She gasped. “What? No! I love that pla—”
That annoying hand lifted again, and she bit back a growl. Would he ever let her speak?
“My office is ramping up our efforts to shut down the MC. The man who held this position before me was crooked as can be. I’m not sure what perks he got, money or something else, but he turned a blind eye to the illegal activities of those damn bikers for as long as he was in office. No more. My goal is to have the MC disbanded and as many of those criminals in jail as possible by the end of the year.”
Her hands began to shake. Slipping them under her thighs squashed the tremor out of them, but it did nothing to quell the internal quiver that began with her father’s words. “D-dad,” she said.
Be firm, Holly.
“Dad, I’m not sure you should be telling me this.”
His eyes narrowed, assessing her. “Why not?” When she didn’t answer right away, he slapped his palms on the table. “Why the hell not, Holly?”
Her face flamed as she felt the eyes of every customer in the diner shift to them. A quick glance at the counter revealed Jazz looking at her with concern. But she winked and gave Holly a nod. She could do this. She had to do this. “B-because I’ve become friends with many of the women, girlfriends of the club members. They’re great people, Dad,” she rushed on to say. “Not like clubs you’ve dealt with in the past.”
He snorted and shook his head. “God, Holly, you’re so naïve. What’s it going to take to get you to realize how dangerous these people are? Your sister’s murder clearly wasn’t enough. Do you need to lose someone else you love?”
She gasped as pain lanced her heart. How dare he use that against her in such a callous manner? “Dad! I can’t believe you said that to me.” The words came out as a strangled whisper. Losing Joy had torn her apart. And while it had nearly killed her parents as well, and she’d always been sympathetic to that, something about their relationship had to change. Because it wasn’t healthy.
But he didn’t seem to be listening or paying attention to her distress. “I didn’t want to believe it when one of my deputies told me, but you were at the party the other night, weren’t you?” he asked.
Now or never. Holly swallowed. “I was.” The words sounded hollow, much as she felt deep in her heart now that he’d speared it.
Jazz appeared at the side of their booth, coffeepot in hand. “Your food will be out in a few. Either of you ready for a refill…” One look at the fierce scowl on the sheriff’s face had Jazz’s eyes bugging. She glanced between Holly and her father. “You know what? I’m gonna give you another minute.” As she backed away she mouthed the words, “You got this,” to Holly while giving a discreet thumbs up at her side.
See? Good people. Genuinely good at their core.
“Dad, I’m seeing LJ,” Holly blurted the moment Jazz stepped out of earshot. She held her breath, watching the play of emotions across her father’s face. Anger, sadness, disbelief.
Hurt.
She swallowed, forcing herself to keep her head high and meet the displeasure in his gaze head-on. As he waited for a response, she gripped the edge of the booth for dear life. Shame threatened to consume her, but she fought it because she couldn’t let her guilt win this time as it did every time.
With each second that ticked by, the tension mounted until it grew to a near physical presence at the table.
Shit. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe she jumped the gun. Sure, she and LJ had talked about seeing each other again, but what did that even mean? Could she call him her boyfriend? Probably not. The man seemed to freak at the thought of spending the entire night with her. She sure as hell wasn’t his ol’ lady, whatever that meant. Here she was telling her father about a relationship that barely existed.
Why?
Was she just clinging to the idea of LJ to assert the independence she should have claimed ages ago? Was LJ right? Was this just an act of rebellion? Her thoughts spiraled until Holly completely doubted the wisdom of every word she’d just uttered.
“This is going to break your mother’s heart.”
He knew just what to say to ratchet up the guilt. Holly steeled her spine, remaining upright while her insides were crumbling to dust. Blinking back tears, she opened her mouth to speak but found it dry as the desert.
“I won’t stop gunning for them, Holly. If this whole little announcement is to try and convince me to stop investigating the club, you wasted your time. That club is full of evil mean and foolish doormat women who are nothing more than a piece of property.”