Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,293

if she were guilty by association.

The only reason her father even got a table at the exclusive Italian restaurant when every other upscale place in the city snubbed him was because he’d given Thomas Conesta a loan to keep this place afloat several years ago and the man owed his current success to her father.

They always had the best table there because of it.

“Harper,” her mother said with a forced smile. “You didn’t have time to change?”

Harper gritted her teeth. After the day she had, the last thing she wanted was to have dinner and make polite conversation with her father.

So instead of her usual dress and heels, she’d thrown on jeans and her favorite heather grey sweater, knowing it would piss her father off. The narrowed eyed look he sent her when he stood up almost made her smile except all she could think about was what he’d done to Ethan’s father.

This united front her mother insisted on was getting harder to pull off. Her father was guilty. He stole money and got caught. She clenched her hands and sat down when Antonio, the long time maître d', slid out her chair.

After her father sat back down and waved Antonio away, he picked his wine glass back up and scanned the restaurant, his face a mask of superiority. As if he deserved to be sitting there acting all high and mighty.

Harper clenched her hands together in her lap.

“So after this trial business, we were thinking of going overseas on a family vacation. Italy maybe? Remember that lovely villa we stayed in a few years ago?” Her mother’s voice was bright and cheery and she looked at Harper expectedly. As if the trial were nothing more than a blip on her radar.

Neither of them acted like everything that had happened was more than a small nuisance. Their family’s reputation was in shambles, they were being snubbed everywhere, and the public outcry against her father was only growing.

And the idea that they would have money to vacation anywhere was a pipe dream. The government was going to send her father to jail and make sure that every last dime was accounted for in order to pay back the many victims—which would take hundreds of years to do in the best case scenario.

Why the hell did they not see it?

Antonio came back, directing a man who carried a large tray covered in plates. With a flourish they were served and Antonio gave them a slight bow.

“Lobster Risotto Milanese, lightly drizzled with a lobster bisque crème sauce. Prepared especially for you, compliments of Mr. Conesta, on the house of course. Enjoy.”

Her father preened under the attention. The only reason that Thomas Conesta catered to him was because he felt obligated. She wanted to yell that no matter how much money her father had given the man, it didn’t buy respect. Just because there were still a few people left in Boston who could pretend her father wasn’t a horrible person, didn’t make it true.

But it was as if he didn’t care. He still acted as like he was a big man and ignored the pointed stares, the whispers directed at them. He sipped his wine with a smirk on his lips and contempt in his stare.

It was probably a good thing she wasn’t pregnant, because her father would find some way to twist a baby to his advantage. The thought of him having any leverage over Ethan and his family made her stomach twist so tight she couldn’t even swallow a bite of food.

These dinners were a waste of time.

Why I am I here? Why do I keep pretending?

That he dragged Harper into the deception only made her dislike him more. Her father could been seen as much as he wanted to, but no one was fooled by his pretend act of normalcy, least of all her.

The din of the restaurant pushed in on her. Conversations. Voices. Low enough that she didn’t hear actual words, but enough to know they weren’t alone. Silverware clinked and the wait staff bustled around the dining room.

Glances were thrown their way occasionally, but Harper had sat with her back to as much of the room as possible, while he father faced them all head on.

Unlike her father, who liked any kind of attention, Harper preferred to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. Which had proven to be harder than she expected now that the trial was growing closer.

“Thomas has outdone himself,” her mother gushed,