AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I ought to shoot you,” he snarled. “How dare you come here, Baxter?”
Four days ago I released him. Four days since Isabelle walked out of my life. She hated me—and I didn’t blame her.
I waved my hand at Kelly’s gun. “Put that down and hear me out.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His lips twisted into a sneer. “So you can kidnap me again. Go to hell!”
Already there.
I dropped into the arm chair across from his desk. “You’re going to want to hear what I have to say.”
“What I want is to shoot you right between the eyes.” He leaned in, the gun never wavering. “You seducedmy daughter, you filthy piece of—”
“Stop.” I held up my hand. “Calling me names got you into this mess in the first place. I suggest you keep a civil tongue in your head.”
“Are you denying you seduced her?”
I thought of Belle, throwing her leg over my hips and begging me to fuck her.“I know what kind of man you are, and I know how you feel about me. This feels right to me, here and now.”
But she hadn’t really known me or what I was capable of.
And the hatred and disappointment in her eyes when she finally did learn?
It haunted me. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’tthinkwithout her. I’d hurt her—and I hated myself for it.
“I seduced her,” I admitted. “And you can shoot me for it, if you want. But I’d suggest waiting to hear me out first.”
“Why? So you can attempt to justify it?” He gave a bitter laugh. “I know the reason. You did it to hurt and humiliate me!”
I shook my head. “Wrong. It was about her. And I’d do it all over again if I had the chance.”
He hadn’t expected that, if his bewildered expression was anything to go by. “You’re full of shit.”
“You don’t know a damn thing about your daughter, do you? She’s . . . .” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Perfect. She’s brave and kind, loyal and caring. She would’ve gone to the ends of the earth to save your corrupt ass.”
“Yes, she told me about holding a gun on you at the fights. If only she’d shot you then, it would have saved us all a great deal of aggravation.”
“No doubt. But then the evidence I had would have reached the newspapers.”
“Had? Don’t tell me you’ve destroyed it, because I won’t believe you.”
“No, I gave it to your daughter.”
I left the papers proving Kelly’s misdeeds in Belle’s bedchamber just before crawling in to the office. She’d been downstairs at supper, ignoring her father while she ate.
“You gave it all to Isabelle? Why on earth would you do that?”
“Because she deserves to know the real Honest Dan Kelly.”
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered before his jaw hardened. “So this is where you blackmail me, I suppose? It’s exactly what I’d expect from someone like you.”
“Vermin, you mean?” I fisted my hands but tried to remain calm. “I’m not here to blackmail you.”
“Why not?”
“Because exposing you would hurt her.”
He cocked his head, like he was trying to hear better. “Let me understand. You were willing to do anything to prevent me from becoming mayor—even kidnapping me—but you’re giving up because you believe it will upset my daughter?”
