Page 175 of Delicate Storm

“Who?”

I sigh and shake my head. “That’s none of your concern. We’re talking aboutyourfamily.”

“Then explain it to me because all I know is that my business could be fu— you know, and my dad’s been arrested.”

I sigh again, telling him what I overheard and what his mom was trying to do to me, leaving out specific details about Easton and Isaac. And to my surprise, Christian’s shocked, clearly having no idea what his parents were capable of.

“Fu— Jesus. I knew she was cold but that’s brutal.”

“Yep.”

“I get that you were scared or whatever. But I had the right to know.”

“Scared? I told you—”

“Cut the crap, Paige. You didn’t do it for me. Giving me a heads-up would have been helpful. You—”

“Hey. Shut your mouth,” Easton interrupts, his anger growing. “She did you a favor. Say thanks and move on.”

“Who the fuck are you? Her latest fling? You’re that Easton guy, aren’t you?” He laughs like he has no idea who Easton is when I’ll bet he looked him up. “I’ve got some advice for you,” he continues and I roll my eyes. “Run,” he says. “She’s heartless. Take this as an example of that. She could have helped me and she didn’t. Now the—”

“You know what?” Easton cuts him off again, grabbing the phone from the table. “I have some advice of my own. Lose this number. Because if you ever call Paige again, or speak to her, orabouther, to anyone, I’m coming for you. Grow the fuck up.”

Easton disconnects the call before standing up and pacing. “That little—”

“Little ears warning. You’ve already cursed once.”

“God.” He pauses and looks my way, clearly frustrated. “What the hell did you see in that guy?”

“What did you see in Macy?” I raise an eyebrow and Easton laughs.

“Touché.”

Dad calls before I can say anything more, and when Easton sees the screen, he laughs quietly.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“Answer and he’ll explain.”

My brows furrow but I do as he says and answer rather than questioning him again. “Dad?”

“Hey, Kid. How are you doing?”

“I’m…” I trail off, suddenly remembering what Easton said before Christian answered his phone. Telling me to call my dad.My dad.

“Was it you?” I ask and Easton smiles, confirming he had the exact same thought.

Dad laughs and his absence over the past few days starts to make sense. He didn’t want me involved. “I helped. But your mom should take most of the credit.”

“Mom?”

“Turns out, her affair wasn’t the bad thing we thought it was. It proved quite helpful.”

“Are you saying he told her about it?”

“She’d had suspicions for a while, but she wasn’t going to push the issue. Until she found out you were involved. It seems her mama bear instincts kicked in.”

“Wow.”

---