AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My stomach was churning so much I was certain I would vomit at any second. “What happened then?”
“She told me she’d always wanted me. I tried to resist. I swear it, darling. I did. But… she was too tempting.”
“How could you do that to Mom?” I said through gritted teeth.
“I know this is no excuse, but your mother and I hadn’t been intimate in months. Then Michaela showed up like that. I was powerless to resist.”
My upper lip curled with disgust. “When did it end?”
“It didn’t. Not really. We still see each other on occasion.”
“So it’s been four years, and neither of you have ever wanted to take it any farther than fuckbuddies?”
He shook his head. “Michaela tried. A lot. She’s always been quite obsessed with me, to be honest.”
“Obsessed?”
At the end of that first summer, she said she was in love with me and wanted a real relationship,” he replied. “I shot down the idea instantly. Her age alone would’ve resulted in me going to prison. I told her that.”
“What did she say?”
“She insisted it was fine. She said she’d keep it quiet until she was legal. So then I told her it couldn’t happen regardless of her age. I had to consider you and your mother. I couldn’t destroy my family.”
A cold, crawling sensation settled over my skin as Paxton’s words from the other day echoed in my head. Love can make people do terrible things.
After my mother died in the car accident four years ago, I was technically the only family my father had left. If I was gone too, Michaela would’ve finally had him all to herself. At least that was the way her obsessed, love-crazed mind would’ve seen it.
That was the motive to kill me. Surely.
I looked over at Paxton, who was still dancing with the other woman. When I caught his eye, I mouthed two words. Got it. He dipped his chin in a curt nod and excused himself from his dance partner.
I cleared my throat and looked back up at my father. “Thanks so much for your honesty, Dad.”
“Thank you for trying to understand,” he replied, guilt flashing in his eyes. “And thank you for not turning me in.”
“Oh, Dad. You’re mistaken. I am turning you in. How could I not?”
His eyes widened. “What?”
I gestured to the silver pin Paxton had affixed to the front of my gown earlier. “This isn’t just a cute hockey-themed brooch I put on for the evening, you know. I’ve recorded this whole conversation.”
Dad’s lips twisted into a snarl, and he ripped the brooch right off my dress, leaving a small hole in the fabric.
“Too late,” I said coldly. “It transmits data wirelessly, so Tate has been sitting at his table making sure everything gets recorded and saved. He’ll be sending it to the police as soon as possible. Maybe the media too. Say hi to him, Dad.”
I glanced over at Tate’s table across the room. He smiled thinly and waved at me and my father.
Dad glared at him before turning his wrathful gaze back to me. “You can’t do this to me,” he hissed.
“I can and I will. Paxton is getting the security guards as we speak. They’ll detain you until the police arrive to discuss the fact that you just admitted to sleeping with a minor,” I said. I tilted my head. “Oh, there they are now.”
My father whirled around. Two burly security guys were heading for the dance floor with Paxton between them.
“You can go with them quietly and wait in their office for the police to show up,” I said. “Or you can cause a huge scene right here in front of all these reporters. What’s it going to be?”
People were already staring and whispering to each other all around us. Dad glanced around, panic flittering across his face. Then he scrubbed a hand over his forehead and briskly turned to face the security guards. “I’ll come quietly,” he muttered, stepping in between them to replace Paxton.
Anything to avoid a scene in front of the media.
