Chapter 29 #3
I’m not a murderer, but I’ve spent several minutes now pondering how much of the treasure I’d give back to the Jaegers if they got rid of my father for me.
And then I’d feel worse, being a coward who needs others to solve my problems.
The world wouldn’t suffer without Garrett Ames.
He’s good at making money. He’s savvy, detail oriented, and a good negotiator, but he’s of no value as a husband, father, or friend.
He makes the ones who are supposed to love him fear him and dread him, and he spreads ugliness.
He’s at the heart of why I want St. Carmen kids out of their houses and in dorms most of the year.
My phone buzzes before an alarm blares. Picking it up, I click the notification as the palm fronds outside whip against the window.
***Tropical Storm Warning in Effect***
Tropical storm–force winds are expected in this area in the next 36 hours.
*Locations affected:
St. Carmen
Blue Head
Tanner Springs
Sanoa Bay
*Winds expected 25-35 mph…
Spinning in my chair, I watch the bushes outside blow in the dark night. We’re generally safe here, farther away from the sea with emergency services at our fingertips. Sanoa Bay, though…
It’s just a tropical storm. Nothing Dallas hasn’t been through fifty times.
The school gymnasium opens for refuge if anyone needs it, too. He knows that.
I start to call Grady—make sure they’re preparing accordingly—but a reflection moves across the framed picture on the wall in the hallway.
“Sophia?” I call out.
Setting my phone down, I peer around the doorframe, watching her come into view.
Her hair spills around her shoulders—out of her regular ponytails and braids—and she wears a white shirt buttoned to the neck. Her head is bowed, keeping her eyes out of view.
“Sophia?” I say again, trying to catch her gaze. “Are you okay?”
Unease curls its way through me. She was asleep when my father got home. He didn’t go into her room, did he?
The office is dark, but I don’t think she has on anything under the shirt. Maybe just underwear, but I can’t see any sleep shorts. Her shoulders are hunched, her hair in her face, and her fists clenched.
“You should put more clothes on,” I warn. “He’s home.”
He might not be in the house, but he’ll be back. I should call Ava as well. She’s not here, so that means she has no idea he is; otherwise she would’ve rushed back from wherever she’s traveling.
“I heard what he said,” she tells me, her voice shaky. “Will he take me away?”
She was awake? I rise, moving around the desk toward her. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
I take her arms in my hands, meeting her eyes.
“You can’t protect Dallas and me.” She shakes her head at me. “What if you have to choose?”
“I choose you.”
“But you love him,” she says.
I straighten, my face falling a little. I don’t love him.
She obviously knows we’re sleeping together, though. I keep forgetting she’s not a child. She’s an adult who can read between the lines, and even decipher our fucking twisted foreplay. Have my friends noticed?
Swallowing, I state, “I love you.”
She blinks, pain immediately etching across her brow. “Not like that.”
Does she think my loyalty to her isn’t as strong because I’m not fucking her? That’s all that’s between Dallas and me. My commitment to her is everything. We’re all we have.
“I love you as a sister,” I explain. “That’s more important.”
She’s a gorgeous young woman, and maybe she’s wondering why I don’t go after her like my father did, because he taught her to think sex is love. But I will never want her like that.
My devotion is just as strong, though.
“You never say I’m your sister.” She starts to cry, her chin trembling. “You say ‘step.’ You won’t call me Anna-Katherine.”
Her bottom lip juts out as she tries to keep the panic at bay.
“You like Sophia more,” she tells me. “Everyone likes Sophia more.”
Is that what she thinks? That’s not true. I…
Her words filter through my head, and I have no explanation or excuse. She’s right.
She calls me her brother. I’m not a real sibling, but to her, I am.
I guess I thought she was playing her part, a little kid with a big brother.
Or maybe I wanted to be tough. Put on the facade of someone who’s cold. Stone.
I lost everyone else I liked being close to. My mom. Dallas. Even Clay.
I thought I’d lose Sophia, too.
Pulling her into my arms, I hug her close and tight. “I’m sorry.”
She embraces me back in that way only Anna-Katherine does. Bringing her arms in between our bodies, she cocoons herself in my arms and buries her face in my neck.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her again. “I’ve been an idiot. Of course you’re confused.”
She sniffles, and I feel her melt against me.
“I love Anna-Katherine,” I say, “and I love Sophia, and I’m never going to leave you.”
But I know that doesn’t guarantee my father won’t come after her again. Or he won’t feel threatened now that I’m financially worth three times what he is.
She lifts her head up, tears wetting those big blue eyes. “What are we going to do?” she whispers.
Lightning cracks overhead, thunder rolling six seconds later.
The storm is coming.
“We’re going to get rid of him,” I say.