AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Novak advanced on him and Derek expected the man’s fist to fly toward his face. Brooklyn jumped in front of him, creating a barrier between them instead. “Please go upstairs and give us a chance to talk. I’ll be fine.” Urgency filled her voice as she remained planted in front of him.
His gut told him to stay. She might trust her father, but at the moment he didn’t. His head said something different. If he refused her wishes, he wasn’t any better than her asshole father. “Damn it. Fine. But I’ll wait outside. Just yell if you need me.” Upstairs with his brothers, it would take him too long to get to her if she needed him.
“Thank you. But really, I’ll be fine and this might take a while. Go on upstairs.”
“Brooklyn, I’ll be right outside the door.” He met Novak’s glare then walked out, slamming the door behind him.
She waited until the door slammed before she turned back toward her dad. She’d expected a blowup from him. And she’d remembered his warning about Derek not being welcome. She’d assumed he’d been referring to not allowing Derek in the house for the holidays. The idea of him disowning her had never entered her head. Not to mention it didn’t make any sense. This was the twenty-first century. Fathers didn’t dictate whom daughters married—well, at least not in this country.
Yelling wouldn’t get her anywhere. Besides, one of them needed to act like an adult tonight, and it wasn’t going to be her dad. Putting on her best courtroom face, she said, “Dad, I realize you wanted a relationship between me and Trevor to lead to a wedding. We just weren’t right for each other. I’m sorry if that caused issues for you.” A white lie now wouldn’t make the situation any worse, though truthfully she didn’t care what kind of problems she’d created by refusing to marry Trevor.
Her dad slipped a finger under the collar of his undershirt and tugged. His face remained bright red and perspiration dotted his forehead. She was about to ask if he wanted to sit, when he spoke.
“I’m serious, Brooklyn. If you marry Derek, I’ll disown you. You’ll never be welcome in my house again, and you’ll be written out of my will. And I will do whatever I have to, to make sure you never see the rest of your trust fund. Is that playboy and his no-good family worth losing your family over?”
Enough was enough already. If he insisted on insulting Derek and the other Sherbrookes, at least she had a right to know why. “What’s your problem with him? He’s never done anything to you. Neither has his family. Yet you’ve always disliked him.”
A muscle in his cheek twitched and he remained tightlipped. Brooklyn didn’t think he planned on answering, which was just too bad because she’d keep asking until he did.
“You don’t know anything,” he snapped, and once again she didn’t recognize the man before her. “I went to prep school with Derek’s father and Warren. Mark and I were in the same class together.”
Nope, she hadn’t known that. Then again, she’d never considered where Derek’s father or uncle had gone to school. Even if her dad and Mark Sherbrooke had been classmates, they’d graduated over thirty years ago.
“You know the pins in my left leg? They’re there because of Mark. He landed on my leg during a football practice our junior year. Caused so much damage I went through three different surgeries. Made it so I couldn’t play again.”
He couldn’t be holding a grudge because of a freak accident. “Teenagers get hurt all the time playing sports, especially football. Derek’s father didn’t intentionally injure you.”
“Believe what you want. We played the same position. He wanted me benched and made sure it happened. If that hadn’t worked, he would’ve bought his spot on the starting lineup. He always had to win no matter what, be one better than everyone else.”
People would say the same about you, she thought, but kept it to herself.
“We both ran for senior class president. Guess who won? When we graduated, I should’ve been valedictorian but nope, he got that too. Mark’s father made sure his GPA was five tenths of a point higher than mine. Probably cost him a pretty penny too.”
She noticed him rubbing the center of his chest. As far as she knew he was healthy, but stress w
reaked havoc on a body. “Dad, maybe you should sit and try to calm down.”
Ignoring her, he continued on like she’d not spoken. “I wanted to attend Harvard. Did I ever tell you? It was my first choice of schools, not Columbia. But while I got waitlisted, Mark’s father bought his son’s way in.” The color began draining from his face and again he tugged at his undershirt collar. “So does that answer your question? The Sherbrookes use whatever means necessary to get what they want. Derek’s no different from the rest of them.”
“Really, I think you should sit.” His skin appeared ashen and clammy, and if he didn’t sit soon she feared he’d fall down.
“You decide. It’s either your family or him.” He dropped into a chair, his hand on his chest and breathing heavy. “You can’t have both.”
Maybe she’d watched one too many hospital dramas, but she suspected her dad was having a heart attack. “You need help. I’m calling 911.” She rushed for her shoulder bag and dug out her smartphone.
“I’m fine,” he rasped out behind her.
She dialed 911 and hoped she was wrong.
Quicker than she’d expected, a strong knock announced the arrival of the paramedics. Since she’d picked up the phone, her dad’s breathing had become more labored. She hated leaving his side but needed to open the door. “I’ll be right back.”
Two paramedics stood outside and she stepped aside so they could get past her.
“What’s going on?” Derek grabbed her by the arms and looked her over from head to toe.
“I think Dad’s having a heart attack.” She pulled away, forcing Derek to follow her further inside. From the kitchen she watched as the paramedics worked, getting an IV going and lifting her dad onto a stretcher. The need to know what was going on warred with the knowledge she needed to let the professionals work. Right now they were the only ones who could help him.
Her dad matched the sheet on the stretcher, and she bit down on her lip to keep from crying as they wheeled him past her.
