Page 131 of Tattooed Love

“Amber, I don’t think you were listening, I wasn’t asking you, I was informing you.” Dad gave me a stern look “Like I said, it’s best for you.”

Narrowing my eyes at him, I felt boiling anger in my stomach, “I’m not moving to England to live with your stupid sister. Anyway, there is no reason for me to move. Everything is going fine here. You said so yourself!”

He didn’t really have the power to send me away. Well, I hoped not. Where was this coming from anyway? I thought dad had been buying my act. Heck, please don’t tell me that I had been spending unnecessary amounts of time with Scott when I didn’t have to!

“Jackson spoke to me,” Dad said as he pulled his chair closer to his desk.

“Jackson spoke to you?” I repeated, boiling with anger. Through gritted teeth, I asked, “And what did Jackson say?”

“Just filled in some blanks for me.”

Dad pushed a stack of photos across the table to me. “And Scott filled in the rest.”

I looked at the pictures of me, in Scott’s office, holding a gun. That prick had cameras in there! Scott was a dead man.

“Before you get any bright ideas, Scott has relocated,” Dad said. He pointed a finger at me, adding, “You embarrassed me.”

“So what then?” My sweet act now aside, and my normal bitter self showing up. “You are going to ship me off?”

“Why would you want to stay here?” Dad looked at me in a way he hadn’t before. “Your brothers don’t want you here. Your ex-boyfriend is in jail and I am barely here. Tell me Amber, why would you want to stay here?”

I opened my mouth and with nothing to say, I closed it again. I had no answer. I got up from the chair, hurt. “If you didn’t want me here dad, that was all you had to say.”

“I thought I could help you Amber. Clearly, I can’t,” he said to my back before I slid out his door and closed it softly behind me.

I had always thought dad’s love was unconditional, but it looked like I had crossed a line. Dad was sick of my lies and trouble, and, in all honesty, why wouldn’t he be?

I really was a disappointment.

***

I cracked open another can of Jack Daniels and crumpled the empty one, throwing it in the direction of the others on the kitchen floor. Drowning my sorrows; how pathetic was I?

I knew I had had a tad too much to drink when I had to grab the third six pack from the fridge. I chugged and swallowed quick, reaching for the lit cigarette sitting on the ashtray.

How the hell had I got to this point? How the hell did I end up being that girl? You know the one that had no-one, and nothing.

A few months ago, I thought I would turn my life around, and now I had no life to turn around. I either moved to England and lived with my batty Aunt to keep my trust fund, or move to the streets and well…I didn’t even know what that was like, and I didn’t want to know.

Great! What options!

The kitchen lights flickered on, and I immediately yelled, squinting, “TURN IT OFF!” I was so lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t even heard them come home - let alone walk into the kitchen.

“Fuck, Amber!” Tyler waved the air in front of him, coughing, “Trying to set the house on fire?”

Ok, so smoking in a closed room for hours wasn’t healthy, but neither was drowning myself in alcohol.

“Just piss off,” I said, and downed the rest of my can. “And turn the lights back off on your way out.”

“What happened to you?” Cole asked, and he actually looked concerned as he pulled a stool up and sat on the other side of the bench; much to my unhappiness.

“You and Scott break up or something?” Tyler opened the fridge door. “Did you drink all my cans?!” he added.

“Piss off!” I yelled.

“Fuck, is Amber cooking?” Jax’s voice was laced with amusement as he strode through the door cockily. He crossed his arms smugly and examined me; I saw through the crap and picked up on the concern in his eyes, and it only drove the betrayal deeper.

How could he have gone to dad?

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