“It really doesn’t matter in this fake scenario who had unrequited love for who.”
“If you say so. Since yours was unrequited. Even Penny agreed and she knows you very well.”
“I’m done with this conversation,” I said.
“Fair. Since I won. On a related note, are you going to tell her you aren’t gay?”
“I didn’t have to. I kind of yelled it to the whole restaurant. And she showed up. And I may have been talking about Brooklyn too and it all just kind of came out.”
He raised his eyebrows. “No more secrets.”
I nodded. “I told her everything. I even showed her the paintings of Brooklyn.”
“You took her to your serial killer room?”
“It’s not a serial killer room.”
Tanner gave me a weird look. “It’s a little like a serial killer room. Or at least a stalker’s lair.”
Honestly, he had a good point. “Penny may have mentioned that it wasn’t healthy to spend time in there.”
“Agreed.”
“I had a great conversation with her, though. She’s a really good friend.”
“I know. I’ve been trying to tell you not to put your dick in her for years.”
“What? If anything you’ve told me the opposite.”
“Have I? I don’t recall. She’s one of your best friends’ wives. That would have been highly inappropriate.”
“Yeah. It would have been.” Seriously, he didn’t remember telling me to hit that on numerous occasions?
“Especially now that you’re even from the whole Blue Parrot Resort fiasco.”
“What you did to me was worse,” I said. “Especially because of Nigel.” I’d never forget the way Nigel had stared at me when Tanner had slipped me boner pills as a joke.
“I don’t understand why you don’t just ignore him,” Tanner said.
“I don’t understand how you think he’s ignorable?”
“Eh, I’ve been stuck with him for so long. He blends into the walls. If you let him.”
What did that even mean? Whatever, it didn’t matter. “Penny really helped me though. I finally said goodbye to Brooklyn tonight. I’m ready to move on. For real this time.”
Tanner nodded. “That’s good. At least it didn’t take you a few hundred years.”
“What?”
“That old saying…” He tapped the top of the wooden bar as he thought. “That heartache takes two lifetimes to get over.”
I didn’t know if that saying actually sounded familiar or if maybe I was a little sleep deprived. But I found myself nodding my head. “It feels like two lifetimes.”
“Exactly.” Tanner slapped me on the back. “So you’re ready to finally embrace the present.” He waved down the bartender and ordered another round for both of us.
“Yes.” More than I even realized. I was ready to embrace it with Kennedy. I felt really good about coming clean to Penny today. For taking that step of saying goodbye to Brooklyn. I didn’t want to talk about what happened with Kennedy right now. Hopefully she’d calm down in the morning. And we could just keep getting stronger.
The bartender slid us our glasses.
Tanner caught his in one hand and lifted it in the air. “To new beginnings!”
I tapped my glass against his.
“Hear, hear! It’s late though, and you really do look unwell. We should probably get home before Nigel starts to worry.” He downed his glass and then patted the front of his suit jacket. “Shoot, do you have two pence I can borrow?”
“Two pence?”
He cleared his throat. “I meant a twenty.”
“I’ll pay for the drinks, you cheap ass.”
He laughed. “I’ll get it next time.”
But we both knew he wouldn’t.
Chapter 4
Saturday
Brooklyn
My father smiled. And for the first time I saw some of his old cruelty there. He was staring at me like I was a little girl with little thoughts. That anything I said was insignificant.
“Angel, you’re not going to shoot me. Blood is a stronger bond than anything else. We both know that. You’re here for answers. And probably for some help. I can offer you both.”
Blood meant nothing to me. And I didn’t need his help. I already knew where Jacob and I were going. I had a plan.
Just like I’d had a plan for Miller and me to get away from my dad all those years ago. I swallowed hard. That plan…it hadn’t worked. My dad had known where I was. Why had he waited so long to act? He’d told Miller that he’d kill him if he ever laid a hand on me again. But he had pictures of Miller doing just that. Over a dozen years of images of Miller touching me. Holding me close. Kissing me. Miller and I were rarely not touching.
“I see your mind swirling with those questions. Go ahead and ask. I’ll give you an honest answer.” He lowered the icepack from his face and dabbed at the blood under his nose with the tea towel.
“You don’t know what an honest answer is.”
“I’ve always been honest with you.”
God, he was so full of shit. “I don’t have any questions for you. You told Miller right to his face that you’d kill him if he ever touched me again. I saw all the pictures on your desk. You knew what was going on. Nothing you can say will make me believe it wasn’t you.”
“So Miller is dead?” He shook his head like the news saddened him. “I’m so sorry, angel.”
“You’re sorry?” My voice cracked. I was going to punch him in the face again if he wasn’t careful. “You’re the one who killed him!”
“It wasn’t me.”
“That’s the best you’ve got?” He wasn’t even trying. He didn’t have an alibi. ‘It wasn’t me’ wasn’t good enough. I needed witnesses. I needed proof or his brains were going to end up on the cabinets behind him.
“You know it wasn’t me, Brooklyn. If you thought it was me you would have shot me as soon as I opened the door. Of course it wasn’t me. I know that you loved him. I would never.”
I laughed. “Why? Because it would hurt me? Look around, Dad. Bringing me here after my uncle’s funeral hurt me. Making me live with Isabella hurt me. Trying to tell me Matt wasn’t a good choice hurt me. Stealing my kidney hurt me. Kidnapping me hurt me. Letting my mom die when your money could have helped save her hurt me. You’ve done nothing but hurt me my whole life. Even before you knew I existed. Hell, you even tried to make my mom get rid of me.”
“Well, I have a few things to say about those horrific accusations. I never knew your mother was sick. If I had, I would have done something. She was the love of my life.”
I used to believe him when he said that. But he didn’t know what love was.
He steepled his fingers as he stared at me. “And as we’ve previously discussed, I invited you into my home so you’d be safe.”
Invited me? He’d dragged me kicking and screaming.
“I thought I had Isabella under control. And this next bit is really starting to weight on me. I did not steal your kidney. You signed it away to me. I’d really appreciate it if you stopped saying I stole it. That sounds terrible.”