I got out of bed and walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
I ignored him and left, heading downstairs. “Dad?” I called out.
“In here.” I went into the kitchen and found him sitting at the island with Lucille, eating dinner.
“Dad, what’s this about Nate being my bodyguard?”
Lucille’s eyebrows shot up, clearly surprised, and he gave me an annoyed look.
“It’s exactly what you just said. Nate had some difficult news, and, well, I thought it best if he watched over you.”
“I’m not a child, father. I don’t need him to babysit me.”
I could sense Nate appear behind me. I could almost feel his enormous grin, clearly enjoying the show.
Lucille, meanwhile, looked confused as anything. “Jonathan, what’s she talking about?”
Dad made a noise, part grunt and part curse. “It’s nothing, honey. Just family business.”
Bad move on his part.
“Am I not family now?” she said, matching his level of annoyance. “What’s going on?”
He paused for a second, clearly at a crossroads. I felt a bit bad because he definitely hadn’t told her yet, but that wasn’t my problem.
“We have a little security issue,” he said finally.
“Yeah, like crazy local gangs trying to kidnap me,” I snapped at him. “Hire someone else. I am not having my stepbrother follow me around all summer.”
“Crazy local gangs? Kidnapping?” Lucille looked even more confused.
“Claire, honey, please calm down.”
“Absolutely not. I will not stand for this, for this, for this utter bullshit!”
My dad’s face was total surprise. I could hear Nate behind me laughing, but I didn’t care. I’d never cursed in front of my father before, but I was just too angry to hold back. The room was silent except for Nate cracking up.
Finally, Lucille spoke. “Jonathan, you better tell me what’s happening.”
He looked away from me and stared at her. “Like I said, a security threat. I will give you all the details as soon as we’re done here.”
“Am I in danger?”
“Typical Lucille, only worried about herself,” I heard Nate call out from behind me.
Everyone ignored him.
“You’re fine, dear. I promise you.”
“Dad, I’m not done. I’m not having him as a bodyguard.”
He turned on me, clearly angry. “Listen to me, young lady, do not ever speak to me that way again.”
“I’m an adult now, unless you forgot, and I’ll call things bullshit when they’re actually bullshit.”
“You’re behaving like . . . like . . . like an uneducated simpleton!” he said, clearly at a loss for words.
Nate laughed even harder at that.
“No, Dad, you’re being a controlling ass.”
I had no clue where all of this was coming from, but I was too angry to care. I’d been living with him controlling everything I did for far too long, and it was suddenly spilling out of me.
He looked enraged. “You listen to me,” he said softly. “Nathan is your bodyguard whether you like it or not. And furthermore,” he said, cutting my protests off, “you will not talk to me in that manner again unless you want to finish paying for your schooling yourself.”
I stared at him for a long minute, the kitchen completely silent.
“You’re threatening me?” I said finally.
“Only because you’re acting like a child, Claire. Now, please, don’t embarrass me or yourself further.”
I gaped at him. He’d been serious and controlling in the past, but never like this. He’d never threatened me before.
“Yes, father,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Now that your daughter is finished with her tantrum,” Lucille said acidly, “what’s going on?”
I stared at Lucille for a second, venom dripping from my gaze, before turning around and storming out. I pushed past Nate, who just grunted at me, and headed out the front door.
I couldn’t believe my father would stoop to threatening me. In the past, he’d been stern with me but always fair. He would give me his reasons for what he wanted me to do and I would almost always listen. Sometimes I’d argue, but he’d never imposed his will completely on me if I really didn’t want to do something. True, that was pretty rare, but still.
Ever since Lucille showed up, Dad had been incredibly stressed out. I’d never seen him so stressed. And suddenly he’s threatening me to get me to bend to his will, and doing it right in front of Nate and Lucille.
It was embarrassing and demeaning. I was so angry I could barely control myself. I wanted to lash out, but I knew that was childish and useless.