Sensual Redamancy

Chapter 44

•Dominic•

"Should I be worried about you paying so much attention to reading that journal or should I rather be concerned about who you stole or forcefully took it from?"

My question was aimed at my father who seemed to ignore me, keeping his eyes focused on the journal in his hands.

This was the calmest I'd seen him in a really long time, focused and not making any diabolical schemes.

He usually had a thing for pissing me off with his suggestions and remarks about Sofia and her family, but today since the morning, he hadn't said much to me or anyone in fact. Naturally, my curiosity was piqued.

The conference hadn't gone perfectly well, but it hadn't been terrible either. It could have gone way worse, but our PR team handled it flawlessly to my father's advantage. That couldn't be the reason why he was so low and out of character.

Perhaps it could have been the issue with the board this morning as some members questioned his legibility to lead the conglomerate after his scandal, but they'd been silenced with a few words and confidential threats.

The tranquillity began with that journal he held in his hands and the more he read it, the clearer I could see the softness and warmth clouding his eyes. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen any positive emotion in those piercing blue eyes. I couldn't be blamed for feeling something was off.

I kept quiet for a few minutes, observing him as the chauffeur drove us through the late-night congestion back to our respective homes. How could I get more insight into what he was reading without reawakening the coldness within him?

"Stop staring at me like that," he finally spoke up, irritated. "It's uncomfortable."

I kept my attention on him. "Your silence and attention on that journal are even more uncomfortable, Father."

He looked away from the pages of the journal to look up at me only briefly before refocusing on what he was reading. "It's mine."

Lies.

"It's pink and girly," I pointed out.

"That doesn't change the fact that it's mine," he responded sternly.

I softly sighed, leaning forward towards him. "Ava moved in with you today and—"

"We already had that conversation," he interjected. "I might be cruel, evil or whatever you constantly chant in your head, but I do not hurt minors no matter how bad it gets."

He sounded sincere, but his behaviour towards his own blood said otherwise.

"Greta is a minor and she's been a subject of your physical abuse for a time too painful to say out loud," I reminded him.

It pained me to say it because I knew I could have done better as her brother. I should have protected her from the beginning and sent her far away from him where he couldn't hurt her. There were so many things I regretted and her pain was one of those.

His response was simple but triggering. "She is my daughter."

"That doesn't justify your actions," I told him, "and I'm kindly requesting that behaviour ends with immediate effect before I take matters into my hands as I should have from the very first time you laid your hands on her."

He didn't seem fazed. "Greta is my daughter and I know how to keep her in line. Let me do the parenting to the rebel I fathered."

She wasn't born a rebel. He groomed her to be the way she was and fuelled the rage and bitterness within her. I wished he could see the impact he'd had on his children from my point of view, or maybe he did but chose not to care about it.