Page 229 of Heartless Sinner

“Move on?” he roared.

“Yes!” I made sure to match his tone. “Move the fuck on!”

“There’s no moving on from that type of betrayal.”

I leaned over the Resolute Desk. “And your betrayal to Marjorie? To your best fucking friend? What about that, huh?”

I knew I didn’t have the best argument.

What Daphne had done was fucked up.

But all of us had done some fucked-up shit.

Hell, I fucking killed when someone pissed me off.

My father wasn’t one to get his hands dirty, but he had no issues calling hits on people he didn’t like.

We were all the same in this world.

All of us, just at different levels.

He dropped back in his chair and went quiet.

I waited.

This was what he did when he was ready to make a final decision.

“If I allow Daphne back into the country,” he started.

I eased back from the desk, hoping whatever he wanted in return was simple.

Hell, I was willing to give a fucking limb for it if I had to.

“Then you need to convince Marjorie to speak with me,” he said.

That’s it?

“She has refused to speak to me for years.” His forehead wrinkled, pain stretching across every feature. “I just want to talk to her. Not to restart anything. Her love for me is long gone.” He gave a dismissive wave, but I knew him too well to buy it. “I want to apologize to her. What I did …” He cleared his throat, as if that’d make the words easier to say. “It was inexcusable. Maybe all of us need to right some wrongs.”

I stood there, speechless.

I’d expected him to put up more of a fight.

But like any heartbroken man, he was willing to risk it all to speak to the woman he loved but could no longer have. It must’ve run in our blood.

“Get Marjorie to meet me in Calira. Tell her I’ll fly there.” He slowly rose to his feet. “And I’ll give you what you want, son.”

I nodded, unsure of how difficult that task would be.

Would Marjorie set her pain aside for her daughter’s happiness as well?

Sixty-Two

Daphne

Two Weeks Later

Iwoke up with linen sheets tangled around my legs and was tempted to steal another hour of sleep. I spotted Brooks’s clothes tossed over the chair, and a smile pulled at my lips.