Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“I wanted to apologize for the way I handled our conversation in the car.”
His eyebrows perk up. “Are you saying you’ve reconsidered what I said?”
“No, Dad. I’m still never going back to the Crawfords.”
His expression instantly darkens. “Then we have nothing to say.” He moves to stand up, and I almost let him go. It’d be easier if he walked away and I buried my emotions beneath all the anger and fear and rage I’ve been feeling lately.
But the thought of Ansell sitting in a car nearby watching makes me brave. I sit up straighter and glare at my father.
“Sit down, Dad. Now you’re the one running away like a child.”
That gets him. His rage flares, but he slowly lowers himself back down on the bench, his hands laced in his lap.
“The only reason I haven’t actively tried to ruin you yet is because you’re my own flesh and blood, Marie. But that restraint won’t last.”
“I think it should because you need me more than I need you.”
His mouth twitches. “Excuse me?”
My heart’s racing and sweat pools under my arms. I’m so nervous I could puke, but I push on anyway. “You’re losing clients, Dad. Your business is threatened, and it’s because of what I did. Now, you can try to go into damage control on your own, and maybe that’ll work. I bet you can retain, oh, thirty percent of your clients? But your firm will be diminished and you won’t be nearly as important as you used to be.”
He closes his eyes. “Get to the point.”
“We can work together. You can keep on hating me and wanting to punish me, but we have a common enemy now. I’m not the one you should be trying to ruin.”
He stares at me without speaking for a long moment. My father can’t sit still when he’s agitated, and his knees jostle as he works through what I’m saying. He’s a practical man and I know he’ll understand what I’m saying very quickly, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to accept it from his daughter.
I don’t tell him what to do. That’s never how things worked in our family. Even when I was little, my father made sure I was the one that obeyed. I didn’t ask for things, didn’t demand, didn’t request. I was quiet and I did as I was told, otherwise I was chastised, punished, sometimes slapped. I learned very quickly that my father was in charge of our house, and if I didn’t like it then he’d make me learn to fear him at the very least.
And he’s good at fear.
Finally, he leans closer. “What makes you think you can throw me under the bus any easier than I can run over you?”
“I have nothing to lose, Dad.” I laugh once, sharply. I lean back against the bench and stare at the concrete. “What can you take away from me now? My reputation? That’s all gone. My friends? Half of them left me already and the other half are too scared to call. You cut off my money, even though there wasn’t much of it to begin with. What else is there?”
“Your job,” he says solemnly, watching me carefully.
I don’t return his look. I’m barely holding it together. “Ansell wouldn’t fire me.”
He laughs like that’s the funniest thing he’s heard in a while. “No, he won’t. That bastard’s got a soft spot for you, it seems. I’m not sure what’s happening there, and I genuinely don’t want to know. Although I wonder, did you release all that information about William just so you’d be free to pursue your boss?”
I recoil away from him, eyes wide and shocked. “I can’t believe you’d say that.”
He sneers at me. “I’m not the one saying it, you stupid girl. It’s all over the place. You think I’m not hearing the gossip about my own daughter? Frankly, I don’t believe it, but I think it’s disgusting either way.”
“Stop it,” I say forcefully, vibrating with anger now. “It’s not like that.”
“So what if it’s not? I can tell the world that’s why you released that fake information about William Crawford. Poor William, he’s the victim of my unhinged daughter’s plan to cozy up to Ansell Drake. I bet Magnus would be more than happy to hear that from me.”
“You’re sick. You know that? You’re really sick.”
“I’m pragmatic. Why should I ever work with you after all this?”
“I’m your daughter.”
“You’re a stain and nothing more.” He stands up and glares down at me.
“We can help each other. It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“I didn’t make these decisions, daughter. You did.” He turns to leave, but hesitates and looks back. “I will say one more thing. If you’re still not convinced that I’m serious, or if you don’t care about your own well-being enough to play along, maybe you’ll think about the future of that little band you love so much. Oh, yes, don’t look surprised, I know you’ve been following them around. What are they called? Piers?”