“No, we don’t.” I step back into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind me. No way is this man getting anywhere near my room. “You need to leave. Now.”
“I’m not here to cause trouble.” He holds his hands up, which does nothing to ease my suspicion. “I just want to have a conversation. Man to man.”
“Man to man?” I let out a harsh laugh, keeping my voice low despite wanting to shout. “You mean the man who kicked his pregnant daughter out versus the man who's trying to actually be there for his kid? Yeah, I don't think we have much to talk about.”
His jaw tightens, a flash of anger crossing his face before he smooths it away. “I made mistakes. I know that, but I'm trying to make things right.”
“By stalking me at my hotel?”
“By warning you.” He takes another step closer, and every instinct I have screams at me to either walk away or hit him. Possibly both. “You need to stay away from Tiffany and Ella. For their own good.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” His voice is firm now, losing the false friendliness. “Stay away from them. Go back to whatever lifeyou had before and forget about them. They don't need you complicating things.”
Stay away from them?
Does he really think that’s possible now?
My fists clench as I try to hold back all the anger and rage coursing through my veins. There’s more to this than a concerned grandfather suddenly making an appearance.
That’s when it all clicks into place. The timing of his appearance. Honey's warning at the bookstore about my father's plans. The pulled job interview.
He was sent here.
“How much is my father paying you?” The question comes out bitter. “To sabotage your own daughter’s happiness? Must be a hell of a price.”
“He’s not.”
“Please. I know a Jonathan Nicks setup when I see one.”
Tiff’s father doesn’t deny it. He just stares at me with those hard, empty eyes.
“What did he tell you?” I ask carefully.
“That you're unstable. That they don’t know where you are half the time. That you’re transferring out of Southern Collegiate because you can’t handle it. You’ve cheated your way through life: in high school, with the only girlfriend you’ve had. You’re nothing and you’ve got nothing going for you.”
All of my failures roll off his tongue, and I should be embarrassed by them, but I’m not. They are all the things that brought me here. To my real family.
“Stay away from Tiffany and that little girl,” he says, looking at me, and I wonder what he sees. Another rich kid playing pretend? Or someone genuinely trying to be better? “This is your only warning.”
He turns and walks toward the elevator, not waiting for a response.
I stand there, watching him go, my phone buzzing in my pocket with a text from Tiff.
Tiff: Game's almost over. Ella scored a touchdown! Albeit against a tiny goal, but it still counts. What time do you want us to pick you up?
I look from the phone to the elevator doors closing on Tiff's father, and something hardens inside me.
Fuck him.
Fuck my father.
They can send whoever they want. They can threaten, manipulate, try to destroy every opportunity I have.
I'm not changing.
I'm not leaving.