He unfolded his long frame from the car holding a small duffel, and a few seconds later, shook hands with a man I didn’t recognize. I’d only gotten a brief glimpse of him before he was hidden from view. Theo was out in the open, unaware and completely vulnerable. I could take the shot, leave Theo bleeding on the concrete, and get the fuck out of dodge. But then I remembered the other half of my objective.
To find his daughter.
The meeting between them ended quickly, and the man disappeared down the street. Theo watched him go until he disappeared around the corner. I noticed the slump in his shoulders and the worry in his eyes after he turned toward his car. His hand was on the handle when he stopped. There was tension in his body as his gaze moved around the busy area. He could feel me watching him.
I had a clear shot at him, but I knew I couldn’t kill him here. I could hear my father’s voice in my head, warning me not to be sloppy.
I made the decision to slide down in my seat and hide a moment too late. Theo was now staring at my car parked across the street. He couldn’t be sure it was me. The tint was too dark, but it didn’t matter to a man desperate to live.
He was already reacting.
Reaching behind his back, he pulled his gun and took aim. I was prepared to do the same when we both heard, “Sir, drop your weapon down and get down on the ground!” When Theo didn’t obey, the officer screamed the command again. The other pedestrians screamed and ran to get away from danger. I watched, enraged, as Theo lowered his gun and the officer immediately cuffed him.
My only window to silence Theo forever was gone.* * *Present“WHY DID YOU frame my father?”
I was running my nose over every inch of her skin, breathing her in and enjoying her scent, as she voiced her question. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have naked in bed, but I could hear in her voice there was no avoiding it.
“There had been a witness that night who knew the only two people with my father when he died was Theo and my mother. Killing her wasn’t an option since she had already reported the murder to the police. I had to protect my mother. My father wouldn’t have expected any less. Even for Theo.”
“So let me get this straight.” She pulled out of my arms to face me. “Your father fucks another woman—my mother—your mother pulls the trigger, and my father gets screwed?”
“Theo wasn’t just there to confront my father. He was there to kill him, and he succeeded. He also destroyed what was left of my mother, and I couldn’t let her live with the consequences.”
“My father didn’t destroy your mother. Your father did. Why can’t you see that?”
“When you thought you killed me, did you feel different? Like your humanity had been stripped from you the moment you plunged that knife inside me?”
Her gaze lowered, shielding the pain in the jade. “Yes.”
“My mother loved my father, and not only did she kill him, but she learned he’d been unfaithful with the woman she used to call a friend. It changes you. The woman I was left with wasn’t my mother. I had your father to thank for that.”
“So your mother’s mental state helped you feel less guilty?”
“I didn’t feel guilty at all,” I confessed. “Not until I saw you standing in my father’s home ready to kill me to free your son.” I couldn’t handle the way her eyes bore into me, so I pulled her back into my arms and laid her head over my heart that didn’t deserve to beat.
“I kept waiting for you to show up and tell me you didn’t blame me, but then you never did, so I never let myself think about you.”
My hand slid between our bodies until it reached her breast. I slid my thumb over the nipple and grinned at her gasp. “You weren’t so easy to forget.”
I was seconds away from pulling her under me and making sure she’d never forget me again when she grabbed my hand and laid it on my bare stomach. “My father wasn’t the only one you condemned that night. Did you ever once consider what it would do to me to lose the only parent I had left?” I could see the answer she wanted to hear in her eyes, but I couldn’t hand her the lie.
“Yes.” She wasn’t expecting my answer, and I wasn’t expecting to give it to her.
“You’re such a hypocrite,” she breathed. She shoved me away, hopped up from our bed, and faced me with tears running down her face. “You hate my father for the same reason you betrayed me. You chose her over me. But why wouldn’t you? She’s your mother. Don’t you see how unfair that is?”