“That’s final?” I scoffed. “I’m sorry, Daddy, but you don’t get to make that decision for me. I’m an adult. I make decisions for me.”
“I don’t give a shit that you’re an adult. You’re my daughter, and no daughter of mine will be involved with that piece of garbage. Hurt is the only thing that will come from this. Nothing else.”
“Maybe it is,” I conceded but kept my eyes on him and my voice firm. “Maybe he’ll hurt me or maybe I’ll hurt him. It’s not impossible that it will happen, but it’s also not impossible that we won’t hurt each other. We’ll only know by seeing this thing through, and that’s exactly what I intend on doing.”
“Over my dead body.” Each word was punctuated with a pause and a deep breath. A challenging gleam entered his eyes, and he pointed his finger at my chest. “You might legally be an adult, but you’re still my little girl. It’s my job to protect you, Sofia. That is exactly what I’m going to do.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Dad was already storming out of the kitchen. His bedroom door slammed a second later, and I huffed out an angry breath.
Well, that didn’t go well. I shook my head as I sat back down, unable to believe that only minutes ago I was happier than I could remember being in a long, long time.
All the joy that had been bubbling in my heart had fizzled out and had been replaced with the acidity of fear and the heaviness of anger. I knew Lincoln could take care of himself, and I also knew that Dad couldn’t exactly discharge him dishonorably purely for dating me, but I was still afraid of the repercussions for Lincoln now that Dad knew about us.
The anger? Well, Dad was being entirely unreasonable about my relationship with Lincoln. Sure, they didn’t like one another, but that didn’t mean he could forbid me from seeing someone or treat me like a child.
It wasn’t the first time he’d played the “you’ll always be my little girl” card, but it was the first time that he’d done so in a way that was condescending and demeaning. Maybe I didn’t understand and wouldn’t until I was a parent myself, but being his little girl didn’t give him the right to dictate who I loved. It couldn’t.
Lincoln and I might still be new, but I truly believed that if he and Dad could only get to know each other, they could learn to get along. There was already mutual respect. They simply needed to have a conversation about why Lincoln hadn’t taken any of the opportunities for advancement that he’d had.
If I really thought about it, it wasn’t that different from my own situation. I’d been offered fast-tracking several times, but I’d never even seriously considered it. No matter how much of an honor it was to be considered, it just hadn’t felt right to me.
Dad had never pressured me about it. Why he apparently held Lincoln to a higher standard than he held me, I didn’t know. He hated Lincoln for doing essentially the same thing as me.
When I heard heavy boots stomping on the stairs, I looked up to see Dad dressed in his full military uniform.
I frowned. “Where are you going and why are you all dressed up?”
“I’m going to work,” he said. “I can’t talk to you about your relationship, but there are other things I could be doing.”
Unease tied my stomach up in knots, but Dad left and slammed the door behind him before I could put my finger on why. Whatever he was going to go do, I doubted it would end well for Lincoln and me.
Chapter 31
Lincoln
“You’re being called in for a meeting with the officers, Dobbs,” the assistant on the base told me.
“Sure. When?” Tension tightened my muscles. If I was being called in so soon, it couldn’t be good news. It was possible I was being called in for questioning, but my gut told me that wasn’t what it was about.
“Right away,” he said urgently, more than a hint of nervousness in his tone. “The officers are already gathering. The sooner you can get here, the better.”
My mouth dried up, but I nodded. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I’ll let them know. Thank you.” He hung up without another word, and the line went dead.
Over the years, I’d learned to trust my gut. Ignoring it when we got called for that last mission was what had gotten us into the deepest mess we’d ever been in. I wouldn’t ignore it again, and it was blaring a goddamn alarm at me as I put on my uniform.
Before I left the room, I gave myself a long look in the mirror. This could be the last time I got to wear the uniform. If it was, I wanted to remember every detail about what it felt like to be in it.
The material was rough but soft from use and thousands of washes. I felt the material against my skin, but it wasn’t uncomfortable or restricting.
Being in it felt right, like my world was off its axis when the uniform was just hanging in my closet. It had been a long time since I’d paid attention to how I felt in this uniform, since I’d really given much thought to the honor it was to wear it.
Exhaling before I turned around, I took a final mental picture before leaving the house. This wasn’t going to be a good meeting, but I still had a duty to attend it.
Besides, not going was the worst thing I could do.
When I walked into the officers’ chambers, Charles was sitting there waiting for me. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see he was in a particularly pissy mood, and he looked at me
