4
"Jasper, how many times have I told you? If you keep trying to manipulate me, I will not allow you to date my daughter," I grit out and relax as the control slips away like a silk sheet.
The rage returns, my fists clench, and I glare at the vampire sitting on my couch like he owns the place.
"I'm sorry, sir," he lies easily.
All bloodsuckers have the speed, the indestructibility, the strength, and super hearing but some of them harness special abilities. As luck would have it, my daughter's leech of a boyfriend can control and manipulate emotions.
"Alice, you're supposed to be at school."
"Uh." She looks down at her hands. "Rehearsal got canceled?"
"Are you asking me or telling me?" I demand.
"Telling you. I didn't think you'd be home for another hour."
"Well, you thought wrong." I point to Jasper. "And you must be out of your damn mind if you think you can explain why he's in my house while I'm not home."
She opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. "Or why he was with you in your bedroom."
Her face pales. "H-how did you know?"
I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to calm myself down before I explode. "Jasper, it's time for you to go. Alice will see you at school and nowhere else for the rest of the month."
Alice jumps to her feet, throwing her hands in the air. "But, Dad! The play." She cries while her boyfriend makes a hasty exit.
"You should have thought about that before you lied to me."
Her bottom lip wobbles and tears pool in her eyes. A weaker man would fall for it, but not me.
"You disobeyed me, and you're grounded for the next two weeks." She opens her mouth, but I hold my hand up. "Do you want to make it three?"
With a loud sob, she rushes out of the room, and I hear her bedroom door slam shut.