Empire High Betrayal (Empire High #3) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,8
like he’d been crying too. “I thought I lost you.” He kissed the top of my head as he held me tight. “Thank God you’re alright.”
I buried my face in his chest. “Dad.” It was suddenly the only word I knew.
“You’re okay.” He kissed the top of my head again. “I’m here now.”
I knew I was safe as long as I was with him. But I wasn’t worried about me. “She’s going to kill Kennedy. She’s going to kill Kennedy.” I kept saying it over and over again.
He must have seen the bloody footprints, because he yelled, “Someone call an ambulance!”
“No.” I wiggled out of his grip. “Isabella can’t know. She’ll kill Kennedy. She’ll kill her if she knows I’m still here.”
“Isabella’s not going to hurt anyone,” he said. He turned his attention to James. “Why would you let her run around like this?” He pulled off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” James said.
“I said call an ambulance!” my dad snapped at the man staring at us from the front desk.
“She has Kennedy,” I said. “I can’t go to a hospital. She can’t know I’m here. She’ll know.”
“Mr. Pruitt,” James said. “Brooklyn said Isabella had a gun. And a bomb.”
“I’m taking care of it,” replied my dad.
Donnelley ran into the lobby too. “There you guys are.”
I took a step back. “Stay away from me! He’s in on it! He’s in on it.” I leaned over. “I can’t breathe.”
“She’s having a panic attack,” James said.
“Donnelley, you’re scaring her.” My dad stepped in front of me, blocking Donnelley from my view. “You’re okay, sweetheart. I’m here. I’ll never let anything happen to you.”
“Let me help,” Donnelley said.
“You’ve done enough,” Mr. Pruitt said. “I’ll deal with you later.”
“But…”
“Go home right now if you want to be breathing in the morning.” The kind voice he’d used with me was completely gone.
“The ambulance is ten minutes away,” the man at the front desk said.
A few students started filtering out of the ballroom to see what all the commotion was about. All their eyes were on me.
“She can’t know that I’m here,” I said. “They’ll tell her. She’ll kill Kennedy.”
“You’re okay, sweetheart. You’re okay now.”
“She can’t.” I was gasping for air.
“Okay.” Mr. Pruitt lifted me up in his arms. “I’ll get you out of here.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to James. “Call number three on my speed dial.”
I closed my eyes tight. I just wanted to be invisible again.
“You’re okay now, princess,” my dad said.
Princess. It was his nickname for Isabella. For his legitimate daughter. And for some reason, him using it for me made me feel so loved. Maybe I didn’t want to be invisible to him. I could get used to having a dad. As long as number three on his speed dial wasn’t something terrible.
Chapter 4
Saturday
The elevator doors dinged open. My dad carried me into his secret apartment. The only other time I’d been here had been when I first learned that I was a Pruitt. I’d spent the entire night completely terrified. But it didn’t seem scary this time. I’d choose to be here any day over his actual apartment. The naked walls and sterile feel of everything was comforting as long as Isabella wasn’t allowed in here. Maybe he’d just let me stay.
“Where are we?” James asked.
“Somewhere safe,” replied my dad.
I kept waiting for him to tell James to get lost, but he didn’t. And I was a little relieved James was still here. The whole car ride over, James had held my hand and told me to breathe while my dad drove like a mad man. Just breathe. I wasn’t sure why James had come with us. He should have been fixing things with Rachel, not worrying about me.
My dad carried me down the hall and into the bathroom.
“James, will you stay with her? I need to make a few calls.” He’d already talked to whoever was number three on his speed dial. But I hadn’t been able to make out any of their conversation on the ride over here, because I’d been gasping for air.
“Yeah,” James said. “No problem.”
My dad set me down on my feet and I cringed.
“It’s going to be okay,” my dad said and lightly touched my cheek. “Just keep taking deep breaths like James said. I’ll take care of everything.” His hand fell from my cheek.
“You mean Kennedy? You’ll make sure she’s okay?” I asked.