Kong headed for one of the chairs, swung it around, and straddled it. Not wanting to be on the bed for whatever this was, Katherine took the other chair.
“What’s up?” She braced herself, bolstering her courage by telling herself that if he was going to give her the just friends speech, it was better she heard it now before she fell too deep. Because she could fall so easily for him… A thickness built up in her throat as she waited for him to speak and she realized that though she barely knew him, she already felt too much. This was going to sting.
“Tell me about your father.”
Wait. What? Her father? That was so not what she’d been expecting. Thrown off, she stared at Kong in confusion. “My father?”
He nodded. “Please.”
She made a face. “What do you want to know?”
“Anything. Everything. What was it like growing up with him?”
He looked so serious. What was this about? “Why?” Did her father have something to do with the mission Kong had gone on?
Kong let out a sigh of frustration. “I wish I could tell you, and I will, once I can. I just can’t tell you right now. But please believe me it’s important or I wouldn’t ask.”
God, there were so many questions she wanted to ask, her thoughts flying this way and that at such a rapid pace that it took a moment to collect them so she could focus on what Kong had asked. What had it been like growing up with August Cleary?
“I didn’t grow up with him. I grew up with my mom.”
“Your parents weren’t married?”
A scoffing sound escaped her before she could get things under control. “God, no.” The old bitterness crept into her voice as sheadded, “My mom wasn’t good enough for the golden boy heir to the Cleary empire.”
Her mom had never said anything. Harper Knox had never once disparaged her father in front of Katherine. Aunt Meg – who wasn’t really an aunt but her mother’s long-time best friend – had no such qualms. When Katherine was old enough, Aunt Meg had told her the story. Of how Harper had met August at a football game in high school. Their two teams had been playing against each other but they’d hit it off and begun dating. He’d told Harper he loved her more than anything and wanted to run away with her so they could be together forever. Until Harper got pregnant and then all those declarations and promises went out the window.
There’d been an ugly confrontation between Harper and August’s parents. They’d called her trash, a gold digger, a social climber. They’d told her point-blank that she wasn’t good enough for their son, wasn’t good enough to wear the Cleary name, and insisted there be a paternity test before Harper saw a single penny of their money. Worse, according to Aunt Meg, August Cleary had stood there through the whole thing, acting like a victim. He’d never once stood up for Harper.
The truth was, that August Cleary wasn’t good enough for her mother. Katherine just wished she’d figured that out sooner. She’d spent so much of her childhood trying to please her father, thinking that if she just did better or worked harder, he’d love her and want to spend time with her. She still found herself doing it more often than not. Old habits really did die hard.
Katherine cleared her throat and addressed Kong’s original question. “I saw him once a month at visitation. He always spent most of it on his phone. Work calls.” Or so he said. He never played with her. He barely spoke to her. “Otherwise, he paid his child support on time, and paid for my education.” He even sent her a birthday card and Christmas card every year with a gift card inside – or rather, his assistant did. She’d stopped thanking him for them once she realized that he’d had no clue his assistant had even sent them.
She looked at Kong. “I’m sorry if you were looking for something more specific. He’s my father, but I don’t really know him like you’d think a daughter would. You know?”
Kong let out a low rumble and took her hand. “You told me plenty. Thank you.”
“And you can’t tell me what this is about?”
“Sorry.”
He looked apologetic too. She believed him that if he could tell her he would. While she was curious, honestly, it wouldn’t surprise her to discover that her father was up to some shady shit. It had taken her a long time to realize it, but she’d concluded that August Cleary only cared about two things: Money and himself. Other people didn’t matter to him unless they could do something for him. If you weren’t useful to him, you were beneath his notice.Shehad never mattered to him until he’d needed her to do this job.
But she was tired of thinking about her father. “Do you want to hang out and watchFriends?”
“Sounds good to me.”
She’d fallen asleep on him again. Kong smiled as he looked down at Katherine. He could get used to this. He liked holding her in his arms and knowing that she felt so safe with him that she could fall asleep. They’d moved to the bed so they could be more comfortable as they watched TV, sitting up against the headboard, their legs stretched out in front of them.
Her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open as she snored softly. She was wearing another cute set of pajamas, these were yellow with Minions on them, and her hair was down. He couldn’t resist playing with a lock, rubbing the silky strands between his fingers.
The way she’d greeted him at the door tonight. That had been especially nice. Like she’d missed him. Like she’d been counting down the minutes until his return. While he didn’t like that she’d worried, he couldn’t help but be pleased by her response. He should have kissed her. If his mind hadn’t been so full with thoughts of Cleary, he would have.
He hadn’t liked questioning her like that, but he had to know. They had files on August Cleary, but with enough money, someone could make things disappear, and Cleary had plenty ofmoney. He’d hidden Katherine’s existence after all – buried it so deep it had taken Lark weeks of constant digging to find it – so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he’d hidden a marriage as well.
Katherine had given him more information than she realized. It wasn’t even in the words she’d said, but in her expressions, as she talked about her father. The way her lip had curled and her nose had scrunched as if she’d smelled something nasty. She didn’t like August Cleary. That was clear. If and when Kong took the man down, she wouldn’t stand against him. It was a relief and a weight off his shoulders. He was also now one hundred percent sure that if her fatherdidask her to spy for him, she’d refuse. There was no loyalty there. Good.
Katherine’s alarm went off with a shrill beeping and her head jerked up nearly clocking him in the chin. He whacked the snooze button to silence it.
