Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
I don’t thank him. I’d prefer it if he didn’t mention my mother.
An awkward silence falls over us. I’ve only had contact with Horatio Hart a few times in the last few years. I never felt the need to keep in touch.
I study his dark eyes, which look tired. His hair will need to be cut soon. He has a hint of a five-o’clock shadow. It’s not like Horatio Hart to be unkempt.
His gaze moves to the scar along my temple. It’s the one Daddy left me with the night he beat the shit out of me for punching his son, who was trying to get his dick into a sixteen-year-old girl.
Hart had come to the cottage the next day when the Foxes were out. Mom had called him. He’d seen what Sly had done, and he’d gotten his doctor there to stitch up what needed stitching, to clean what needed cleaning. It was too late for my nose but I count myself lucky I walked away with just a crooked nose and the one scar.
I never told him why Fox did it. I kept my word to Ophelia. That act of kindness on his part is the reason I’m here. It is the reason I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt.
“Let’s cut to the chase. What are you doing here, Silas?”
“Saw Ophelia the other day.”
His gaze becomes alert. “Is she all right?”
“We only spoke for a minute. I was surprised to hear she hadn’t been to see you yet.”
He glances away. “Families are complicated.”
“Funny. She used that same word.”
He turns back to me, and there’s a long pause before he speaks. “It’s better for her to distance herself from me, and we both know that.”
“Bullshit.” He’s clearly surprised by my reaction, but after a moment, he smiles.
“You know what, Silas? No matter what you felt about me, you were always good at taking care of her.” The statement takes me aback. “At least when she was younger. I always appreciated that. But let me ask you this. Do you hate her too, now that she’s an adult?”
I grit my teeth, bite my tongue and remind myself why I’m here. What I need. Because Horatio Hart is collateral damage in Sullivan Fox’s game. I fucking know it.
“Why did you do it? Why change your testimony? Take the plea deal? They had Fox.”
“Are you disappointed Sly isn’t in here with me?”
“From what I know, he should be.”
He clams up at that.
“What happened at the last minute? Why the about-face? You destroyed your future.”
“My future doesn’t matter.”
“What about your daughter’s?”
“Phee will be fine. I made sure of that.”
“How did you do that?”
“Complicated.”
“There’s that word again, and I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. Family is family. You support each other. It’s not all that complicated.”
He sighs heavily. “I had to make some choices, Silas. I did what I did to protect her.”
“Protect her from what?”
His jaw is clenched so tight he’s going to crack a molar.
“Something stinks here, Horatio.”
“That stink is prison, son.”
“Don’t call me son.”
“I advise you to avoid it,” he continues.
“No. The stink is Sullivan Fox.”
He’s silent.
“Does he have something on you?”
“What could he have? I confessed.”
“He’s going to do away with the low-income housing project. You know that, don’t you?”
“That doesn’t come as a surprise.”
“It was your legacy. Are you going to let him destroy it?”
“And my legacy is your concern how?”
“Why take the fall for a man like Sullivan Fox?”
There’s that sigh again. “I made my choices, Silas. My daughter is more important than my legacy. You should go home. And if I can give you some advice, forget about Sullivan Fox. He’s slippery as a snake.” He stands.
I push my chair back and stand too. “You helped me once, Hart. I owe you for that,” I say, but I’m not here because of that, not really. I’m here for information. And, if I’m being honest, because of Ophelia.
“Help yourself, Silas. Stay away from Sullivan Fox.”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
He walks toward the door he’d come out of.
“She’s engaged to that son-of-a-bitch,” I blurt out. It’s the thing that makes him stop.
His back stiffens. He didn’t know.
“He’s no good for her. You and I both know that,” I say.
He turns slowly, eyes narrowed. “Why do you care who my daughter marries?”
“It’s not about your daughter. It’s about not letting that bastard take one more thing.”
“From you?” he asks, eyebrows raised.
“Tell me why you did it. Why you saved his ass.”
“You want me to tell you Sly’s blackmailing me?”
My gaze narrows. “Is he?”
“I chose to do the right thing for a change. Apologies if that doesn’t fit your vision of me.”
“You’re lying.”
“Doesn’t matter, Silas. Not for me. But my daughter does matter. So if you think you owe me one, then it’d be stupid of me to let that favor go, considering.”