“That’s okay, Kelly,” I assured her, turning a corner.
“Okay, phew,” she answered, now a little breathlessly. “Now that that’s out of the way, there’s something you should know before—”
“I know,” I interjected, speeding up. “And I’m going to stop this some way or another.”
“But, Boss, they’re…”
I reached the door, vaguely aware of Kelly setting a hand on my shoulder and saying something, but I was not wasting a second more. I’d let this go on long enough. I was taking back control and putting a stop to David’s manipulation. I was telling my father I knew everything and stopping the transaction. I threw open the door.
Two heads turned in my direction.
“Adalyn,” my father said in a shockingly calm and cold voice that made me pause.
I opened my mouth to say something, any of the things that I’d rehearsed in my head, but all I could think of was What’s David holding in his hands? Because that couldn’t be—
“Hey, sweet-tea,” David said with a smile I couldn’t believe I’d ever found anything but a sneer. “Oh wait, do they drink sweet tea over there?” His eyes trailed up and down my body, a shiver crawling down my arms. “Well, that’s definitely a surprise. Why are you dressed like some… lumberjack bimbo?”
I heard Kelly scoff behind me.
My father rolled his eyes and said, “David.” As if this man hadn’t just disrespected me and that single warning was enough.
Why did that suddenly irk me so much? That disregard for what was said to me in front of him. That lazy way in which he trusted that I could handle myself. I could, but shouldn’t he be doing more than that?
David shrugged. “My apologies. Hey, I have a surprise for you.” He lifted what he’d been holding. “Cool, huh?”
My throat dried. It was one of the Miami Flames jerseys. I recognized it. Except for the sponsor printed at the front it. That was new. It was the logo of the energy drink. The one with my face.
My jaw fell to the floor. I—Focus, Adalyn. I turned my attention to my father. “I know.” Something faltered in his expression. My heart thrummed in my ears. “I know everything, Dad. So you can stop this.”
“David,” he immediately said. “Give us a minute.” He started to complain but my father held up a hand. “Alone. This is not your office yet.”
Yet.
David’s eyes found mine as he walked toward me, and when he passed me, he winked. It made my skin crawl.
The door closed behind me, and only then did I allow myself to move forward, closing the distance to the now vacant chair across from my father’s desk. I’d sat there not that long ago. Only now it seemed like it had been a lifetime ago.
Cameron’s green eyes popped in my head, and I felt my knees falter, an overwhelming sensation filling up my chest. I wish he was here, my head seemed to chant. Not holding my hand, but ready, close enough to hold it if I needed it to be held. As if trying to appease the hollowness, I patted my chest, finding something under my shirt.
Cameron’s ring. It was still there, hanging from the chain he’d fastened around my neck this morning.
“I hid all of this to protect you,” my father said, bringing me back.
I swallowed hard. Thinking of the last man who’d told me something similar. But it… It somehow felt different. It had a different effect. A part of me seemed hesitant to believe Dad. “I don’t need you to protect me. I’m not a child. I could have taken the truth.”
My father sighed, and it was a curt, quick sound that managed to carry so much. “That’s exactly what your mother told me.” He shook his head. “You look a lot like her today.”
“I do?”
He gave me a nod. “I never wanted it to happen this way,” my father continued, looking down at the desk. “All this time, it’s always been my one regret. What kept me from your mother and you.” He shook his head. “Looks like I seem to repeat my mistakes. Do you resent me, Adalyn? Does she resent me as well?”
I opened my mouth, but something stopped me from speaking. She? “Mom? Why would she resent you for this?”
My father’s brows met in question. He wasn’t talking about Mom.
“Who are you referring to?” I asked. And because there was something at the back of my head, something that started to buzz, I added, “Who should resent you, Dad?”
Andrew Underwood seemed so openly confused for a second that when he answered, it was nothing but a rasp. “Josephine.”
My heart stopped for an instant. Josephine? But it couldn’t—
“What has Josie to do with selling the club?”
He paled.
My knees faltered then. I leaned my hand on the chair, gaping at him. Taking in his expression. He looked like a ghost. And that reminded me of what my mother had said. The letters.
Your father has secrets.
Then more started toppling in, flooding me with memories. Facts that hadn’t been pieced together.
You’ll leave tomorrow. On an assignment… It’s something I’ve actually been thinking about for a while.
There’s some kind of a guardian looking over Green Oak.
Robbie doesn’t like to talk about it, but he was—and maybe still is—in a lot of debt.
“You’re Green Oak’s angel investor.” My throat worked but the lump remained lodged there, making it hard for me to speak. I clutched Cameron’s ring. Then, something else Josie had said that day barreled right into me. Something that couldn’t mean what I thought it did. But it had to. “What are you trying to tell me? Why did you bring up Josie? I need to hear it. Out loud.”
He stared at me, and then he said, “Josephine is your half sister.” And the confirmation felt like a bucket of water had been thrown in my face. “She’s my daughter,” he added, and there wasn’t a trace of guilt in his voice or his face. There wasn’t shame. Or remorse. Longing. There was nothing.
Nothing at all.
“I thought you’d realized,” he said. “I thought that was why you were here and what had prompted that dramatic entrance. You said you knew everything.”
I… didn’t think I could breathe. I had a sister. A half sister. Dad had another daughter. “You thought I knew about Josie? But—You…” My gaze roamed around his face. It was impassive. “You’re not surprised or angry. You’re fine. I…” My head was whirling, shooting thoughts left and right. Piecing things together and tearing others apart. I gasped for air. “Were you hoping I’d find out about Josie?” But it couldn’t be, could it? “Was that why you shipped me off there?”
“Yes and no,” he admitted quickly. Far too quick for me to process. “I sent you there because Green Oak seemed like an experience you could benefit from. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t assume you’d put it together.” He shrugged. “I guess I was wrong.”
His words reverberated in my head as I stared into my father’s eyes. They were Josie’s light blue eyes. Only they lacked everything hers had. A powerful emotion rippled through me at the realization, at how obvious it had been, at how he’d just put me down for not piecing it together.
He always did that. Put me down. Hid things.
“You guess you were wrong?” I repeated, something rioting in my chest. Something that had nothing to do with how I’d just been heaving for a breath. “You sent me out there knowing I might find out about a half sister you’ve been hiding from me, knowing I’d interact with her, possibly befriend her, and you shrug it off like that?”
“Once more, I thought that was why you were here,” he said. And God, there was so much noise in my ears. My head. I couldn’t think. I missed Cameron’s hands, anchoring me to the world. “I’ve been expecting this for a while now.”