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That sounds so fucking crazy.
It also sounds exactly like something my damn father would do.
“Did he say that to you?”
“Not in so many words, but Harrison...there’s more...”
She takes a deep breath, and I hold very still because there’s no way I’m doing anything that could scare her or startle her. Not now. I want the truth: as much of it as I can handle, and I don’t know how much that is.
“Your dad keeps tabs on me, Harrison. He wants me to seduce you and convince you that we should get married because he wants me to have power over your finances. He wants to make a move on the money your mom left, and he...Harrison, I wasn’t going to do it.”
Now it’s my turn to tense. Of course, she wasn’t going to do it, but my dad?
That’s what my dad has planned for me?
He’s been planning on trying to get Adalee to seduce me so he could weasel his way into my trust fund?
I don’t even give a shit about the money. He can have it for all I care. He’d hurt Adalee to get to it, though? That’s shady as fuck.
“I know,” I say.
“It’s why I never made a move on you,” she whispers, and she’s still crying. “I didn’t want you to think that I was only doing it because of him. I’ve liked you for so long, but I always thought that if your dad knew, that if he found out...”
“He’d use it against you.”
“And I owed him.”
“You don’t owe my father shit, Adalee.”
“He gave me so much,” she whispers.
“Adalee, if you still think you owe my family anything – anything – then consider your debt repaid. I love you, Adalee, and I’m never going to let him hurt you again.”
Chapter Thirteen
Adalee
THE NEXT MORNING, AFTER a long night of soul-sharing with Harrison, I report for duty outside of Frank’s office. I know that he’s going to have a lot to say to me. At least, I suspect that he will.
Not that I really care.
I ate way too much yesterday and I did
n’t weigh in. I didn’t even text him or check in with him. Harrison took my phone and read through all of the messages between his father and me. If that wasn’t enough to convince him that his dad is a prick, then I think the collection of emails I’ve saved over the years did.
The good thing is that Harrison seems like he not only believes me, but that he takes my side, and that he knows his father has been hard on me, and hurtful. I think that’s more than I ever could have hoped for, really, but it doesn’t make what happens next any easier to deal with.
“Are you going to stand out there all day?” Frank’s gruff voice sounds. “Or are you going to come inside?”
Well, shit. I forgot he has security cameras outside of his office. Of course he does. I look to my left and see one pointed directly at me. Like an idiot, I wasn’t paying attention. No, I didn’t sneak up on him.
No, I didn’t surprise him.
He knows more than people think he does. He knows everything, probably, and that isn’t necessarily a good thing.
“Yeah,” I say, and I push the door open. Closing it behind me, I take a look around the office. I look everywhere but at Frank because I need a second to get over myself. More than anything else right now, I need to play this totally cool.
I need to be one hundred percent normal because I do not – and I mean, I do not – want him to know what happened between me and Harrison.
