“Then another?” Another chuckle escaped her. “I’ve been there with him. He sure knows how to force issues and push buttons sometimes.”
“Yeah, that he does,” I said, quieter now. My intense dislike of the man made it hard to reconcile the fact that I was willingly spending the day with his daughter, his only family.
The thought was a nice reminder that, no matter what assurances she had given, I had to be careful about what I said around her. Presumably, she wouldn’t do well with my bashing of Daddy Darling.
As if she’d sensed my mind lingering on him, she turned her head to face me again. “Did you know that he really respects you?”
I scoffed, but it was more like I’d choked on my own fucking tongue. “Excuse me?”
Sofia’s shoulders lifted in a nonchalant shrug. “Yeah, he does. I mean, he also thinks you’re never going to advance and that you have no ambition to do so. But he said you’re crazy talented.”
A deep frown pulled my brows together. “He said that about me?”
“Well, he didn’t use the words ‘crazy talented,’ but he said you have the least ambition he’d ever seen to pursue your talent or to live up to your full potential.”
“That’s not surprising.” A ripple of irritation ran through me, followed by a burning flash of anger. “Why did you discuss me with him?”
“We were talking about his party.” She put her hands up in the air. “Not about anything that happened between the two of us there or after.”
“What else did he say?” I asked, my fingers curling into my palms. I fucking hated being talked about behind my back, especially by someone spewing as much shit as Charles probably had.
“Not too much,” she said smoothly, then cocked her head as she sat up. “Is it true? Are you really not pursuing climbing the ranks? You’re reacting like it might be true, which is unexpected.”
“No offense, but your father has no idea what he’s talking about. Frankly, neither do you.” My voice came out harshly, but she was definitely treading into territory she had no business being in.
“Don’t worry. No offense taken. You’re right. I don’t have any idea what I’m talking about. I don’t even really know you. My father might have some valid points if you’re getting this defensive about it, though.”
My brows rose, and my fist slammed into the scorching sand on my other side. “Does anyone like being told they’re not living up to their full potential? I sure as fuck don’t. Especially by people who don’t have the first clue about who I am.”
Sofia turned her hands so her palms were facing me, frowning as she pulled them back toward her chest. “Hey, I didn’t mean—”
“I think it’s probably for the best if we don’t see each other again,” I bit out, full-blown rage now rolling around in my stomach.
Who the hell did she and her father think they were? Charles might have trained me and knew my name, but he didn’t know me. Now his daughter thought she could judge me after fucking me once?
Yeah, I wasn’t sticking around for that. Jumping to my feet, I yanked my towel up, not caring if I got sand all over her.
Sofia pulled her head back. She’d pushed her sunglasses into her hair and was watching me with a dark eyebrow arched. “It’s your life. You’re free to do with it what you want, Linc. If that’s not seeing me again, then so be it.”
“That’s how it’s going to be,” I said. I didn’t need this shit in my life. There was more than enough going on as it was. “This was a bad idea anyway.”
She shook her head but didn’t argue. There was a definite disappointed purse to her lips, though. “Sure. Have a good life.”
“Yeah, you too.” I tossed my towel over my shoulder, grabbed my backpack, and stalked off without another word. There was nothing left to say really.
She’d made it perfectly clear what she thought about me, and I hadn’t been put on this goddamn earth to change her mind. After I got to my truck, I shook the sand out of my towel and stuffed it into my backpack before dusting off my feet.
I tore out of the parking lot, narrowly missing a car turning in. The driver flipped me off, but I ignored him. The truck jerked as I swerved out over the curb to avoid hitting him, but I just kept going. I needed to get away from the Cantors and their fucking good-for-nothing opinions.
About a mile away from the beach, my truck started pulling to the side in a very telltale way. Glancing into my side mirror, I saw that my suspicions were correct. I’d busted my fucking tire.
I must have hit something or sliced it when I’d gone over the curb. Curses even an old-school sailor wouldn’t have come up with streamed from my mouth as I slowed next to the road.
This is just what I fucking needed right now. Changing a tire was no problem for me, but fucking really?
Things got worse when I realized I didn’t have a jack. I groaned out loud and dropped my forehead against the hot metal of the cab. Eden and the guys had borrowed my stuff a while ago and must not have replaced the jack yet.
Before I could grab my phone to call him with a demand that he bring me what I needed, a car pulled up behind me. I didn’t even look at it at first, not planning on accepting help from any-fucking-one.
But then an all-too-familiar voice called to me. “What seems to be the problem there, sailor?”
I heard amusement dancing in Sofia’s voice before I even looked at her. Fuck.
Fucking. Fuck. Fuck. Now this? This is the last thing I need after that showdown on the goddamn beach.
Chapter 12
Sofia
Alpha males had serious problems. I knew that, yet I’d forgotten how
