Page 77 (2/2)

I used to hate it when he swore His broould twitch, and his fists would clench if he got really angry, and I always itched to comfort him, to make him feel better But Theo was not the kind of man you controlled, least of all when he orked up He was the man you let control you, and you did it with a sht He was right about the people in attendance—they sucked up to overnor of New York but talked behind his back the second he turned away I was surprised that soto the Saint James family downfall

He dropped the half-sro

und, dauished with the tip of his shoe “Go back inside, Della”

The nicknahtness that had foran There was only soto their empty condolences as if they cared my father was dead They didn’t care when he was arrested Why start now that he was buried next to my mother six feet under? “What about you?”

He lookedoverhis eyes drift back up tohis square jaas unlike him He preferred to be clean-shaven, business called for as , Adele,” his ex-wife Mariska would always remind me whenever I told hih as his personality No nonsense Free I used to think he shaved for her, but even after their divorce over four years ago, he kept up with the façade Until now, I supposed

“I’h, and shifted weightHe’d stayed almost all day to help set up since the people Aunt Sophie hired had bailed, so out that she’d have to reschedule I didn’t blao, I just wished he didn’t I wanted hiot a ride back to your place?”

I nodded slowly,my wavy platinuht brown hair two o and was met by nore the “other assholes” who thought otherwise because their opinion didn’t matter He of all people knew their opinionsup I’d just wanted to pretend to be somebody else for a while—somebody blonde who had fun with little care Maybe a piece of ht the hair color would appeal to Theo ical powers

“Aunt Lydia said she’d give me a ride back after cleanup Are you…Will you be okay?” I kneti shared the ether every step of the way When news broke that Anthony Saint Ja scandal that took funds from the state and people close to hiotten bad Theo was questioned becausebusiness, and he hadn’t been hit by the econo unlike others close in his circle The investigators were sure they’d find hiuilty asas h it all Not once during the trials orme to the vultures that New York City, and my father, had fed me to

His eyes closedwhose funeral we’re at”

I lethim the best smile I could under the circumstances “We all lost somebody”

“He was your father”

Taking a daring step closer, I inhaled the strong cologne and tobaccofrom him He was all man, all the time, in the way he smelled, acted, and carried hih ave one, ht off me