Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Everleigh pulled into the garage and parked, her heart weighing heavily in her chest. She couldn't even remember the drive home.
It seemed like, for the past three days since the cookout, she had been moving on autopilot.
She couldn't get that look out of her mind.
Knox had always been intense, but the expression he had worn the other day spoke of a loathing that ran so deep she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to overcome it.
He still deserved the truth. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to get him alone, and she wasn't about to have a conversation like that in front of his friends and coworkers.
She knew it wouldn't change anything, but he deserved to know.
She had been carrying the guilt with her for nearly fifteen years, and she couldn't stand it anymore.
She wouldn't blame Knox one bit for not wanting to ever see or speak to her again, but she had to get it off her chest once and for all.
Maybe then she would finally be able to move on with her life.
With a little sigh, she pulled the keys from the ignition, grabbed her purse, and headed into the house.
Moving down the short service hallway that connected the garage to the kitchen, she cut through the back part of the house.
She had been hoping to avoid everyone, but her father exited his office just as she placed one foot on the bottom tread of the stairs.
“Everleigh,” he greeted. “I'm glad you're home. Come in here for a moment, please.”
Everything inside her recoiled, but she forced herself to follow him as he disappeared into his office once more. She paused as she crossed the threshold, watching her father move behind his desk. It was a position of power, and whatever he had to say wasn’t going to be good; she knew that much.
His forehead was creased with worry as he turned back to her, and he gestured to the chair across from him. “Why don’t you have a seat?”
“That’s okay, I’m fine.” She moved closer but didn’t sit. His lips flattened into a thin line, but he didn’t push. They stared at each other for several seconds before he spoke.
“Henry told me he saw you leaving the police station a couple of weeks ago. Is that true?”
Henry was the mayor and a good friend of her father’s. She briefly debated lying to him, telling him it was no big deal, but she couldn’t. She forced a tight nod. “Yes. I was there.”
His head tipped slightly to one side. “Why? Has something happened?”
“It’s really nothing—”
“Everleigh.” Her father’s firm voice cut her off. “If something is going on, I need to know about it.”
She let out a sigh. “I’ve been getting… pictures.”
“Pictures?” One gray brow arched toward his hairline. “What kind of pictures?”
“Of me.” Her shoulders slumped, resigned to telling him everything. “A few weeks ago, I came out of the diner and found a photo tucked beneath the wiper blade of my car. Another came a few days later, so I took them to the police.”
“Why didn't you say anything?” He slapped one hand down on his desk. “We need to go to the authorities. Something has to be done about this!”
She shook her head. “Since there's no outright threat, there's nothing they can do.”
“That's ridiculous!” her father blustered. “If they can't handle it, we'll find someone else who will. I'll hire an investigator to take care of it.”
“I already have someone looking into that. I have a private security firm trying to find out who has been taking the photographs. He's been following me for the last week and a half.”
Her father looked stunned. “Who?”
She rolled her lips together as she swallowed hard. “Vantage Security.”
Her father's expression went blank, and he blinked several times as he turned the name over in his mind. She saw the minute he connected the dots because his pupils flared wide. For several seconds, neither of them spoke. “Everleigh…”
She held up one hand. “No. I did as you asked. I've always done as you asked, even if it was the exact opposite of what I wanted or needed.”
Something passed briefly over his eyes, but it was gone a second later. “I did what I had to in order to protect you.” His mouth set into a firm line, and his eyes narrowed. “That boy wasn't good enough for you then, and he's not good enough for you now.”
Disgust welled up, and she bit her tongue to keep the vile words contained.
“Excuse me. I have to go.” Without waiting for a response, she spun on her heel and stormed to her room.
She dropped her purse on the bed and stood there for a moment, seething.
He had always been prejudiced against Knox—against anyone he considered lower than himself, really.
It irked her to no end, and a hot flush of anger swept over her skin.
She grabbed her phone from her purse and tapped out a quick message to Sierra, asking her to send whatever she had found, and sent it before she could reconsider.
She couldn’t stand to be in the same house with him right now.
Even in a separate wing of the house, it wasn't far enough away. She needed a place of her own.
Dropping her phone to the bed, she spun on her heel and strode toward the sunroom. She quickly cut across the room and threw open the French doors, then slipped out onto the balcony and made her way down the steps to the backyard.
As she wound her way through the flowers and topiary hedges, her feet already knew where they were going before her mind could tell her it was a bad idea.