Tyrant Daddy by Isabella Starling

Chapter 16

Willa

"Wills, over here!"

I follow the sound of Mercy's voice, finding her at a table with her nightmarish boyfriend, Scott. Suppressing a groan, I join them at the table and force a smile for Scott's benefit. It was supposed to be just me and Mercy, but lately, they're a package deal.

"Where were you?"

"With Raphael." I flush, sitting down across from them at the small café. "Sorry, I totally lost track of time."

"Older dude giving dick that good, huh?" Scott smirks, wrapping a proprietary arm around Mercy's shoulders while she elbows him in the ribs.

"Prick," she hisses. "Don't talk to Willa that way."

I feel the flush creeping into my cheeks as they stare each other down, basically daring one another to back off.

This is how it always is with Scott and Mercy. I hate the guy for stealing my best friend, but I hate him even more for treating her like crap. She really deserves to meet someone better, but every time I bring it up or try to introduce her to somebody, my best friend keeps coming back to this idiot.

"So, Wills," Scott smirks at me, taking his attention off my friend. "How were those pills?"

"Pills?" Mercy glares at me. "What pills?"

"Fuck you, Scott," I hiss at him before turning to face Mercy. "I know it's your birthday soon and I bought something from Scott to make sure we had a fun night."

"Oh?" Her eyes glitter with interest. She always loved anything forbidden, though neither of us has tried more than a puff from a joint. "What did you get? When are we taking it?"

"We're not," I groan. "Raphael caught me with the pills and smashed them."

"That's hilarious," Scott laughs out loud.

"Fuck off, Scott." I look at him murderously before switching my attention back to Mercy. "Can we get rid of this idiot and talk alone, please?"

"Alright, alright." He raises his hands and gets up. "I got somewhere else to be, anyway. See you bitches later."

He walks off and slams the door closed on his way out, making me roll my eyes.

"Seriously, Mercy? Why that guy? I hate him so much. His dick must really be magical."

"Speaking of magical dick." She leans over with a conspiratorial expression. "How's Raphael doing, besides the pill smashing?"

"He doesn't want me doing anything my parents wouldn't approve of."

"Is that so bad? Nox and Dove are pretty cool."

"But it means I'm not allowed any fun at all," I whine. "I wanted you to have an awesome birthday."

"It'll still be awesome." She blows me a kiss over the table. I notice a ring of bruises around her wrist and furrow my eyes at her.

"Mercy, what happened?"

"Oh this?" She laughs it off like it's nothing. "You know my mom. Sometimes she gets a bit... you know."

"Do you want to come stay with us for a while? Nox and Dove wouldn't mind at all."

"No, it's okay." Her firm smiles closes that chapter for good. "Have you told them about Parsons yet?"

"No," I sigh. "I'm still worried what their reaction will be."

"But you still want to go?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Things have changed... because of Raphael. Do you still want to go?"

"Wherever you go, I'm going," she smiles.

"You're so sweet, Mercy. We gotta stick together, you're right."

"Why don't you ask Raphael about Parsons?"

"What about it?"

"I don't know." Her eyes glitter with mischief as they meet mine. "Maybe he'll come with us."

"I doubt it, his business is here..."

And yet Mercy's words have given me a ray of hope I hadn't expected.

To be honest, I've completely pushed the thought of NYC aside since I met Raphael. Everything has been about us lately, and I've practically decided not to leave, anyway. Even things at home have been better, despite Dove and Nox finding out about Raphael. They've been understanding and kind. I should treat them the same way and tell them the truth about Parsons. And yet I can't bring myself to have that conversation with them.

"You should at least mention it to him," Mercy concludes, calling over the waitress. "What do you want, Wills?"

We order and wait to get our croissants and coffee before jumping back into the conversation.

"So, about those pills," Mercy grins. "Are you going to get some more?"

"I don't know." I rip away a piece of the flaky dough. "I don't want to go against Raphael's orders."

"God, he's not your dad, Wills."

I flush deeply. If only she knew.

"I just don't want to break my promise to him. And seriously... I don't want to take E in Scott's shitty basement with his mom upstairs and one of his gross friends feeling me up."

"Wow, way to be honest." Mercy sets down her cup and crosses her arms defensively, instantly making me regret my words. "I'm sorry my boyfriend isn't as classy as yours."

"Come on, Mercy. You know I didn't mean it that way."

"How did you mean it, then?" She huffs in frustration, pushing her hair back. "I know you don't like him, but that's no reason to think you're better than him."

"I don't think that. At all." I stare at the plate before me. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She glares at me, sticking her tongue out. "You know I'm sensitive about him."

Fuck yeah, I do. She always gets either crazy jealous of insanely defensive when it comes to Scott. And contrary to Mercy's belief, my problem with the guy isn't the fact that he's not from a good family, it's the fact that he treats Mercy like shit, hangs out with bad people and, the worst of it all, I'm pretty sure he's cheated on my best friend with at least two different women.

"There's something else," Mercy finally mutters.

"What's that?"

"You know how you told me about Nox breaking his parole?"

"Yeah." I cringe at the thought. He had to spend a night in jail because of me. "He was in violation of it by threatening Raphael."

"He was in jail when you were younger, right?"

"Yeah."

"What for?"

"They never told me," I shrug. "Probably some white-collar thing."

"Wills..." Mercy swallows thickly. "I don't think it was that."

"What was it, then?"

"Well..." She scoots closer, taking my hand in hers. "Scott has a buddy who's been to the same prison Nox was in."

"And?"

"And... he says, that prison's like, not for white-collar stuff. It's more hardcore."

"Okay." I narrow my eyes at her in confusion. "Like what, he caused a car crash?"

"No." She shakes her head, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "Like, murder and shit."

I yank my hand from hers. "Nox didn't kill anyone."

"I think he did, Wills."

"Wow. You're seriously accusing him of that shit right now? Shouldn't you be more worried your boyfriend knows and hangs out with someone who's been to the same jail?"

I get up, ignoring the look of hurt on my friend's face.

"Wills, let's finish our conversation."

"No thanks," I hiss. "You obviously think the worst of me and my parents, so fuck that. Why don't you go and hang out with Scott?"

"Maybe I will." Mercy's demeanor changes and she glares back. "Since you've been spending every fucking second of your free time with Raphael, why shouldn't I? You obviously don't give a shit about me anymore."

"That's bullshit."

"Yeah, sure." She slams a twenty-dollar bill on the table.

"Let me pay," I say automatically, because I know Mercy and her mom are always broke.

"No." She glares at me from across the table. "I don't need your help. Not anymore."

She storms out of the café before I can react. I throw a guilty look at the remains of our Saturday brunch before walking out myself.

I can see Mercy waiting on the corner of the street. She glances at me, and for a moment I'm sure we'll get through this, she'll run toward me and envelop me in one of her famous hugs, and everything's going to be fine. But then Scott pulls up to the curb in his beat-up car. Mercy gives me an apologetic smile and gets in the car. All that's left for me to do is to watch it speed away.

I groan before calling myself an Uber, using Raphael's card to pay for it. He set this up for me a few days ago, so I could get to his apartment easier. Despite everything that just happened with Mercy, the smile won't leave my face as I start the journey to Daddy's apartment.

I'm coming unannounced today, but I'm sure Raphael won't mind. When I get into the lobby though, I see a woman arguing with the doorman. I instantly recognize her from the snooping I've done on Raphael. It's Elise, his ex.

And now she's spotted me, and her eyes grow dark with hate as she storms toward me. The doorman is panicking, nervously babbling into his phone while Elise reaches me.

"You," she spits out venomously. "You're the little fucking slut who stole my fiancé."

I look her in the eyes, muttering a half-sincere sorry.

"You will be sorry," she says ominously. "I'll make you regret ever setting eyes on him, you dirty little bitch."

"Hey, back off lady," I hiss in return. I'm not letting her treat me like this. "Get over it. He picked me."

"Because you fucking manipulated him." She's not done yet, digging in her purse and pulling out a checkbook. "How much do you want, whore? I'll pay you to leave him alone. I want you out of the picture."

Only a few short months ago, I would've been tempted by that money, but not today.

I try to walk away from her and head for the elevator when she grabs me by the ponytail and yanks me back. I shriek just as the elevator doors ding open and Raphael storms out.

He doesn't have to tell Elise to stop touching me. The look in his eyes is enough for her to unhand me in a second, her whole body shaking as I run into Raphael's embrace.

"I told you not to come back here," Raphael tells Elise, kissing the top of my head. "We're done, Elise. I'm sorry."

"You can't be fucking serious," she hisses in response. "You can't possibly pick her over me."

"You need to leave before I call the cops," he says calmly. "If I ever see you here or around Willa again, trust me when I say I'm going to destroy you."

I flush, glancing at his perfectly serious face. His jaw is set and he seems determined.

Elise purses her lips before storming away, not saying another word.

"Are you okay?" He pulls me closer, kissing the top of my hair.

"I'm fine, sorry, I shouldn't have come unannounced."

"I love it when you come unannounced," he whispers against my ear. "I'm so sorry you had to see that, trouble."

"She's still trying to get back with you, then."

"Seems pretty determined, yeah." He groans. "Come on, let's go upstairs. A hot chocolate will make us both feel better."

“Sounds good,” I say and we head to the elevator.

My heart is racing and I can't help shaking at the memory of Elise and how violent she got. A shiver runs down my spine as I realize I've effectively ruined her life. She had it all worked out – a marriage with Raphael, and his baby. And I came in between all that... Even though I tell myself Raphael never loved Elise, I can't help but feel guilty. But one look at Raphael's handsome, chiseled face makes me forget about everything. With him, I’m sure I can finally be happy.