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The same way he touched me.
I made my face go blank as I turned my gaze back to my father, not giving him the satisfaction of knowing he had just scored a point off me. He might have made a direct hit, but it didn’t have the power to make me come back to his house. It didn’t have the mojo to kill what I felt for Matt. Even if it did feel like being stung to death by a swarm of angry wasps.
“That was in the past,” I said in a voice devoid of all emotions. I gave a careless shrug. “It’s none of my business.”
So what if Matt had said that, to him, it was like we were never separated, that the time apart meant nothing? That I had always been his and he had always—always, damn it—been mine.
So what if I was slowly bleeding to death thinking of him with Steph while I was gone. Was she the only one? I knew what kind of kink the other girl was into. She and her friend Casandra loved threesomes. Oh fuck, had Matt had them both? Together?
I gave myself a mental bitch slap. Stop it, Rory. Just stop it.
My father’s hands balled
into fists on top of his desk, the knuckles turning white. “I’ll have the boy arrested for rape, Rory.”
I rolled my eyes at the same old threat he had always held over me. “You have no proof. Not even the judges that are in your pocket will be willing to let a case that has no DNA or witnesses go to trial. Because I’m sure as hell not going to testify against him.”
Before my eyes, his face relaxed into a beaming smile, and everything inside of me turned to ice in a flash. “Who said I was going to have him charged with rape of you, my darling daughter? Stephanie here has been waiting years to come forward about her own experience with Matt Reid.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I have pictures of her from where she was beaten.” Royce Campbell spoke up for the first time, his tone almost gloating. “She and Casandra will both testify that he raped them both then beat them bloody and had one of his gang brothers drop them off in front of my house as a warning to back off his thug friends.”
“It’s a lie!” I snarled at him, but inside I didn’t know what to believe.
“Is it, though?” He grinned, enjoying having me right where he and my father wanted me. “How do you know for sure?”
“Because I know Matt. He would never hurt a woman. Never raise a hand to her and never, not ever, violate her.”
“But a judge and jury won’t see him as anything but a criminal. A loser who doesn’t give a fuck about anyone but his gang,” the district attorney taunted.
“You can’t do that. I won’t let you.” But my voice was weak, because I knew he could. He would charge, try, and convict Matt. Steph was an apt liar and could come across as a sweet and innocent little rich girl if she wanted to. The jury would believe her, and those who didn’t could be paid off.
Royce only chuckled, and I bit the inside of my bottom lip as I let my head fall back and glared up at the ceiling, fighting tears. “What will it take for you to not go through with that?” Holding back the tears, I met my father’s gaze boldly. “What do you want from me?”
“Break it off with him,” Dad commanded. “You are never to see him again. Ever. Because if you so much as look at that boy again, I’ll have everyone in this town thinking he deserves the death penalty for what he did to Stephanie Campbell.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rory
ON AUTOPILOT, I LEFT MY father’s office and got back in Raven’s car. Once I was behind the wheel, I just sat there, staring off into space as the realization I was going to lose everything hit me squarely in the chest.
If my father had threatened me, I would have just laughed in his face and walked away. Instead, he’d threatened the one person in the world I couldn’t breathe without. I couldn’t let him do that to Matt, I had to protect him.
I’d told my father that I would do what he wanted, but that I had to break it off with Matt in person. If I didn’t, he wouldn’t accept it, and even if I did go back to my father’s house, he would find a way to get to me. Dad hadn’t been happy about it, but he knew he had me right where he wanted me, so he had given in.
Swallowing around the tightness in my throat, I finally pulled into traffic and headed back toward the clubhouse. A few blocks later, I saw Gracie standing on the sidewalk outside of Mr. Jenkins’s office with Hawk, and I remembered that I had to deal with the paperwork for my mother’s bequest to me.
I parked Raven’s car right in front of where they were standing, causing them both to turn their heads. Hawk frowned, thinking it was his sister, and moved over to open my door. “Everything okay?” he asked when he stepped back to let me out.
No, I wanted to sob. Everything is wrong. Everything I love is being pulled from my arms, and I’m helpless to do anything to stop it.
“Mr. Jenkins asked me to sign papers yesterday. I was already in town and decided to go ahead and take care of it now.” My gaze went to Gracie, who gave me a small but warm and welcoming smile. Unfortunately, it didn’t even come close to melting the coldness that seemed to have invaded every one of my organs. “Is he busy? I…I can come back if he is.”
She shook her head. “Even if he is, I can help you.” Standing on tiptoes, she kissed Hawk on the lips. “Be careful, okay? I love you.”
“I’m picking you up and taking you over to see Doc at four. Be ready.”
