Page 11 of Ghost Girl

I tried to school my features into something at least apathetic, but the frown pulled my eyebrows down anyway. ‘I suppose some people might consider it ‘quaint’, but I enjoy my work. If nothing else, it uncovers a lot of history that has previously been ignored or forgotten.’

She waved my comment away like it was an errant fly rather than my passion and my livelihood. ‘It’s a cute hobby. A little morbid for my tastes, but I do enjoy the occasional scary movie. Though Iabsolutelyneed a man to hold onto when I get scared. There’s nothing more attractive than a protector.’ She bit her lip coyly as she looked up at me from beneath her ridiculously large fake lashes, like her terrible attempts at flirting would make up for the insult.

‘Really? Personally, I enjoy a woman who can stomach a scary movie on her own. With the lights out. In the middle of the night. There’s nothing more attractive than bravery.’

Her smile stiffened, but she held it in place. ‘I don’t see a reason to watch a movie on my own. It’s much more fun to share the experience with someone else, don’t you think?’

Dakota caught my eye on the opposite side of the room. She was standing by the buffet, and my mother was heading straight for her. The panic and pleading in her gaze gave me the out I needed, and I took it without a second thought.

‘There’s not much room for socialising during a movie. My apologies, Miss Staten, but it seems I am being called. It was lovely to meet you.’

Her claws dug in even further, so much so that I thought she might actually draw blood, but she withdrew with a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. ‘Of course. I don’t want to monopolise your time when there are so many other people who would love to speak with you. Come find me later?’

She shot me another coy smile that I ignored, waving off her invitation like she’d waved my interests off before. ‘Perhaps,’ I replied noncommittally. ‘Enjoy the rest of the luncheon, Miss Staten.’

And then I was striding away, my shoulders tight as I felt her gaze boring holes into the back of my head. And my ass.

I barely restrained my shiver of revulsion.

Just as Mom was about to reach Dakota, I snagged her around the waist and pulled her in the opposite direction. I didn’t know what I was about to say just yet, but I knew I needed to come up with something on the spot or else her glare would melt me into a puddle of disappointment on the floor.

‘What are you doing?’ she hissed through clenched teeth disguised as a smile.

‘What, I can’t come say hello to my mother?’ I asked, but she saw right through me. Her red painted nails dug into my forearm much like Florence’s pink ones did only moments before, and she dragged me from the room. People attempted to stop us as we wove our way through the crowd, eager to strike up a conversation with her in a bad attempt to surreptitiously get a closer look at the mysterious elder son with the wrong last name.

It was moments like these, however, that I was glad to be separated from the rest of my family in the eyes of polite society. Because I was not a polite man, and I didn’t like pretending to be. I let my lips spread wide in a wry grin and enjoyed the way everyone moved out of our way. Made it easier to get to whatever private place she was leading me. We could get this berating over with.

We rounded a corner, and she shoved me into another room. A glance around showed it was a meeting room with a single, long table surrounded by high-backed, ergonomic chairs. A projector screen was rolled up while the projector itself hung from a shelf on the ceiling directly above the centre of the table.

She left the lights off, keeping us in the dim light of the east-facing windows. When she rounded on me, those shadows made her well-hidden wrinkles stand out as she frowned, the lines on her forehead and around her mouth were more prominent than ever these days, though the bags beneath her eyes had lightened a little. Kali’s disappearance and the more recent official declaration of her assumed death had added years to her appearance. Even now, despite her attempts to dye her hair, I could see the grey peeking through.

‘What are you doing?’ she demanded. ‘You’re supposed to be wooing the Staten’s daughter, Chance. There aren’t many more women I can throw at you before you choose one to settle down with. Enough is enough.’

I withheld my sigh. It would only anger her further and raise her blood pressure, which I wanted to avoid since she’d recently been placed on medication for it after a few fainting spells. I honestly didn’t intend to be difficult, but I also wasn’t the kind of man to allow others to dictate my life for me. I’d never once wanted to be a part of this high-society hullabaloo, but I also wasn’t going to take accountability for her inability to listen.

‘Mom, I’m not interested in Miss Staten. I’m not into the whole surgically-enhanced look, not to mention her personality is abhorrent.’

‘Chance Dodd,’she chastised, then immediately winced when I scowled at her use of the wrong surname.

‘Weiss, Mother. Perhaps we can have this conversation when you can at least get my goddamn name right.’

I moved to exit the room and re-enter the throng of social climbing vipers, but her hand on my arm stopped me. Not because she placed it there, but because she was exhibiting a rare gentleness that caught me off guard. Just like the open desperation in her gaze. The pleading.

‘I’m sorry. I just… I don’t understand why you never took Calvin’s name. The rest of us are Dodds. Your surname differing from ours just isolates you further.’

I knew she meant well, but this conversation was getting far too close to dangerous waters. ‘Your husband never liked me,’ I reminded her. ‘Even if you forgot Dad and rejected his name, I never will. If that isolates me from these fake-ass people who only want me for what I can do for their bank accounts or social status, then so be it.’

I tore my arm out of her grip and ignored her scowl as I stormed from the room. A deep breath helped me to compose myself before I stepped back into the luncheon that posed as a charity function, but it was really just an excuse for everyone inside to throw around their money like it proved they had the biggest dick.

Or, like my mother and most of the other women inside, they were eager to prove they had married the biggest bank account.

It was truly repulsive to me, particularly because it went against everything my father had instilled in me. Before he’d died, Mom had agreed with him. When she’d become a widow and a single mother in one fell swoop, that had all changed. Suddenly, the only thing she’d wanted was a fresh start with a man who could take care of everything so she wouldn’t have to.

That fresh start had brought my little brother into my life, however, so I tried not to be too bitter about how things had turned out. My stepfather, Blake’s dad, had hated me from the onset. It wasn’t anything I’d done, besides existing, but I was a reminder that his wife had had a life before him. Proof that hewasn’t the only man she’d ever loved. And I didn’t doubt that she did, I just knew that she loved his money more.

I had been too young when my father died to remember much about him, but his hard work ethic and morals had stuck with me. His face might have blurred in my memories, but I remembered how he’d thrown himself into his passions with an enthusiasm I’d admired. He had been just as intrigued by the paranormal as I was. It was one of the biggest contributing factors to why I’d chosen my career in the first place.

Alas, I was doomed to be surrounded by vultures in couture. At least until I could find an excuse to leave. Ashe was waiting on me to slip out so we could start the journey to Gilchrist.

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