Chapter 66

Leo’s POV

The clink of a fork on a plate pulled my eyes from my phone, as I sat at a small table in a quiet restaurant, scrolling through college news, trying to ignore the gnawing, cold feeling in my stomach, not hunger, but something sharp and unsettling.

My mom had been through so much lately, more than she let on, more than he ever let on.

Then a shadow fell over my table, and a chair scraped as someone pulled it out, settling directly opposite me. I looked up to see Evan Peterson, my dad.

My gut twisted, a familiar, unpleasant sensation.

“Hey, champ,” he said, that fake smile on his face, the one he used for big business deals, not for his own son. He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Order anything you want, it’s on me, steak, lobster, whatever you pick.”

I just stared at him, suspicion coiling in my chest. He rarely just showed up, not unless he wanted something, not unless there was an angle.

“What are you doing here?” I a