Page 20 of Run For Me
“And to be fair,” I say, folding my hands and placing them on my lap. “You left your meeting early.”
“Don’t pin this on me. You know damn well you should not be going through private stuff.” He grits his teeth. “They put me in this position, not you.”
I grit my teeth. “Obviously.”
“I can never tell whose side you’re on,” he complains.
“Why do I have to be on anyone’s side?”
“Don’t give me that shit,” he hisses. “You know that’s how it goes. I’m on the outside; your mother is on the inside. Stop doing things to piss her off or we’ll both be in deep shit.”
I huff a laugh and get to my feet, turning to browse the books on the shelf.
“Something tells me I’d get away with it.”
“Don’t trust that bitch. I’ve already told you this.”
My mother is ruthless. Doesn’t care about anyone but herself, and I knew that from the moment I was expelled from her ice-cold womb. I’m not much different from her, but I do have bits of my father here and there. Despite him being a pussy, he has a few acceptable qualities that he passed down to me. Like loyalty and a moral compass, though that’s being tested more each passing day. I have no idea how he ended up married to her, the head of an empire that rivals the mafia. A syndicate that never once had a female leader, not until she came into the picture.
I know the bare bones of what she’s involved in. I’m not part of it—never have been. She’s been trying to pull me in since I turned eighteen, but I won’t be her pawn. Not more than I already am, anyway. I’d rather watch from the sidelines while she begs for my help and pretend like I haven’t already made up my mind.
My father, though? He was booted out on his ass when he pissed her off. Not sure what he did, but I do know the only reason she hasn’t had him killed yet is because he’s the Dean here at the college. The other families involved with my mother have assurance that their kids will attend, thanks to that, and I guess it’s payment enough for whatever he did.
“Don’t you have a class?” my father grunts.
“Not till six.” I smile at him over my shoulder.
“I just don’t understand why you have to test me!”
Ah, there’s the anger. The man, my father, has had these sudden mood swings for years. Even worse since he and my mother split four years ago—good fucking riddance, though. At least now I don’t have to spend so much time with her.
One minute he’s feeling bad, the next he’s angry, and then he’s apologizing again, asking me how he can help me do better. As if I’m over here stealing his shit to get drugs or something. Ifhe’d just give me what I want, I wouldn’t have to take it. But he’s trying to be a good man these days. Good luck with that, I say.
Though, to be fair, this isn’t the first time he’s caught me going through his computer. The last time was for a very different reason. It was nothing personal, just helping out a friend, to which I succeeded. This time, of course I’d get caught before I got what I needed because it was something I wanted.
The only reason he found out last time was because the idiot I helped went and snitched on me when he blabbed to his girlfriend about how I changed his grade in the system.
See, that was a big deal that required my father to cover it up and make it look like a system glitch. I mean, it really wasn’t a big deal. What’s the problem with changing one little grade in a class that, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t even matter? Where isThe History of Filmsgoing to get someone who’s in Media Design? The guy won’t be using any silent films for his work, so I just don’t see the problem.
“Why?” he growls, his face turning a deep shade of purple. “Why do you have to do this to me?”
I stare at him, clenching my jaw and noting how much we don’t look alike. Thank fuck for that. My mother was the looker, and as much as I can’t stand the bitch, I’m glad I ended up being a good-looking guy.
“I hate to break it to you, but not everything is about you,” I snap, snatching up my bag to leave his office. I’m annoyed with him, but even more so that I’m leaving empty-handed. That was probably the only chance I had. At this rate, he’s going to take his laptop with him everywhere he goes. He’ll definitely change his password.
No one else on staff has full access. The teachers only have access to the students who are in their classes, so going through any of their files or computers won’t help. Not that I know any of them well enough to even guess what their passwords would be.Sure, I could figure out who she is by being patient and waiting until our next class together—it’s clear we have a class together since I found her journal when I was leaving. But I’m a lot of things, and patient is not one of them. I need an answer now.
I storm out of the office, turn the corner, and run into Mindy. Good gods, of all people—
“Hey, baby,” she coos, stepping in front of me and raising her hand toward my face. I duck away.
“Not now,” I growl, and go to move around her, but she side steps me.
“Someone’s grumpy today. What’s wrong? Phone sex not enough? You can fuck me in the bathroom, if you want.” She runs her tongue along her top lip, and I gag. “I don’t have any panties on today.”
I look down at her white miniskirt, wondering how many guys have already had their cocks up there today. I step closer to her, so her tits are against my chest. Something that I would normally like, but right now, is only pissing me off.
“Nothing with you will ever be enough. When are you going to get that through your head? Is the lip filler going to your fucking brain?”
