“Okay,” Leah said reluctantly. “But stay in the shadows. Make sure no one sees you.”
“I know,” I said.
Leah frown but quickly pushed it from her face. “If you’re not back in fifteen minutes, I’m coming to look for you.”
“Make it twenty-five,” I said. “My dad likes to talk.”
“He does?” Leah asked cocking a brow.
“Sometimes,” I replied with a smirk.
Leah sighed and crossed her arms. “Let the record show I’m not happy about this.”
“I’ll be quick,” I said kissing her cheek.
“I’m going to be so mad if I have to come out there looking for you,” she said squeezing her arms around me. “Is this stupid?”
A breath squeaked out between my lips. “Probably. But I’ll be really careful.”
“Adam, I was being careful too.”
“But it’s different,” I said. “I can hide in the dark. We did it for weeks. You need to finish this bag. We need to be ready.”
“I know,” Leah said. “Be careful, okay?”
I nodded. “Of course, I will.” I kissed her again. Longer. More passionately. The kind of kiss I needed to stop or I wouldn’t make it out the front door. “I love you.”
“I’ll say it when you get back,” Leah said.
“Looking forward to it.”
The walk to the main building was quick. I was at his door in record time.
I knocked.
Shit.
I hadn’t thought things through. What would I say if Eva was inside? Surely, I could manage to get a quick private talk with him.
My dad opened the door. He blinked several times before stepping to the side.
“What are you doing here?” he asked with a wave of his hand. “Not that I don’t always love a visit from my son. It’s just unusual to see you at this hour. I was just about to get ready to get in bed.”
“Dad,” I said before he could start another sentence. “We didn’t get our papers.”
He blinked. “Well, that’s odd. I talked to Donovan again after the meeting. You really don’t have anything to worry about. He probably didn’t send them to you because he knew I talked to you.”
“Donovan’s daughter isn’t obligated to go,” my dad said. “I’m sure she didn’t get the papers. I really don’t think you have anything to worry about. Family members of those on the council are not required to go to the training.”
“Leah isn’t family,” I said swallowing hard.
My dad looked down. “I told them she’s your wife.”
“Eva knows that’s not true.”
“She doesn’t know,” my dad said softly.
“Where is she?” I asked.
My dad waved his hand as if swatting flies. “Bah, she’s down there helping organize the training for tomorrow. I told her she doesn’t need to trouble herself with all that but she insisted. She wants to do everything she can to help since she won’t actually be down there.”
“Of course not,” I said with a laugh.
“You know how she is,” my dad said.
“Yeah.” I laughed. “I do.”
And what she was doing wasn’t like her at all. She was up to something but, of course, my dad wouldn’t recognize that about her. He still refused to believe who she really was.
“You know what they say about her and that guard Leo, right?” I should have kept my mouth shut but I couldn’t. “It’s not so much rumors as it was a confession in front of everyone that day they had me in the town center. The day you rescued me. The day they would have killed me if you hadn’t been there.”
“Son.” The word was a warning but I didn’t take it.
“Why do you want to stay with her when she’s clearly screwing another guy? Why do you put up with it? You’re better than this dad,” I said sharply.
My dad’s ears turned red. I thought he was going to explode but instead, his shoulders softened.
“Dammit, Adam. I don’t care about that. I’m too old to worry about that. Your mother was the love of my life. Eva takes care of me. She’s good company,” my dad said with sadness glossing his eyes.
“What happened to her?” I asked. I looked away. “What happened to mom?”
My dad’s head moved side to side. “I tried to save her, but it crashed down on her. There wasn’t anything I could do. I can’t talk about this, Adam. It’s too painful.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just miss her so much.”
“Me too, Adam. Me too.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “I hate to do this, son but you should really get going. Eva will be back any minute and she doesn’t like having visitors this late. She likes to get her beauty sleep.”
“Doesn’t seem like she cares that much about it if she’s out there,” I said. “Is that rule for all visitors or just me?”
My dad frowned. “I know things between you two aren’t good but they can be if you two let go of whatever it was that happened between you. Life is too short to hold grudges.”
The last thing I wanted was to run into her on my way back to Leah. I wanted to make it back to her and since I knew what Eva was capable of, it was best for me to leave.
“Fine,” I said running my hand through my damp hair.
“You have nothing to worry about, okay?”
“Sure, Dad,” I said. “Have a good night.”
He smiled and wished me a good night before closing the door. I stood there, staring at the door. There was so much I should have said to my dad. I should have tried to explain who Eva really was. Deep down, I knew it would
