Page 45 of A Lesson in Obedience
He cracked his neck as he turned to head to my door. “No Grayson, I’m just a father who loves his daughter.”
16
Riley
“You were gone way too fucking long!” Asher’s voice thundered when River and I walked through the front door. My boyfriend insisted on carrying both suitcases of clothes and also didn’t make a move to interrupt me when I spewed my entire conversation with my mom at him.
She had been stunned at what I told her, but it was like my words weren’t hard to believe when she gave me an empathetic smile. I was far too upset to start sobbing, but I did let her hold me and rub my back. She kept repeating that she was so sorry, but she didn’t try to figure out what to do next because…. there was no helping Marianne, there was nofixingthat.
Chancellor Fowler had cleaned up his mess. Well, one big mess of many.
I turned my head to look at River, really hoping Asher wasn’t talking to me because I was not in the mood for his fucking attitude. River quietly closed the door behind us, rolling my suitcases towardsthe living room. I walked towards the kitchen where Asher’s voice grew louder and then a familiar voice, Grayson’s voice, responded.
“For fuck’s sake, were you timing me!? Give me a break.”
Asher let out a booming laugh. “A break! I told you I thought you were truly sorry for what you did, but I’ve also made it clear that everyone’s trust will take time and doing fuck knows what in your dorm room isn’t helping!”
They hadn’t noticed me yet, so I stood over by the threshold. I felt River’s body heat at my back. He placed one of his hands at my waist but was silent.
Grayson groaned, dramatically sliding both his hands down his face. “Oh my god! I was getting my stuff! I got a call from my parents and then I was going to come right back here and he—” He choked on his words, placing his hands on the counter and dropping his head between his arms.
Asher let out a breath, tilting his head to the side. “He who?”
“Chancellor Fowler,” Grayson admitted, looking up and those deep brown eyes looked both sad and scared. My heart stopped for just a moment when he said his name. River’s hand at my waist tightened as a way to tell me he was still here.
“I thought you weren’t in contact with him or my father. Grayson, what the hell?!” Asher sounded flustered. His body was angled away from me so all I could see were Grayson’s eyes widening.
“I’M NOT! I want nothing to do with that man!” He slammed his fist against the counter. “I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t talking to them anymore. They haven’t been in my head and there hasn’t been any communication between us; then he decided to just show up. I didn’t want to talk to him, Asher. Please just believe me.”
Asher removed his glasses, placing them on the counter. “What did he say?”
Grayson swallowed. “It was threats and warnings basically. It’s like he wants Riley to come of her own free will, but then again not really, because we are meant to be that driving force to get her topick him. Everyone is used as his scapegoat even though he actually has no issues proving that he’s the bad guy.”
“The man is insane, Grayson. He will say whatever he needs to get what he wants.”
Grayson stepped closer to him. “That may be true, but I fucking believe him. Behind all the sick, twisted nature, he loves Riley. He loves her so much he is willing to break her heart to get her. He wants to be needed and maybe this is some fucked up projection of his past,” He turned around, placing his hands on the back of his head before swiftly turning on his heels to look at Asher again. “You claim it’s so easy, but River is your brother. You can’t look at me and actually tell me that your decision was so obvious; that there wasn’t a miniscule moment when your brother was much higher than her on your priorities. A few dream infiltrations are nothing when the end result is saving him.”
I didn’t have to look too hard to know that Asher was seething. “You don’t know anything. I will not be pushed into a corner by my dad, let alone Chancellor Fowler. I care about River, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t…” He stopped himself, letting out a sigh.
Grayson shot back his response, his voice shaking. “He fucked with my shadows from like the inside of my body, Asher. We try to fight back, we get in the way of his fucked-up relationship he thinks he has with her, then he will make it hurt. He threatened to forcibly smash your brother’s head in! Insane doesn’t cover it!”
I gasped louder than I would have liked and both their heads turned to face me. The color drained from Grayson’s face and Asher picked up his glasses and gave me a stoic expression. I felt the moment River’s hand left my body as I started walking forward. My eyes were trained on Grayson, but I stopped about halfway to maintain some distance.
“Did he tell you what he did with Marianne?” My tone was harsh and nearly accusatory.
Grayson opened his mouth but then closed it. He ran his fingers over his lips, the space between his eyebrows crinkling. “No,he—” He flicked his eyes behind me and out of my periphery I noticed River coming to stand next to me. Grayson gave me a look of confusion.
“Marianne’s mom called mine. That man moved her body, was nice enough to bring her home and I guess made it look like some kind of unsolved murder. I had to explain to my mom how I watched her bleed out, how there was nothing I could do but fuckingwatch.” I licked my lips and narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t worry though, I left out the details about you. My mom knows how close we are—were—and I didn’t want to upset her anymore then she already was.” I noticed the hurt look on his face and I wanted to care, but I just didn’t have the strength.
River touched my arm, but this time I brushed him off. “Did he ask you to do anything else for them? Did he ask you to keep a close eye on me just in case you need to shadow me away somewhere?”
“No, Riley, this was a scare tactic and a really fucking good one, that’s all.” He raised his hands up as if meaning no harm and then let them fall back at his sides.
“And his comment about River?”
Grayson glanced over at his best friend, snaking a hand behind his neck and rubbing. “It looked like he was dead serious about it. I tried to attack him and he rambled on with more threats. That being one of them.”
“Ruin everyone I care about until there is no one,” I muttered under my breath, shaking my head. I gave one solid nod and pressed my fingers to the center of my forehead. I set my eyes on Asher who was watching me silently. I heard whining from upstairs, focusing my eyes behind me on the staircase.
