“
I want to speak to my father first before I talk to you
.”
I
struggle trying to keep my emotions hidden. I
dare a
glance
quickly up to him and then step
away.
Moving down the hallway, I stop just outside my father
’
s office door and lean against the wall taking in a deep breath trying to center
my
self. I miss Marc so
much;
I feel like someone reached in and tore out my heart. All this time I have been walking around wi
th just half of myself. Will I? Can I? A
l
low him back in my life? I push off from the wall and knock
on my father
’
s door.
Shifting in
,
I take a seat across from his massive mahogany desk, my father has his head down looking over track sheets. Once I sit down he glances up at me and leans back in his leather chair,
“
Alyssa?
”
Before he
’
s able to speak another word I promptly begin my
line of questioning,
“
You told him to come here, didn
’
t you?
”
Without any resonation he nods and inclines forward over his d
esk with his chin resting in the palm of his
hand patiently waiting for me to continue.
“
Why? Why would you do that?
”
“
You need to talk to him, Alyssa.
”
His
tone is calm as before a storm,
looking
at me with his steel
y
blue eyes with regard.
“
I don
’
t need to, D
ad he made a choice and we
both need to just live with it,
”
I reply anxiously back.
I watch him as he picks up a book that is
lying
on the desk and hands it to me. Taking it
,
I flip through the worn and highlighted pages, it
’
s a book called
,
The Cheiro
’
s Book
of Numbers
.
“
I don
’
t understand, I
’
ve already read this one, you know this.
”
Dad leans mild
ly forward and collectively folds his hands together across his desk.
“
It
’
s
Marc
’
s book
, Alyssa, he wanted me to give it to you.
”
I look back at the book in my
hands;
I remember telling him to read it the night I left for
California
. That night I had been so in love with him and now
,
I am just a fool.
Chapter 27
I st
and up abruptly, turning toward
the wall and throw the book,
then
watch it fall down to the floor with a dull thump. Immediately placing my hands over my face I begin crying, as if I were a child that had fallen out of a tree, the tears are more over the fear and aversion than anything else. Dad shifts in front of the desk and wraps his loving embrace around
me;
he stands abidingly, holding my trembling body as I cry in his arms.
With smooth even strokes he
gently tucks
the stray strands of
my hair back
from my blanched face
.
“
Alyssa, he is a part of our world now,
neither you
nor I can deny it, he is a part of our coven and he is your
lifemate
.
”
Just when I think I can
’
t shed another tear
more
develop
, the insuppressible t
ears flow down my face
.
“
Please Alyssa, don
’
t confuse hurt from pride. Hurt heals with time and trust in each other, but pride will take a scratch and cause it to be the death of you. As a personal favor to me, just listen to what he has to say.
”
Dad gives me a tight
consoling squeeze and then I peek up to him wiping the tears away
. His voice carries such a caressing tone that all I can do is take in the undeniable comfort
he offers and allow it to wash
over me.
“
We all have lessons to learn whether it
’
s in the physical plane
or
the
spiritual realm, you take only from it what is necessary for you to learn.
”
He tenderly lifts my chin so I can look at him,
“
We can
’
t carry this type of darkness around with us, not even for a short time, it will destroy you.
”
“
I know
,
Dad
, I know our kind can
’
t have a negative presence surrounding us, with our elements residing deep inside.
”
The element depends on us to guide its power and if we lose ourselves to the darkness we will lose control of the element too. We are like two separate entities bound together as one. Another reason our kind has
lifemate
s, which adds an unwavering anchor, keeping us grounded to our true self.
I take in another
shaky breath, walking over to where the book lays and picking it up, I clutch the book tightly in my hand
,
“
I
’
ll be back in a minute
Dad
.
”
He presses a light kiss on my
cheek and I exit his office.
Marc has resigned himself to sitting at one of the couches in the lobby, but stands as I approach him.
He glances discreetly
down at my hand gripping the book, then back up examining my red and listless eyes.
“
I need to drive for a
bit when I get back we can talk,
”
I mumble
in a matter-of-fact tone. Mar
c only responds with
an
even
nod once to me as I canter
by. Once out of the building I see David leaning against the
Shelby
as I approach.
“
Hey, you doing
okay
?
”
he asks me.
Folding my arms across my chest, I
rest my hip slightly against the car and
reply back,
“
Yeah
, I will be.
Marc
’
s
um…here
.”
I point ove
r to the yellow Camaro parked beside
us.
David remarks as he emulates my stance, crossing his arms and watches
me
wide-eyed, as if he’s waiting for me to
turn on the waterworks,
“
Yes, I know.
”
Shaking my head
in unbelief, I look down at the
muted-silver
gravel by our feet, striving to make sense of it all and when I glower a look back up I discover David
grinning overbearingly
.
I toss my hands up in the air and demand,
“
Great, did everybody here know that small little detail and conveniently forg
et to tell me about... David?
”
Unc
rossing his arms
he
smiles deviously and
casually
shrugs his shoulders. I open my driver
’
s door and turn to David.
“
I need to take a drive around
for a few minutes
and cool
off.
I
’
ll
be back soon
and don
’
t
go off on Marc.
”
I point my finger at him and give him my best evil eye glare
I possible had. He starts to stride away and shouts as I throw the car in reverse,
“
I won
’
t beat his ass…not too bad anyway.
”
He
winks
with a rowdy, unmanageable smirk glued to his face.
Driving
,
I
crank up my radio till my windows are
practically vibrating and
try to grasp my thoughts
,
h
ow am I going to just simply forget.
I know with every fiber of my
being that
I still need and
want him
. I can
’
t live with
out him. He is a part of me just as I
am of him.
I park at a deserted
dead end street and tilt my head back on the
headrest of the
seat.
I
’
ll be
okay.
It’s
all going to be ok
ay
.
Suddenly I feel my cell going off, holding it in my hand, it buzzes telling me I have a message from Lisa
,
“
where are you? And don
’
t be gone too long.
”
Before I have a chance to respond she sends me another text message telling me that
,
“
Marc and David are in the same room together and the building is still intact
, but
I
’
m not sure just how long it
’
s going to last.
”
That makes me
bust out laughing
, quickly I text her back
to reassure her
,
“
H
ang on
,
I
’
m on my way
.
”
Backing up my car which had only sat still for five whole minutes, I turn around and head back to the track.
I drive over to the office. Sitting out front with the motor running for a moment I gain my
compo
s
ure
. Finally
,
after I brush my hair out and clean my face, I turn the car
off and
walk inside. Boxes cover a portion of the floor as David packs up things from the office. Tonight is our last night open for the season. When we close down the track we usually box up everything and have it taken to one of our storage units. I walk into the lobby hallway and hear, Marc asking David,
“
Has Alyssa done modeling before?
”
David
’
s voice sounds amused
as he retorts
,
“
No.
”
The curiosity is driving me nuts so I sneak a peek
around the
doorway
;
Marc is holding up a full size poster
, I bite my lip in distress
.
Where in the she-devil did he find that
, I wonder.
David glances over at what Marc has.
“
Oh,
yeah
, she did a couple of posters for the
Worthington
tracks a few years ago. There are
only three of them.
”
David pauses and then continues
,
“
She did a photo shoot that one time and as far as I know she hasn
’
t done anything like that again.
”
Marc holds up
another poster,
“
She is absolutely gorgeous.
”
Da
vid reaches inside a different
box and
yanks out another full sized advisement
,
“
This is my favorite one.
”
Marc pivots
to look at David with
an
uncertain expression
,
“
Why are there only three made?
”