A Monster's Beauty (In the Arms of Monsters #3) - Sam Crescent Page 0,49

her head, waiting for him to go.

“I’m glad I ran into you,” he said. “I’d like you and Bethany to come to dinner.”

“Bethany?”

“You know, my grandkid,” he said.

This made her look at him. He’d never acknowledged Bethany as his.

“I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately and you know, I don’t want her to hate me as a grandad. I know I’ve been an asshole a lot lately, and well, I would like us to get to know each other again, as a family.”

“Oh.”

“If that’s okay with you. I know I fucked up a lot and I want to make it up to you.”

“Yeah, of course. I would like that too.”

He smiled. “How about this Sunday? You, me, Bethany, you come and we have a family dinner.”

“I’d like that.” The family dinners at Anne’s were rather tense. Elijah wasn’t happy with his wife’s newfound freedom. She no longer waited around for him or asked his permission. She lived her own life and didn’t need him for her to be happy. It was nice. She even believed Anne had found someone.

There were secrets her friend kept, and she didn’t have a problem with that. It had been a long time since Anne had looked happy, at least from what people had told her.

Entering the diner, she felt a little happier.

It wasn’t going to be the same with her father, she knew that. They had too much bad blood between them, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t find a way to make it work, for Bethany and for themselves.

She ordered two lunches and stood waiting for them.

The diner was noisy and she looked around to see all the different people in conversation, enjoying their lunches.

Did Reaper beg for his life?

Why didn’t Preacher ask her?

What was she going to tell Bethany?

Her daughter didn’t show any signs of missing her father, and Robin felt guilty. Why did she feel guilty? She didn’t care. After learning the truth of what he did and what he organized, there was no way she could feel anything for him. He’d gone out of his way to hurt her and rather than protect her, he’d thrown her into hell all because he wanted to be a hero.

She was handed her food and she took it with a smile. Leaving the diner, she started to walk back to the library. It was the same routine day in, day out. She could go through her life with her eyes closed it was the same basic, monotonous tasks.

Her life was so different now than before she’d been taken, even during her period of kidnapping. Some things remained the same, though. She still hadn’t graduated high school and that was something she wanted to do, to have some kind of goal in life, to know what she wanted.

Across the street, she stopped as she caught sight of Preacher. He was looking right at her as he came out of the station, Billy beside him.

Did he hate her?

Was he going to ignore her?

Rather than wait for his rejection, she quickly rushed toward the library.

This is stupid, Robin. Why are you running?

“Robin!” Preacher called her name.

She kept on walking even as she screamed at herself to stop. To listen to him. She was too stubborn, and rather than give in to him, she kept on moving.

When she got to the entrance, Preacher had caught up with her. He captured her arm, stopping her.

She spun to face him. “Preacher, hi. How are you doing?” she asked, forcing a smile to her lips. This was scary after everything that had happened. He knew what Reaper had done, why he’d done it. Her life, her feelings, it had all been a big game to Reaper. He hadn’t cared about her at all and she did find Reaper a little scary.

“You heard me shouting for you.”

“Oh, you were shouting for me? Sorry, I didn’t even realize. I was busy, you know, and hungry.”

“You’re babbling.”

“It’s what one does when she doesn’t know what to say.” She didn’t even know why she was still talking. “Are you done? I want to go and have lunch. You know, stare at my daughter.”

“We need to talk. I want you to come to my place tonight.”

“Wow, dinner with dad and now seeing you,” she said. “I wonder what I did for it to be my lucky day?”

“Why are you being a bitch? It doesn’t suit you.”

“Why has it been nearly two months since you killed Reaper for you to come to me?” she asked,