“So when Callum was busy saving your company, you told Maria he was cheating on her?” My thoughts are jumbled and crazy, one leaping after the other, but I think I’m starting to piece it all together. “That’s how you got her into bed?”
His eyes shift away to stare somewhere over my shoulder.
“Was Callum actually cheating?” I demand. “Was that true?”
When he can’t look me in the eye, I know it’s not. The fragile relationship we were building crashes to the ground. I can’t respect him. I barely like him right now. He slept with his best friend’s wife. Worse, he told Maria that her husband betrayed her. And she’d killed herself! Steve O’Halloran pretty much drove that poor, messed-up woman to suicide.
I suddenly feel like throwing up.
Bending down, I pick up the letter and clutch it tight. “We’re taking this to Callum. He thinks his wife killed herself because of him. The boys believe the same thing. You need to tell them all the truth.”
Anger flickers in Steve’s eyes. “No,” he snaps. “This stays between us. I told you before, it would ruin those boys’ lives.”
“You think they aren’t already dead inside because their mother killed herself? The only person this letter will ruin is you. And frankly, Steve, I don’t care if it does. The Royals need to know the truth!”
With that, I grab my phone and barrel past him, practically hurling myself out the door.
“Don’t you fucking walk away from me!”
His enraged voice brings a jolt of fear. I start to run, making it all the way to the living room before I’m suddenly yanked backwards. The momentum sends me flying butt-first onto the carpet, inches away from the fireplace where Brooke died—
And suddenly I’m struck with the most horrible thought.
“Was it you?” I blurt out.
Steve doesn’t answer me. He just looms over me, breathing hard, his features creased with frustration.
“Did you kill Brooke?” My voice is weak now, shaky from horror.
“No,” he growls. “I didn’t.”
But I see it—the flicker of guilt in his eyes.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “You did. You killed her and then tried to pin it on Reed. You murdered her—”
“It was an accident!” he roars.
The deafening volume has me flinching. I stumble to my feet, trying to put as much distance between us as I can, but Steve steps forward, and all I can do is back up, until my spine is flat against the fireplace.
“It was a goddamn accident, okay!” My father’s eyes are wild now, red and narrowed and terrifying.
“H-how?” I stammer. “Why?”
“I just got off a damned plane after months of being trapped on some godforsaken island!” He’s screaming now. “And I get home to see goddamn Reed leaving the penthouse! What the hell else was I supposed to think? I already knew that my wife was screwing Callum’s eldest.” His breathing is shallow. “And then Reed? You think I was going to take that lying down? After everything I’d just gone through?”
“Reed never touched Dinah,” I croak.
“I didn’t know that!” Each breath that leaves his mouth is sharp and laced with panic. “I took the service elevator up to the penthouse. I was going to confront my cheating bitch of a wife. The wife who fucking tried to kill me.”
His fury is polluting the air, intensifying the fear pounding through my blood. I try to creep to the side, but he moves forward again. I’m trapped between his angry, shaking body and the hard stone of the fireplace.
“I walked in and she was here—looking at this damned picture of us!”
He snatches a framed photograph off the mantle and whips it into the wall over my head. Shards of glass rain down on us, a few pieces catching in my hair.
My heart pounds so fast I’m scared it will give out on me. I have to get out of here. I need to. Steve is confessing to murder. He’s unraveling right in front of me.
I can’t be here when he loses it completely.
“And I got angry, like any normal red-blooded man. Like your precious Reed. I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her forehead against the mantle. I’d never hit a woman before in my life, but goddamn, Ella, that woman needed hitting. She needed to pay for what she’d done to me.”
“But it wasn’t Dinah,” I whisper.
Shame swamps his face, cutting through some of the anger. “I didn’t know that. I thought it was. They look the same from behind, damn it. They…” He seems to be struggling for air. “I saw her face as she fell forward, but it was too late. I couldn’t catch her. She hit her head on the mantle.” He pants in dismay. “Severed her damned spinal cord!”
“I…” I gulp hard. “O-okay. Then it was an accident and you need to tell the police exactly what hap—”
“We’re not involving the police!” he booms, then raises one hand as if he’s going to hit me.
I brace myself, but the blow never comes. Instead, Steve’s big palm falls to his side.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he orders. “I’m not going to hurt you! You’re my daughter.”
And Dinah is his wife, but he was still going to hurt her. My pulse careens again. I can’t be here. I can’t.
“You have to tell the truth,” I plead with my father. “If you don’t, Reed will go to jail.”
“You think I don’t know that? I’ve been racking my brain for weeks trying to figure out how to get him out of this. I might not want him screwing my kid, but I don’t want to see that boy go to prison.”
Then why haven’t you saved him? I want to scream. But I already know the answer to that. No matter what he tries to say now, Steve was absolutely going to let Reed take the fall for Brooke’s death. Because Steve O’Halloran only cares about himself. That’s all he’s ever cared about.
“You and me,” he suddenly says, his eyes taking on an animated light. “We’ll figure this out together. Please, Ella, let’s just sit down and talk it through and see how we can save Reed. Maybe we can pin it on Dinah—”
“Like hell you will!”
Steve spins around at the sound of Dinah’s voice. Me, I’ve never been happier to see Dinah in my entire life. Steve’s distraction is just the opportunity I need to dart away from the fireplace. I race toward the blonde as if my life depends on it. Because maybe it does.
His eyes shift away to stare somewhere over my shoulder.
“Was Callum actually cheating?” I demand. “Was that true?”
When he can’t look me in the eye, I know it’s not. The fragile relationship we were building crashes to the ground. I can’t respect him. I barely like him right now. He slept with his best friend’s wife. Worse, he told Maria that her husband betrayed her. And she’d killed herself! Steve O’Halloran pretty much drove that poor, messed-up woman to suicide.
I suddenly feel like throwing up.
Bending down, I pick up the letter and clutch it tight. “We’re taking this to Callum. He thinks his wife killed herself because of him. The boys believe the same thing. You need to tell them all the truth.”
Anger flickers in Steve’s eyes. “No,” he snaps. “This stays between us. I told you before, it would ruin those boys’ lives.”
“You think they aren’t already dead inside because their mother killed herself? The only person this letter will ruin is you. And frankly, Steve, I don’t care if it does. The Royals need to know the truth!”
With that, I grab my phone and barrel past him, practically hurling myself out the door.
“Don’t you fucking walk away from me!”
His enraged voice brings a jolt of fear. I start to run, making it all the way to the living room before I’m suddenly yanked backwards. The momentum sends me flying butt-first onto the carpet, inches away from the fireplace where Brooke died—
And suddenly I’m struck with the most horrible thought.
“Was it you?” I blurt out.
Steve doesn’t answer me. He just looms over me, breathing hard, his features creased with frustration.
“Did you kill Brooke?” My voice is weak now, shaky from horror.
“No,” he growls. “I didn’t.”
But I see it—the flicker of guilt in his eyes.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “You did. You killed her and then tried to pin it on Reed. You murdered her—”
“It was an accident!” he roars.
The deafening volume has me flinching. I stumble to my feet, trying to put as much distance between us as I can, but Steve steps forward, and all I can do is back up, until my spine is flat against the fireplace.
“It was a goddamn accident, okay!” My father’s eyes are wild now, red and narrowed and terrifying.
“H-how?” I stammer. “Why?”
“I just got off a damned plane after months of being trapped on some godforsaken island!” He’s screaming now. “And I get home to see goddamn Reed leaving the penthouse! What the hell else was I supposed to think? I already knew that my wife was screwing Callum’s eldest.” His breathing is shallow. “And then Reed? You think I was going to take that lying down? After everything I’d just gone through?”
“Reed never touched Dinah,” I croak.
“I didn’t know that!” Each breath that leaves his mouth is sharp and laced with panic. “I took the service elevator up to the penthouse. I was going to confront my cheating bitch of a wife. The wife who fucking tried to kill me.”
His fury is polluting the air, intensifying the fear pounding through my blood. I try to creep to the side, but he moves forward again. I’m trapped between his angry, shaking body and the hard stone of the fireplace.
“I walked in and she was here—looking at this damned picture of us!”
He snatches a framed photograph off the mantle and whips it into the wall over my head. Shards of glass rain down on us, a few pieces catching in my hair.
My heart pounds so fast I’m scared it will give out on me. I have to get out of here. I need to. Steve is confessing to murder. He’s unraveling right in front of me.
I can’t be here when he loses it completely.
“And I got angry, like any normal red-blooded man. Like your precious Reed. I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her forehead against the mantle. I’d never hit a woman before in my life, but goddamn, Ella, that woman needed hitting. She needed to pay for what she’d done to me.”
“But it wasn’t Dinah,” I whisper.
Shame swamps his face, cutting through some of the anger. “I didn’t know that. I thought it was. They look the same from behind, damn it. They…” He seems to be struggling for air. “I saw her face as she fell forward, but it was too late. I couldn’t catch her. She hit her head on the mantle.” He pants in dismay. “Severed her damned spinal cord!”
“I…” I gulp hard. “O-okay. Then it was an accident and you need to tell the police exactly what hap—”
“We’re not involving the police!” he booms, then raises one hand as if he’s going to hit me.
I brace myself, but the blow never comes. Instead, Steve’s big palm falls to his side.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he orders. “I’m not going to hurt you! You’re my daughter.”
And Dinah is his wife, but he was still going to hurt her. My pulse careens again. I can’t be here. I can’t.
“You have to tell the truth,” I plead with my father. “If you don’t, Reed will go to jail.”
“You think I don’t know that? I’ve been racking my brain for weeks trying to figure out how to get him out of this. I might not want him screwing my kid, but I don’t want to see that boy go to prison.”
Then why haven’t you saved him? I want to scream. But I already know the answer to that. No matter what he tries to say now, Steve was absolutely going to let Reed take the fall for Brooke’s death. Because Steve O’Halloran only cares about himself. That’s all he’s ever cared about.
“You and me,” he suddenly says, his eyes taking on an animated light. “We’ll figure this out together. Please, Ella, let’s just sit down and talk it through and see how we can save Reed. Maybe we can pin it on Dinah—”
“Like hell you will!”
Steve spins around at the sound of Dinah’s voice. Me, I’ve never been happier to see Dinah in my entire life. Steve’s distraction is just the opportunity I need to dart away from the fireplace. I race toward the blonde as if my life depends on it. Because maybe it does.
