Daddy's Here(25)
“Listen, Izzy, I don’t know what you think you know about me but you’re wrong. You shouldn’t be around me. You’ll get hurt. Just go and be with Ben.”
“I’m not going to leave you get killed over me.”
“Whatever you think I am, I’m not. I’m not a good person, Izzy. You should just go.”
“You are a good person.”
“You don’t know a thing about me.”
“Don’t I? I know you cleaned my clothes for me. You made me breakfast. You let me sleep with the light on. Would a bad person do that?”
He looked uncomfortable, his arms folding as he refused to look me in the eye. “You should go,” he said but his voice had lost its vehemence.
“Not without my Daddy.”
“Please, don’t call me that.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because you just shouldn’t,” he snapped, his face angry all of a sudden.
“What the hell’s the matter?” I asked. “What’s so wrong about calling you Daddy?”
He sighed, rubbing his eyes before fixing me in stare so intense, I felt myself wilting before it. “I can’t do this,” he said. “This isn’t me.”
“What isn’t you?”
“Being a Daddy, looking after you. You should go before I have to take you home.”
“So take me home.”
“What?”
“If it matters to you so much, take me home, watch me marry Kingsley.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Is it what you want?”
He was silent for a second before answering. “No,” he said at last. “No it isn’t.”
NINETEEN
JAKE
We got on the next bus together. It took an hour of waiting for it to arrive and when it did I had to make a decision. I could either force her onto it and walk away or take her home and be done with all this.
In the end I did neither and we sat together, both of us silent in contrast to the time we’d spent waiting for it to arrive. I’d tried to walk away from her but she hadn’t let me go.
It didn’t make any sense to me. If all she cared about was getting to her childhood sweetheart, why didn’t she just leave? I asked her as much as we sat in the car park, waiting for the next bus.
“Why don’t you just take me back like you’re supposed to?” she said, answering my question with one of her own.
“You are infuriating,” I said.
She grinned in response. “Don’t avoid the question. You don’t think I should marry Kingsley, do you?”
“It’s not my place to decide that.”
“But you don’t, do you? I can tell just by looking at you.”
“I’ve told you, you don’t know anything about me. If you did, you’d be on that bus right now, not looking back.”
“I know you’re not taking me home, that’s enough for me.”
“So why’d you stay here instead of going on without me?”
“Because if you’re as scared of Tony Matteo as my father is, then you’re going to need my help to stay safe.”
I almost laughed. “I’m going to need your help?”
“When this all blows over, I’ll have a word with Tony, make sure he leaves you alone.”
“I don’t think you know what type of man he is.”
“I know exactly what type of man he is. He’s a crook and so’s his son.”
“And so am I.”
“You’re not a crook.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“If you were a crook, you’d be in a more expensive suit.”
“What’s wrong with this?”
“Nothing at all. I’m sure it fits in perfectly at the Men in Black conventions.”
“The what?”
“It’s a film, never mind.” She was silent for a moment before sighing. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “What do you want to do?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure. I want to go see Ben but I don’t at the same time. I want my father to be a decent human being but I doubt that’s going to happen anytime soon. I want to go home and lead a normal life, not have to run away like this. Will I always be running now? Is this it for me?”
“Things will blow over,” I lied. “I’m sure it’ll work out one way or another.”
“I wish I had your optimism.”
“What choice have you got?”
“Run or marry? Great options. What if Ben hasn’t got any feelings for me? What if he throws me off his doorstep?”
“I doubt he will.”