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“I remember believing in you so much that I sacrificed myself to save you. I remember accepting my fate if it meant you would be safe.” I rose and stared him down. “And then I was told the truth. You brought all of this on us. Your lies, your schemes.” I flattened my palms on the desk. “How long until the million ran out?”
“What? No. There was no million.” He glared at Sin. “What have you told her?”
“Look at me. He told me the truth. How. Long?”
He sputtered and shook his head. “N-no. It wasn’t like that. I was—”
I slapped my hand on the desk. “How long!”
He covered his face with his hand. “Just a few months. I-I thought I could get you back somehow. Keep the money and get you back, but he took you and told you lies about me.”
“Do you even hear yourself?” Realization hit me, and I straightened. “You believe your own lies, don’t you? You actually think you were innocent, that you could somehow sell me and keep me at the same time.”
“I just need you. My hand. He took it, and it’s all his fault. He caused every last bit of it.” He vacillated between crying and yelling, and pointed a shaking finger at Sin. “He wanted you all along, from the first moment he saw you.”
“That’s the only true thing you’ve said.” Sin stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. “I think it’s time for you to leave, Mr. Rousseau.”
“She’s mine.” My father snarled, more animal than man. “You can’t keep her from me. Her mother tried to take her from me once. That didn’t work out very well for her.”
“Take me from you? She never tried…” My knees went weak and I leaned against the desk for support. “Did you—was it you? What did you do to her?” My mother’s face flitted across my vision. “What did you do?”
He changed yet again, the vehemence gone and weakness in its place. “Please, Stella. I need you. Please.”
My head spun, the room flickering light to dark. “You said it was suicide. It was ruled a suicide.”
He nodded. “Yes, suicide. Come with me.”
“Liar!” I screamed and tried to get around the desk. I wanted to rip him open until the truth finally spilled out. Sin wrapped his arms around me and held me in place.
“I suggest you leave now, Mr. Rousseau. I’d love to watch her destroy you, but it may cause her pain, and I can’t have that.”
“I need you. Please, come with me. Please.” His teary plea made bile rise in my throat, and all I could see was my mother, her warm smile and sad eyes.
“I’m warning you, Mr. Rousseau.” Sin spoke quietly, hatred infusing every word.
“You killed her. You killed her, didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question, but the answer was in his bowed head. The lies were finally at an end.
“I thought we’d get more money to live. Stage it like a break-in. It didn’t work. Insurance wouldn’t pay because it was deemed a suicide, and I had debts. I’m sorry. I would never hurt you. Please—”
“I warned you.” Sin released me.
I tore around the desk and shoved my father to the ground. Dropping to my knees, I hit him as tears blurred my vision and rage lit me up like a house on fire.
“How could you? I loved you!” I hit him as he covered his face, cowering beneath my onslaught. My movements slowed as sobs rose in my chest. I kept swinging even as my arms tired and my knuckles burned. And then, after I’d worn myself out, I was done. Finished with him.
Sin lifted me to my feet and picked me up, cradling me in his arms as I cried into his chest.
“Get out.” He turned to the door and yelled. “Kim!”
She hurried through as if she’d been waiting just outside. “Have Burt or Clancy escort Mr. Rousseau to his car. Call the sheriff and make sure he is escorted to the parish line.”
“Yes, okay.” She bustled out of the room.
“The next moment I set eyes on you will be your last.” Sin backed away, holding me close.
“M-Mom.” I sobbed.
“Shh, it’s all going to be all right.”
A man walked in and helped my father to his feet. His cheeks glowed red from my fists and one eye was already starting to swell shut. The man asked no questions and hustled my father out the door and closed it behind them.
I clung to Sin, the world ripping to shreds around me as he stood firm.
“I’m sorry.” He kissed my hair. “I’m so sorry. If you want me to have him killed—”
“No. There’s been enough blood. Too much.” I calmed my breathing, taking gulps of air to stop the tremors.
“I’ll do anything to make you happy. Anything.” He was a wild, tormented creature, but everything about him soothed me, lulled me.
