Page 136 of Tight Ends & Tiaras
SIENNA
“What do you mean,you moved me out?”
My father holds up a finger in the universal signal to wait. We’re sitting on the patio of the Four Seasons in Austin. His security cleared out this back area and are posted around like my father is a foreign diplomat. I hate how I can feel them watching me through their dark sunglasses.
I glance at all the empty tables. Who knows how much this impromptu Sunday meal is costing? Probably a small fortune since he’ll have to compensate the hotel for taking up the entire patio.
“Dad.”
He’s busy scanning whatever report Assistant Number Two dropped in front of him ten minutes ago.
“Dad.”
His eyes never leave the report as he speaks. “Melvin said your house was ransacked, Sienna. And that the woman who did it sent you compromising photos of her with your boyfriend, someone I didn’t know you were dating, much less living with.”
A harsh laugh rips from my mouth. “Why would I tell you anything when I only see you on the rare federal holiday? I know more about you from reading gossip magazines than from anything you ever tell me, so why would I bother?”
Finally, he looks up with a sigh. “Is this about Penelope again?”
“Fuck Penelope. This is about why you seem to think it’s okay to sweep into my life and take it over.”
His lips tighten before he takes a sip of his coffee. “Must you use that kind of language?”
I’ve heard my father in meetings. He curses like a sailor. “Better to be known as a sinner than a hypocrite.” I love proverbs. They’re so quotable.
His jaw twitches. “Sienna, why are you being so blasé about this situation? Were you actually planning to stay in a house with a man who cheated on you? I thought I raised you to have more self-respect than that.”
After all the crying I did last night, I’m surprised when my eyes sting. I thought I was cried out.
I manage to keep my shit together even though having my father drag out all of my mistakes like this is utterly humiliating.
I try to explain things as calmly as possible. Given that my father took it upon himself to move me out of my house, I think that’s saying something.
“Melvin installed a security system, so I wasn’t in any danger, and I had planned to talk to Ben before I made any decisions. That’s what reasonable adults do, Dad. They discuss things.”
Unlike my parents, who got a divorce and never told me anything until it was over. Brutal doesn’t begin to describe it.
Ever since I tossed Cal’s laptop out the window, I’ve been thinking I need to marinate on things more and react less. Perhaps if I hadn’t lost my shit that night I wouldn’t have been brained in the head with a bottle.
Although... I really don’t regret trashing his laptop. He’s an ass for using me the way he did, and if I could knee him in the balls, I totally would.
But I’m ten times more fucked up by the possibility Ben cheated on me. Honestly, I can’t wrap my head around how he could do something like that. Which is different than Cal, who was dropping red flags left and right.
Cal never took me anywhere except to his house, where it was just him and a couple of his roommates. I only went to a couple of his parties, and we spent most of the time in his bedroom. We never did anything really social. Even though Ben and I haven’t had much time to be social, I never felt like I was his dirty little secret.
When I spoke to Gabby this morning before I left Dallas, she swore up and down that Ben would never do me dirty like this. She wondered if those photos had been Photoshopped.
If so, the person did a convincing job of it.
But it got me thinking that maybe not everything is as it appears.
At the same time, I don’t want to be a complete dumbass. My last boyfriend cheated on me. It’s possible Ben did too.
And had I not left my phone on the roof of the car I rented in Dallas, I could tell him he’s an asshole.
I groan when I think about the dumpster fire my life has become. Who stops for gas and loses their phone? That would be me.
Sighing, I rub my throbbing temples.
