The Chauffeur [Complete]

Chapter 12

Three weeks later
Rade's POV
It's been almost a month since I started working for the Hendersen's. And it didn't even take me a day for me to learn that I fucking hated the husband. I knew the moment I spoke to him on the phone that he's one of those entitled bastards that thinks he can just walk all over people. Especially those he views beneath him.

Celeste, she's nothing like him. She's sweet. A pain in my ass, but a sweetheart nonetheless. She's got this fire inside of her that I feel partially has to do with her Spanish roots.

She's not short, but she's not tall either. She has difficulty reaching almost everything in the house. She's got these curious brown eyes, smooth legs, warm olive skin, and dimples that appear every time she smiles. She's curvy in all the right places, her dark brown hair long and silky. I've thought about what it would be like to wrap it around my fist while I-

The filthy thoughts in my mind are cut short when my sister enters my line of vision. I had been staring off into the distance, my untouched burger and fries getting cold.

She slid into the booth of the restaurant we decided to meet up at, frustration radiating off her in waves as she set her purse down in the empty space beside her.

"It's been weeks, Rade," she huffed, getting straight to the point. She's always been that way. "Why haven't you visited dad yet?"

I immediately started to wish I had declined my sister's invitation to meet up like I had done several times before. Her and her husband have been calling and texting me since our father's heart attack, and I've ignored every single one.

The only reason I'm even here now having this conversation with her is because I knew sooner or later she'd end up hunting me down. And I didn't need her showing up at the club I frequent or at the Hendersen's residence.

"You know why," I bit out, eyeing the exit and contemplating making a run for it.

"We could've lost dad, Rade." Her blue eyes sparkle, fighting back tears. "I know you have unresolved feelings-"

"Unresolved feelings?" I scoffed. "There's nothing to resolve, Thalia. I hate the man and want nothing to do with him."

She frowned, losing the softness she had in her voice a moment ago. "If that were the case, then why did you offer to take dad's place as the Hendersen's Chauffeur?"

I watched the way her eyes fell to my plate for the second time since she walked in. I pushed the plate towards her, no longer in an appetizing mood. She picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth.

"You didn't have to do that," she continued. "Dad never-"

"Actually, he did," I cut in. Her eyes widened, surprised to learn that after a decade, I'd spoken to our father.

It wasn't like I'd reached out to him. I almost didn't answer when he called. But for some reason, that day, I did answer. To in which he informed me of his poor heart.

Thalia had already told me about his failing heart. And she'd slapped me across my face when I told her I didn't care. That he deserved it.

"He asked you to take over?" Thalia asked, surprise still heavily laced in her tone.

I nodded. "I said no, at first."

I couldn't fucking believe the old man. The audacity he had to request anything of me. I should be the one asking him for a favor after everything he's done. I'm the one he owes. Not the other way around.

"What made you change your mind?"

Celeste Hendersen.

The old man told me about her. Told me how much she meant to him. It angered me to hear him talk about her as if she were his own. As if he didn't already have two fucking children.

He talked about her and the kid with so much passion that I'd punched a hole in the wall of my home after the call ended.

I still have yet to fix it.

My father had spoken so highly of her. She was special. And so when he pleaded with me to reconsider his request, I gave in and accepted it.

It hadn't been for him. No. It had purely been because of my own selfish reasons. I needed to see this woman for myself. I understood the kid. He was always a sucker for kids. But her, I didn't understand.

Until I laid eyes on her.

Then it all made sense. She was beautiful. Not just on the outside, but on the inside as well.

I honestly can't remember the last time I'd ever seen a woman so beautiful. So... fucking perfect.

My father might not have gazed upon her like he wanted to devour every morsel of her being. But I had. Unashamedly. I'd openly fucked her with my eyes. And I didn't give a damn if she or her bastard of a husband noticed.

"I wanted the extra money," I told my sister, lying straight through my teeth.

I had plenty of money. She knew that. But even with that knowledge, she still believed my lie.

She laughed, giving her blue eyes a roll. "Of course. For a second there, I thought you actually gave a damn about dad."

I was even more irritated now. I didn't understand why my sister was so quick to forgive him. What happened to me happened to her, too. And to our mother.

How can she sit here and act like nothing happened? Like that day didn't fuck us up for the rest of our damned lives?

Suddenly, I couldn't tolerate this anymore. I slid out of the booth, reaching for the buttons on my suit jacket.

"Wait, where are you going?" My sister questioned mid bite of the burger I gave her.

"I'm out."

I didn't say another word as I left the restaurant. Even though Celeste had officially iced me out after I told her I wasn't there to be her friend, I would rather be there than here, having a conversation about a man I hated with my entire being.