of me. “What happened to respecting Angela’s wishes?”
“She’s practically eighteen now, she deserves the option to have a relationship with her father.”
“I’m her father.” He growls. “I taught her how to ride a bike and to drive. I’ve been there for her every second of the past seven years and she may not like it but I’ll continue to be there for her forever.”
I gasp quietly, not expecting that kind of reaction from the man I assumed only put up with me because he was married to my mother, not because of…me. Now that my mother is gone, I assumed he’d send me to live with my grandparents.
“Stassia is still seventeen, and in the eyes of the law, she’s still a minor, so it’s my job now to protect her from predators like you,” Dominic continues.
“I’m not a predator, you pretentious asshole, I’m her father.” I watch as this pissing match between my alleged father and stepfather unfolds. Both sides are getting heated, and I pray it doesn’t come to blows.
“I’d say on paper only but you’re not even listed on her birth certificate. You’re nothing. A phantom. Which is how you wanted it, right?” Dominic snarls as he flexes his fists.
“Dominic…” I start, not wanting this to become an even bigger scene, today of all days. “People are staring. Can we not do this now?”
Dominic’s eyes find mine and they soften as he reaches up to stroke my tear-stained cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he whispers before he pulls me into a hug. “Do you want to leave?”
I nod against his chest and wrap my arms around him, finally feeling the warmth I’ve needed all afternoon. His large body engulfs my tiny one, warming both my outsides and insides on the worst day of my life.
“I want you to have my number.” Micah’s voice interrupts us and much to my disappointment, Dominic lets me go. I look to Micah to find him holding a card toward me. “Call me. Day or night. I’d like to know you, Stassia…” He looks Dominic over before looking at me. “I’d like a chance to start over.”
“I don’t need a father…” I shake my head, hearing how it sounds and not wanting Dominic to get offended. “I mean…I have one.”
“Well, maybe we can be friends?” He’s still holding the card out and I watch him lower it slightly as he notices I’m not reaching out to grab it.
Fire blazes in Dominic’s eyes as he snatches it from his hands. “You said your piece, now go. If she wants to contact you, she will.”
Micah shakes his head as he stares at the card still in my stepfather’s hand. “I am sorry for your loss, Stassia. Your mother was an amazing woman. I wish things had been different. Maybe in another life…” He looks at my grandparents and then Dominic before landing on me. “I hope to see you soon.”
* * *
“You’re almost eighteen, so I suppose I can’t stop you,” Dominic says as he hands me the card with Micah’s information.
It was the following day and I had just emerged from my room after a much needed fourteen hour sleep. I’d succumbed to exhaustion about halfway through the repast and left Dominic with all of my loud, overbearing, yet well-meaning family and his as my grandmother stroked my hair.
I look up at him and then down at the once pristine card that had now been folded in half and smelled like it had been soaked in gin. “I don’t…really know what I want.”
“You don’t have to make any decisions right now.” I notice he’s not dressed for the day, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that stretched tightly across his muscles and torso and I let my eyes feast on the visual for no more than a second before averting my gaze. “Do you want some coffee?” I nod, knowing the small source of comfort will at least snap me out of the groggy feeling. I sit down in one of the chairs and rest my head on the kitchen table as I hear him placing a cup in the Keurig. “You still tired?” he asks. “You want to go rest? I can bring your coffee up to you.”
My head snaps up at his kind offer. I’m not used to this side of Dominic.
Kind. Caring. Protective.
Well, he’s always been those things in his own way, but he usually goes about it very differently.
“Can we talk about the elephant in the room?”
He turns from where he’s preparing my