Page 82 of Provocation
‘You got my letter.’
‘Yup.’
He grabs the chocolate bars and puts them in his pocket quickly. ‘Thanks, son.’
‘I put a couple hundred on your account,’ I say, staring at him with a bored expression.
‘You heard from your mother?’
There’s a sliver of hope in his voice that I do my best to ignore. Even after everything, he still loves that faithless bitch.
‘Nope.’
He sits back and stares at me, mirroring my expression. I hate it. It reminds me of how similar we are.
‘I heard you’re doing a good job. Kormak is more than satisfied.’
‘Great.’
He nods a little. ‘Yeah. It is, son.’ He leans forward. ‘You still at school?’
I nod.
‘Couple more years to go?’
‘This is my final year.’
He frowns and then nods. ‘Yeah, ’course. Time flies.’
He doesn’t speak again for several seconds, just watches me.
‘Girlfriend?’ he asks.
I shake my head, and the silence stretches on again.
‘Why am I here, Dad?’ I finally ask impatiently. ‘You didn’t send me that note so you could see me. There’s something else.’
He shrugs. ‘Maybe.’
He stretches, glancing around at the guards, making sure none are close enough to listen, I realize, when he leans in over the table a little.
‘You hear stuff in here,’ he says cryptically.
‘Like what?’ I ask, knowing if I play this little game, then this will go faster.
‘Like you’re into some shit with a guy named Sauvage.’
‘Don’t know that name,’ I lie. ‘You’re hearing wrong.’
‘Maybe,’ he says quietly. ‘Or maybe you need to make sure you’re on the right side, son.’
‘I am,’ I say, looking him in the eye. ‘Mine.’
He snorts. ‘You sound like your mother more every day.’
I resist the urge to sneer at him, or to let him know that he’s got to me at all. Luckily, the guard calls ‘early release’ so I can leave if I want.
‘Well, this has been fun as always, Pop. But if that’s all, I got class.’
