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I swallowed hard. “He showed me grainy video, but he mentioned a name. It was the same guy who had come to the house in high school. Remember that night?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.
“I remember.”
My phone dinged out a notification from my purse, and I snapped out of the momentary reunion we were having and remembered what I was here for in the first place.
“Your father, Dominic,” I started to say. “He needs to see you.”
“Who cares?”
Typical Dominic.
“I know. Normally, I wouldn’t either, but he called me.”
“He called you? What did he want?” He sounded angry as he took a step toward me.
Dominic didn’t like his family being in touch with me, like I was their friend or pawn when I was neither.
“He said that he needed to see you. Insinuated that you would be in some kind of danger if he didn’t get to talk to you. That’s why I’m here.”
Dominic looked unhinged. Like he was going to turn around and punch the brick wall if he knew I wouldn’t try to stop him. “In danger? What the hell does that mean? That’s ridiculous. It’s a ploy.”
I didn’t think this was funny or something to joke about, but then again, he hadn’t heard the fear in his father’s voice. Reaching out, I cupped his cheek with my hand, so he’d focus on me. His wild eyes met mine and held.
“Your father didn’t sound like himself on the phone at all. He sounded worried. He needed me to reach out to you to make this meeting happen. Knew you wouldn’t come otherwise.”
He pulled his face from my touch, and I tried not to show my disappointment. “So, that’s why you’re here? Because my father sent you?”
He was testing me. Pushing me. Desperate to hear that I still loved him and wasn’t doing this for anyone else but myself.
“I’d do anything to keep you safe.”
“That’s my job,” he said instantly, all of his defenses dropping. He looked so tired.
“You sound like my dad.” I wanted to smile but couldn’t.
“Wait. Did my father say he’d hurt me?” Dominic sounded so betrayed.
The two of them might not have had the greatest relationship, but thinking that your own flesh and blood would stoop that low had to be devastating on some level.
“No, he didn’t.” I tried to keep him calm. “It sounded like someone else might hurt you and that he wouldn’t be able to stop them.”
Dominic shook his head before he started rubbing at his eyes. “This isn’t right. My father might be a liar and a con artist, but—”
“I know,” I interrupted his train of thought. “I think he might be in deep with some bad people.”
“What do you mean?”
My brain had already run through a few different scenarios since I’d hung up the phone with his father. I couldn’t help it or stop the wheels from spinning if I tried. “I think he’s using his influence to protect someone. I think that’s who is threatening you. It has to all be tied together somehow.”
Dominic’s father stepped out of the shadows from the back of the building, and we both froze in place. I had no idea how long he’d been there, listening to us.
“Smart girl, Dove.”
PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
DOMINIC
My body instinctively moved in front of Dove’s. I pushed her behind me in a protective stance, shielding her from my father. If he wanted to get anywhere near her, he’d have to go through me.
