Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 162138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
“So, when’s the wedding?” he asks, still smiling.
“A week,” I say, laughing at the look on his face.
“Where is it?” Dad asks.
“Chicago. I know it’s last minute, but we just decided last night. It’s a loooong story, and no, I’m not pregnant. Can you be there?”
“Of course.” Dad smiles softly. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
We keep talking. I tell him about med school and Tackle Sports Center. He tells me about what’s been happening around our neighborhood and at the country club. I show Lach my old bedroom, which I haven’t even seen in years. His curiosity is the only reason I brought him up here. It’s clean and looks exactly the same as I left it, which is a mindfuck in and of itself.
When we’re leaving, I give Dad a tight hug and a kiss and tell him I’ll see him soon. He seems surprised by my gesture, but smiles so wide when I fully pull away. He turns and hugs Lachlan. His eyes have tears in them again as he pats him on the back.
“I haven’t seen my daughter smile,” he starts, swallowing hard, “or show any kind of emotion in years. I can see the love between you two, and I’m happy you found each other.” He clears his throat. “I know I’ve been a shitty father, but if you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”
“Noted.” Lach’s lips tug into a small smile. “I’m not worried about it. I would never risk losing her.”
By the time we leave there, I feel lighter and know that conversation needed to happen. It should have happened years ago.
CHAPTER 61
LACHLAN
I look up from the email I’m typing when Liam barges into my office, breathing hard, as if he just took three flights of stairs instead of the elevator.
“What the fuck, Lee?”
“Have you looked at your calendar?” he asks, walking over quickly.
“Shit, did I forget a meeting?” I open up my calendar and look at it. I have three conference calls set up. I already went through two of them. I look at Liam again. “What am I looking at?”
“So you didn’t know,” he says, taking control of the mouse and clicking different things on the screen.
“Didn’t know what?”
“Do you know where Lyla is right now?” He looks back at me over his shoulder and clicks something else.
My heart sinks. “Did something happen?”
We received word yesterday that David Jameson would probably be in a coma for the rest of his life, and his loved ones decided to pull the plug and let him go. I know I should feel remorse for being the cause of it, but I don’t. He hurt Lyla in ways I still can’t think about. He hurt others, according to the confession we got from Lyla’s mic. The only thing I regret is that he wasn’t alive to see this downfall and watch his own people turn on him when they found out what a monster he really was.
“No. It’s not about that,” Liam says.
“Well then, she’s buying a wedding dress right now.”
“She’s not.”
I’m trying not to panic, but Liam doesn’t act this way unless he’s freaking out or knows that I’ll freak out. She’s definitely not in danger, so it can’t be that. Did she leave? She wouldn’t. Right? No, she wouldn’t. I know she wouldn’t. When I left the apartment this morning, she was perfectly happy. I look at the time. I’ve only been here for four hours. What the hell could have happened in four hours? A lot. That’s the answer.
“Liam, what the fuck? Spit it out already.”
He moves out of the way so I can see. It’s my father’s calendar and there’s Lyla fucking James’ name blocking two hours of the day. I’m frozen for a moment, staring at her name and my father’s up top, as if one of them will change to something that makes sense. What the fuck is this?
“She’s been here for an hour?” I push my chair back and stand quickly.
“Yep,” he says.
“How the fuck did you just find out?”
“Because I don’t fucking stalk her,” he says behind me as he follows me out of the office. “Do you think Dad called her? Do you think he’s making her sign more papers? Do you think. . .”
“I don’t know what to think,” I snap.
We stand outside our father’s office for a moment, looking at each other. We’ve never just barged in there, but there’s a first time for everything. I push the door open and halt so fast that Liam crashes into me. Lyla, my mother, and Prescott are sitting across from my father, all smiling. They have glasses of champagne set in front of them like this is a fucking weekend brunch. Their smiles drop when they see me. I was never the one left without an invitation to parties when I was younger, but I understand what it feels like now.