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Daddy frowned at my bruised jaw again. “I don’t want you staying in this hospital. I’ll call a private physician. You’re coming back home with me.”
He said it like he was offering comfort, but my stomach dropped. “No!”
I shook my head, then stilled on a groan. His hand tightened around mine.
“What? Sweetheart, you can’t go back to your place. It’s been destroyed.” Again, that gentle tone, breaking the bad news to me.
All of my possessions were gone. Just like when I was a child, and we’d lost everything in the fire.
The fire that my father had set to cover up Mom’s murder.
I stiffened. “I’m not coming home with you. I can’t go back to that house.” The truth slipped out before I could stop it, years of resentment layering over the pain of his betrayal.
His frown deepened. “Why not? Honey, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” I burst out, a sudden swell of toxic emotion boiling in my gut. “I hate that house! You smothered me for my entire life. And I let you. I didn’t want you to be upset, so I let you shelter me. I let you keep me away from my peers, preventing me from forming friendships. Making me the school freak. And I hid the bullying from you too. All to protect your feelings because I didn’t want you to worry. I didn’t want to cause you any more pain. Not after losing Mom in the fire.”
I gnashed my teeth, fury seizing my thoughts, my words. “But she didn’t die in the fire, did she, Daddy? All my life, I thought it was my fault. I blamed myself for not saving her. But it was you. It was your fault that she was murdered!”
He paled, and his jaw dropped. After a second of stunned silence, his brows drew together. “What are you saying? That I had something to do with her death? How could you possibly think that I would ever hurt your mother?”
“I tried to pull the arson report and her autopsy. They were missing. They were missing because the Mafia murdered her, and you asked Kelvin McCrae to cover it up. Because you cared more about protecting your political career than you did about telling me the truth.”
He kept trying to gaslight me, but his eyes were strained. “Why would I do something like that? If she was murdered, why would I cover it up? This doesn’t make any sense, sweetheart. You’re hurt. You hit your head. Let me take you home.”
“I’m not going home! I’m not going anywhere with you.” I wrestled for self-control before I could rail at him about his Bratva ties. My head felt like it would split in two, and all I wanted was for him to leave me alone.
I wanted Max.
“Who’s been telling you these lies? Is it the Ferrara boy?”
I jolted at Max’s name. He knew about our relationship?
Daddy nodded, reading the question in my startled expression. “I know you’ve been with him. He’s dangerous, Allie. You should be with someone like Niko. The Ferrara family—”
“I know all about Max’s family,” I hissed. “And I told Niko not to come anywhere near me.” My throat constricted at the confirmation that Daddy really was pushing me toward his Bratva allies. Max had said that Niko was dating me to keep an eye on me, and now Daddy wanted me to be with him. He wanted me to be involved with a criminal organization. How dare he talk about Max’s family being dangerous?
“I only survived today because Max ran into the fire to save me,” I seethed. “He risked his life to get me out of there. I love him. Nothing you can say, no lies that you tell me, can change that.”
“I’m not lying. If he did save your life, I’m grateful to him, but that doesn’t change the facts. He’s a monster, Allie.”
“And what are you?” I flung back at him. “What have you done, Daddy?”
He swallowed hard, his eyes wide and a little wild, like a cornered animal. “You’re getting upset. It’s not good for you. Come home with me, and I’ll make sure you get the care you need.”
I yanked my hand from his. “No. I want you to leave now.”
His jaw ticked. “I’m not leaving you here. You’re my daughter. I love you.”
My eyes burned at the tug in my chest. Despite everything, I still loved my father. And it shredded me.
“Go,” I demanded. “Or I’ll scream loud enough for someone to hear. Then you’ll get dragged out of here. You wouldn’t want that leaking to the press, would you?” The last was laced with bitterness. He cared about his public image more than anything; it was why he’d covered up Mom’s death. It was why Max’s mother was dead, because instead of going to the police, Daddy had sent his Bratva friends to exact bloody revenge.
My hands clenched to fists. “Leave.”
His face was ghostly pale, his freckles standing out sharply. His eyes shone as he stiffly turned away from me, walking toward the door with jerky movements.
I waited until it closed behind him to allow my tears to fall. All I wanted was to be in Max’s strong, protective arms, but I was utterly alone.
