths and level him with a stare. The sound of his nose crunching under my fist would put me in a good mood for days, but it’s more important to keep the peace, perform my job for the resistance, and do whatever it takes to protect what’s mine.
I smirk, and I’m gratified to see his face go red again.
“I’m her bodyguard. Anyone wants to get to her, they’ll have to go through me first.”
The dad looks me up and down. No doubt he’s taking in all two-fifty pounds of muscle and coming to the correct conclusion. No one’s going to mess with his daughter with the Neanderthal around.
His shoulders droop, and he cocks his head. “You have any bad genes?”
My smile is all teeth. “Tons of ’em.”
“Shit.” He shakes his head. “I’ll be watching you.”
I cross my arms over my chest and look down at him. “And I’ll be watching you.”
Amelia rolls her eyes. “You will not, Dad. You’ll be too busy trying to convince your grandchild to be a Wester instead of a Martell.”
“You will not turn my kid into some tennis-playing pussy.”
She giggles, and my heart kicks up. A glance at Wester and I spot the same awe on his face.
The guy pinches his brow and shakes his head. “I’ll have to find a way to fake the DNA.”