I was glad that he understood. I paid him the rest of the money I owed him, having a moment of panic at the fortune I’d forked over. For so long I was scrimping. I needed to get used to the fact that I was rich again. I put the box in my purse and headed back to the store to leave.
As I stepped outside, I turned and saw Dax leaning against the building one store down instead of right outside the jewelry shop. I appreciated the fact that he tried to give me space, or maybe he was worried about standing too close to me after Bran's reaction that night in the foyer.
I started toward him when I heard a man call my name. I turned around and saw my father walking toward me.
He looked pissed, although I couldn't imagine why. Except for the call I made to Peter a couple weeks ago, I hadn't been in touch with either of them in a long time.
"Why must you continue to embarrass the family?" he snapped at me.
I tried to stand strong even as his harsh words made me flinch. For a moment I wondered if he had learned about the surrogacy, but I couldn't imagine how. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Peter said that you found yourself a sugar daddy. Is that true? Are you whoring yourself to people in our society?"
I wasn't a violent person, but for the first time in my life, I wanted to reach out and slap my father.
"Is there a problem Ms. Francis?" Dax’s voice was low, sounding almost lethal.
My father sized him up and while he took a step back, it didn't stop them from turning his angry gaze back on me.
"I'm fine Dax. Thank you." I glared at my father.
“Is he right? Or are you working in retail again?”
"What I do is none of your business. I think you made that abundantly clear when you cut me off. I'm living my own life and for the first time in a long time, I'm actually happy. So I'd appreciate it if you get out of my way and stop ruining a beautiful day."
He scoffed. "Some life. You know what being a gold digger makes you, don't you?"
"That's enough." Dax put his hand under my arm to guide me away.
I jerked my arm free and turned back to my father in shock at how cruel he could be.
"It's not enough that you blame me for my mother's death and that you disowned me, but now you have to harass me and try to make my life miserable? Well, it's not going to happen. I am doing well, thank you very much. In fact, I'm having a baby."
I don't know why I told him that because it wasn’t like he’d care. Plus, the whole idea was for no one to know what I was doing, although I suppose that was a stupid goal because I was beginning to show.
Despite all that, I wasn’t finished giving my father a piece of my mind.
"I suppose that you'll wish that I die giving birth to my child. You'll see it is some sort of cosmic retribution. You're a cruel and heinous man and I'm glad my child will never know you."
My father gasped, stepping back. I waited for him to say something else about me being a whore, but he turned and quickly rushed away.
Once again Dax put his hand under my elbow and guided me back to the car. "Are you okay?" I could hear genuine concern in his voice.
"I'm fine." The fact that I was shaking belied my words, but I was determined that my father wasn't going to hurt me anymore.
"Who was that fucker?"
"That fucker is my father. If you didn't notice, he hates my guts."
"Why?"
Dax opened the car door, helping me in.
"He blames me for taking away all his happiness. So he makes it his goal to take away all of mine."
"You know there was a time I used to do things about guys like him.”
My head swiveled around to look at him in the driver's seat.