“Angel, you’re not going to shoot me. Blood is a stronger bond than anything else. We both know that. You’re here for answers. And probably for some help. I can offer you both.”
Blood meant nothing to me. And I didn’t need his help. I already knew where Jacob and I were going. I had a plan.
Just like I’d had a plan for Miller and me to get away from my dad all those years ago. I swallowed hard. That plan…it hadn’t worked. My dad had known where I was. Why had he waited so long to act? He’d told Miller that he’d kill him if he ever laid a hand on me again. But he had pictures of Miller doing just that. Over a dozen years of images of Miller touching me. Holding me close. Kissing me. Miller and I were rarely not touching.
“I see your mind swirling with those questions. Go ahead and ask. I’ll give you an honest answer.” He lowered the icepack from his face and dabbed at the blood under his nose with the tea towel.
“You don’t know what an honest answer is.”
“I’ve always been honest with you.”
God, he was so full of shit. “I don’t have any questions for you. You told Miller right to his face that you’d kill him if he ever touched me again. I saw all the pictures on your desk. You knew what was going on. Nothing you can say will make me believe it wasn’t you.”
“So Miller is dead?” He shook his head like the news saddened him. “I’m so sorry, angel.”
“You’re sorry?” My voice cracked. I was going to punch him in the face again if he wasn’t careful. “You’re the one who killed him!”
“It wasn’t me.”
“That’s the best you’ve got?” He wasn’t even trying. He didn’t have an alibi. ‘It wasn’t me’ wasn’t good enough. I needed witnesses. I needed proof or his brains were going to end up on the cabinets behind him.
“You know it wasn’t me, Brooklyn. If you thought it was me you would have shot me as soon as I opened the door. Of course it wasn’t me. I know that you loved him. I would never.”
I laughed. “Why? Because it would hurt me? Look around, Dad. Bringing me here after my uncle’s funeralhurtme. Making me live with Isabellahurtme. Trying to tell me Matt wasn’t a good choicehurtme. Stealing my kidneyhurtme. Kidnapping mehurtme. Letting my mom die when your money could have helped save herhurtme. You’ve done nothing but hurt me my whole life. Even before you knew I existed. Hell, you even tried to make my mom get rid of me.”
“Well, I have a few things to say about those horrific accusations. I never knew your mother was sick. If I had, I would have done something. She was the love of my life.”
I used to believe him when he said that. But he didn’t know what love was.
He steepled his fingers as he stared at me. “And as we’ve previously discussed, I invited you into my home so you’d be safe.”
Invited me? He’d dragged me kicking and screaming.
“I thought I had Isabella under control. And this next bit is really starting to weigh on me. I did not steal your kidney. You signed it away to me. I’d really appreciate it if you stopped saying I stole it. That sounds terrible.”
I was clenching my jaw so tight that it hurt.
“And you asked to leave after your surgery. I was worried about Isabella’s threats and I was trying to keep you safe. You even asked me to take you away. You begged me to get you out of this house…”
“You kidnapped me!”
“I disagree.”
“You put me in the middle of nowhere and said I couldn’t leave!”
“For you own safety, angel. And I’d hardly call a beautiful beachfront property the middle of nowhere. You were happythere. With Miller. And when you ran off, I let you. Because Isabella was at the treatment center and I knew for the time being you’d be safe in California. I gave you the taste of freedom you wanted.”
“You…you knew I was in California?”
“Of course. I could see it in your eyes. That you were going to betray me.”
“Mebetrayyou?”What the fuck?
“Indeed. So I gave you an ‘untraceable card’ to make purchases with.” He put ‘untraceable card’ in air quotes.
My stomach sank. I’d believed him. I thought it was untraceable. But God, I was so naïve. Of course it wasn’t untraceable to him.
“And you took the bait,” he said. “You bought a cute little place by a lake for you and Miller. And then you took a little solo vacation to California.”
