“If you knew I was happy then why’d you take it away from me? Why did you kill Miller?” Why?
“I didn’t. The bomb was in your car, Brooklyn. And I’d never to do anything to hurt you. Yes, I’ve made mistakes in my past. And I can’t undo them. But I would never do anything to hurt you now. You’re my angel. You saved me. You know I wouldn’t hurt you.”
He was entirely full of shit. But the bomb was in my car. Not Miller’s. And that had been bothering me for weeks. Why had it been in my car? Why? I only needed one answer from him. “So if you didn’t put the bomb in my car, who did?”
“There’s been a little unrest with the families. We can get into more details about that when you start working with me. Soon this whole empire will be in your hands.”
He was delusional.
“But there was a disagreement. A pretty big one. The Locatellis want me out.”
None of that meant anything to me. “Okay…”
“I was being careful when I sent the photographer to your house. I swear it. But…maybe I got a little greedy with wanting pictures of my grandchild. He’s growing so fast. And…someone must have followed the photographer. I didn’t know it until the explosion. But it had the Locatelli signature all over the bomb. They were trying to hurt me by hurting you. They knew you were my one and only weakness. And they wanted me to know they were behind it.”
Hurt him by hurting me? They hadn’t just hurt me. They’d taken Miller away from me. They’d stolen the love of my life.
“I’m sorry,” my father said. “Truly I am.”
He was sorry? He’d led the murderer right to my doorstep.
“I had my guy over there right away,” my dad said. “He took care of everything. Worked with local law enforcement to smooth it all over so that the public would think it was just a car issue. Forensics was taking forever to identify who was in the car though. When I heard that all three of you were missing, I was worried sick that I’d lost you.” There were tears in his eyes.
I didn’t know what to say. It was all lies…right? But my dad sounded sincerely upset about the idea of losing me. I took a deep breath. I’d come here for a reason. And now he was messing with my head.
“I’m so glad you and Jacob are okay. And I’m sorry about Miller. I could tell how much you loved him.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it again.
“And as for revenge…” he looked down at the gun. “There’s no need for that. It’s already been taken care of.”
“What?”
“Remember Poppy? Your cousin? You met her at Thanksgiving.”
“I remember.” I remembered Rob and James saying she was the worst. I remembered her looking a hell of a lot like Isabella. And a chill ran down my spine at the thought of someone that looked like Isabella running around town.
“Well, Poppy took care of it for you. A little tit for tat. Poppy loves car bombs. The Locatelli family just lost its one and only heir.”
“You…you…killed Locatelli’s son?”
“For you.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that! I don’t want anyone else to die!” I knew the irony of my words when I was holding a gun, ready to kill him.
“I thought they’d killed you. Or my grandson. Or my son-in-law. Honestly they’re lucky I only responded with one car bomb. I had half a mind to wipe their entire family off the map.”
He was insane. “Are you sure it wasn’t Poppy who put the bomb in my car? You just said she loves car bombs.”
“She does. But she’s on our side.”
“There is no our side.”
“Of course there is. Poppy is your dear cousin. And now that you’re back in town, the two of you will be quite close, I’m certain of it. Speaking of Poppy…we really should discuss Matthew.
I had no idea what Poppy had to do with Matt, but I didn’t care. I was about to tell him that I wasn’t staying in the city for long, but he cut me off.
“And I hate to say I told you so. But…I told you so,” he said with a smile. “In that huge list of reasons of ways I hurt you, you mentioned Matt. But I was clearly right about the two of you. Since you chose Miller over him.”
“That doesn’t make you right. If you’d never forced me to leave town then Matt and I…” I pressed my lips together. Matt and I…what? Would have lived happily ever after? I wasn’t going to go there. Because I didn’t regret any part of my life with Miller. I’d had everything I’d ever wanted with him and wouldn’t change a second of the time we’d had together. Matt and I were never supposed to be. I was done believing in fairytales and happily ever afters.
“It does make me right. Matthew Caldwell is a notorious playboy. He was never the right choice for you. I’ve been trying to tell him for over 15 years that you were alive. Ever since I promised you at the beach house. And he never answered a single one of my texts to come speak with me. He never cared about you and…”
“Stop.” Each year we were apart stung less and less. If my father was trying to get under my skin it wasn’t going to work. Matthew Caldwell was dead to me. And he had been for years. I’d never forget waking up and my engagement ring being missing. He’d asked for it back. He hadn’t said a word at my funeral. He’d forgotten about me so quickly. And he’d moved on even faster. “I definitely didn’t come here to ask questions about Matt.”
“Right. You came here to kill me.”
I just stared at him.
“Well, what else do I need to explain to you, angel? It was the Locatellis. And I made sure we got even with them. There’s nothing else to discuss really.”
“A life for a life.”
He nodded.
“That’s not even. Miller was my whole world.”
“Do you want me to kill Locatelli’s niece too? Or maybe his wife?”
“No!” I didn’t want that. I just wanted Miller back. I wanted to rewind time. I wanted to go home.
“You’re going to be just fine, angel. Time heals all wounds.”
I shook my head. Not this. Not this time. I wasn’t going to get over this.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to go get Jacob. And the two of you can live here with me. We can be a family.”
He truly was delusional. “I’m not staying. Jacob and I have to get out of town.”
“Why?”
“Because the cops…” my voice trailed off. I still felt like I was on the run even though my father said I wasn’t a suspect. Probably because I planned on running after I shot him. But now everything was turned upside down.
“Like I told you, my guy took care of everything. Local law enforcement has been paid off. No one suspects you in the case. Your name is in the clear. The two of you will stay here with me. End of discussion.”
No. My father couldn’t control me anymore. I wasn’t a scared 16-year-old girl. I stood up, holding the gun steadier than ever. “No,” I said firmly. “I will never stay here again. And if you want me to believe your story, I need to…talk to Poppy.” Honestly I didn’t want to talk to her. I didn’t want anything to do with this family. But Poppy was the car bomb enthusiast. Maybe I’d be able to tell if she was telling the truth.