Claim (A Dangerous Man 3)

Whatever she has to say, I don’t want to hear it.

“I’m not angry mother,” I interrupt. “I stopped being angry with you a long time ago. What I feel now is disgust. I don’t want to have anything to do with you. I hope you have a very happy life with Henry’s money. You’ve earned it.”

“Don’t try to tell me that you don’t care about money David,” She retorts.”You worked hard to make much more than your step-father ever had.”

I sigh. “Yes I worked hard, and I’m proud of it. What did you do? You received every beating the bastard ever gave you, lied about it, and turned your back on me without a thought. You make me sick mother.”

She doesn’t look at me as she steps into the lift. “I’ll never understand how you turned out to be so cruel,” She says, her voice low.

“You haven’t tried hard enough.” I say unsympathetically, turning away before the doors close.

~§~§~§~§~

I panic when I can’t find Sophie in our bedroom. I check all the rooms in the apartment, my heart racing. I finally think to look in my study and I find her, curled up on the couch, reading on her tablet. The relief I feel on seeing her temporarily weakens me.

“I’ve been looking for you.” I don’t mean for the words to be accusing, but they sound that way. Sophie only shrugs and turns back to her reading, ignoring me.

On the screen of the tablet,I can clearly see that she’s reading what little about my relationship with Carole is available on the internet. “Nothing you find there has anything to do with me and you.”

She looks at me, her eyes wide and glistening with a sheen of unshed tears. “Tell me about her.”

Carole is nothing to me. That’s the truth. We dated for a short time, and I tried to be a good friend to her, in spite of her shortcomings, especially after her father died, but now she’s nothing more than a temporary inconvenience, one I’ve finally managed to overcome.

“There is nothing to tell.” I say.

Sophie’s eyes flare in anger, “Really? Because it’s very clear here that she was your girlfriend only a short time ago.”

“Don’t believe everything you read in the papers Sophie.” I say gently. “We saw each other on and off for a while, but it’s been over for a long time.”

“Do you love her?” She asks. “Is that why you’re keeping me hidden, so that she won’t find out about me?”

The idea that Carole can mean that much to me is laughable. I go to sit beside Sophie on the couch. “You don’t need to concern yourself about Carole.” I tell her, meaning every word, and hoping she can see the truth in my eyes.

“Her father invested a lot in your career.” She murmurs.

“In return for a huge profit.” I reply.” It was good business, and he made money from Preston Corp every day we’ve been in existence.”

She draws in a deep breath, and I can see that she wants to believe me. “All those pictures of the two of you...”

“Mean noth

ing,” I insist, “We went to a lot of the same places, and people are used to mentioning our names together.”

“Why don’t you want anyone to know about me?” She asks with a small sniff.

Where do I start? I’d have to tell her everything about Carole, Toby Felt, and how I almost lost my company.

She gets up suddenly. “Fine, don’t tell me,” she says angrily, walking away from me. I follow, stopping her at the door.

“Sophie.” I take her hand. I don’t want to fight. Carole is not important enough for us to fight about.

She turns around to face me, for a moment, I think she has relented, but then she pulls her hand away from mine. “Don’t touch me.” her voice is shaky, “Don’t ever touch me again.”

Now she’s definitely overreacting. “Don’t be childish Sophie.”

She reacts as if I’ve slapped her. She turns and rushes away from me.

“Sophie, for God’s sake.” I follow as she runs to our room, catching up as she rushes into the walk-in closet.