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His words from a conversation we’d had shortly after my return to New York came back to me.
A divorce marked an even bigger failure, under normal circumstances anyway. This valiant man thought he failed . . .
“This is a victory. Not a failure.”
He tensed at my words. I’d struck a nerve.
Still, he said nothing.
I pushed out of the chair and shimmied into the tight space between him and the bed. He looked anywhere but at me.
I cupped his cheeks and forced his eyes to mine. “This is a giant step forward.”
“Penelope is still lying in that bed. It changes nothing.”
I ached for the torment on his face. He blamed himself for what she’d done to Penelope. We could all go over the what-if scenarios eternally.
“Alma is responsible. Not you. Not me. Alma.”
“I’m supposed to protect her,” he said desperately. “I’m her father.”
“You are doing everything you can. She knows you love her. She can feel it even if she can’t tell you that right now.”
He turned his face, but I moved with him.
“I can’t get rid of her. Alma’s always in my head.” He yanked on his hair for emphasis.
“We’ll have to deal with her a little while longer, I won’t deny that. But once she’s held responsible for her actions, we never have to think of her again.” It was odd to say that about my sister, and even odder that I didn’t have any regrets about cutting her from my life. One day, I was sure I’d miss the person I’d thought she was.
That day wasn’t today.
His eyes flashed. “Do you think it’s that simple? Now that Penelope will have what Alma deems is her money, she won’t stop.”
“What can she do if she’s in prison?” I asked, the words feeling strange on my tongue.
Daddy would be so disappointed things had come to this. No, he’d be devastated. I wished he were here now to tell me what to do. How to get Penelope back.
Yet I was glad he’d been spared this ugliness.
Kane tilted his head and looked at me as if I were the most naive person on the planet. “Do you really believe she’ll spend the rest of her life behind bars?”
“Yes,” I said confidently. “You’ll make sure of it.”
“Not that simple,” he said bitterly.
“Make it that simple,” I insisted.
“I don’t control the world.” He turned away again. “I thought this moment would feel so good. She’s still the noose around my neck.”
“We’ll figure it out together.”
He glared. “What if she hurts you next?”
I hadn’t considered the possibility. A slight rush of fear coursed through my blood. Clearly, Alma was capable. But as long as she never got to Penelope again, I didn’t care what she did to me.
“I’m willing to take the risk.”
“What if I’m not?”
