Page 93 of Fueled Hate

“Levi,” Dad warns, but it’s too late. There’s nothing more Levi can say to make this worse.

“You knew. And you’re protecting him. Why? Why would you let him get away with that?”

My dad looks to me. The dark circles under his eyes are more pronounced than I remember, the sagging of his shoulders even lower. “It’s my fault.”

“What?”

“Levi overheard me yelling at your mother. I’d just found out about the baby and I lost it. I’d caught them together, but I didn’t care because it kept your mother off my back. She said she’d ended it, but I knew she hadn’t. I let her think she was getting away with it until she came up pregnant. I should’ve stopped the affair. I shouldn’t have let my son find out about his mother like that.”

“You have to tell someone. Do something.” No. Dad can’t be okay with this.

“If you tell anyone what he did, I’ll take the fall for it. Kyle knew the same. He used Levi against me. He knew I’d do anything to protect Levi, so we had a deal. I’d help him smuggle the drugs in, he’d keep his mouth shut about Levi and what happened with your mother, and I’d never tell you about the affair.”

I’m on another fucking planet. There’s no way. Dad knew what was going on and turned the other way, allowing for it all to happen without a fucking care in the world. He didn’t just barter for my tuition. He fed me to the wolves while protecting them at every turn. Them. All of them. Kyle. Levi. My own mother who he had no problem standing by while she fucked my boyfriend. “What about me? Why didn’t you protect me? Get Kyle away from me? Keep Levi from blaming me for mom’s death? What about me?”

Levi casually tucks his hands in his pockets as he laughs. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? No one gives a fuck about you.”

“Shut up, Levi,” Dad says flatly.

Tears well as my mind flashes to Dylan. I don’t know what to think, but I know he tried to protect me. Unlike my dad. Even Kyle saved me from Jett. Now my dad stands here, with no remorse, justifying his actions to keep a murderer safe, all at my expense. “No. Levi’s right. If you did love me, you would’ve told me the truth even if it hurt. You wouldn’t have been involved in smuggling pills, knowing that they were being sold right under my nose where someone could easily use them on me, and did. And you wouldn’t have let me grieve for a woman that I never knew. I don’t know who you are, and I don’t want to know. I don’t ever want to see you again. Either of you.”

No reaction. Not the slightest hint of sadness on Dad’s face. And Levi stands there straight-up snickering. Nothing. There’s not an ounce of anything resembling love.

“Why? Can you just tell me why? What did I do that was so bad? That made you turn your back on me while protecting him.” I glare at Levi, who is more than amused at the conversation. How had I not seen what a psychotic nutcase he is?

“It’s all because of her. She adored you, she just loved herself more. She was manipulative, selfish, uncaring of what she put others through to get exactly what she wanted, when she wanted it, and by any means. She wanted to have you. I didn’t. I tried. I tried to be there for you. Be a good father, but you look just like her, talk just like her, and eventually will become the deceitful woman she was.

“Kyle threatened to have his father strip away the dealership’s business. Without it, the shop would struggle, and that vile woman would yet again take something away from me. It wasn’t enough that she made my life miserable when she was alive, she’s able to do it in death too. I figured Kyle deserves whatever hell you’d deal him the rest of his life, but I’m done suffering at her hand.”

My own father doesn’t love me enough to fight for me, protect me against what she did to him and all of us. I’m nothing more than a piece of her that he wanted to let go of while I held onto her so tight.

“You hate me because I’m a part of her but you’re the manipulative, selfish, uncaring bastard that I wish wasn’t a part of me.”

Hurrying out of the house, I run down the street. Running from my dad, my brother, my mom, all the things I thought I knew about them. Running from the place I should call home but feels like nothing more than a nightmare.

I can’t run fast enough, but I head to the one person I can get to on foot who I trust to help me escape this nightmare. As I see my dad’s shop come into view, a great sense of relief fills me when I spot Mr. George’s truck parked on the side of the building.

Running into the garage bay, I see his beaming smile fade into fear. “Sadie, what is it? What’s wrong?”

I wheeze, sucking air into my lungs, but I can’t catch my breath. “I need your help.”

He surges forward, wrapping me in a hug as he moves to walk into the lobby of the shop.

Panicking I shake my head. “No. No. No.”

“Shhh. It’s okay. Sadie, what’s going on?”

“I need a ride. Can you get me out of here, please?”

“Let’s go.” He keeps his arm around me as he walks me to his truck, helping me in the passenger seat before hurrying around to the driver’s side. The truck roars to life and takes off out of the parking lot. He asks only one question. “Where do you want to go?”

Dylan. “Sunland. Can you take me to Sunland?”

“Sure thing. Put on your seat belt.” He buckles his as he keeps his eyes on the road. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sadie, you can come to me for anything, anything at all.”