Sweet Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #2) - Ivy Layne Page 0,88
could explain away the cash as leftover poker winnings, but not the uniform.
I had to tell West. And Royal.
Royal. My heart ached at the thought of Royal. How could I explain this? He would hate me. How could he not?
You can't keep this a secret.
I couldn't. I wouldn't lie to him. He deserved better. Did that mean I was going to turn my dad in to West?
“I thought I'd find you here. Just can't do what you're told, can you?” my father asked, his voice hard.
I looked up to see him leaning on the door frame, his dark hair falling into his eyes in a rakish wave, his blue eyes sharp. How could I have thought Royal was anything like this man?
Darren might have been my father, but he was a liar and a thief. An opportunist and a con man. Nothing about him was like Royal.
“Why do you have an Inn uniform, Dad?” I asked. I glanced down at my phone, half-hidden by my hip. The camera app was still open. I flicked a thumb to swipe to the video setting and hit the record button. I couldn't get my head around turning my dad in to West, but after the way he'd lied about the contract to Grams, I wanted proof.
“None of your business. What are you doing in my room going through my things, Daisy?”
I thought about coming up with a cover story, but I was tired of all the lying. “Grams said you denied borrowing any money, so I went up to show her the contract you signed, but it was gone. Did you break into my apartment?”
The sly grin that spread across his face was all the answer I needed. Of course, his words were more lies, but the truth was all over him.
“Don't be ridiculous. Why did you have to tell her about the money? I told you I was going to take care of both of you. Bringing my mother into this was a mistake.”
“Your mother, my grandmother. And the last time we talked about this, you threatened to have me charged with theft.”
“Daisy, girl, you take everything so seriously. Break things off with your boyfriend. He's too cozy with the police chief. Then all you have to do is forget about the money, come back to work where you belong, and everything will go back to normal. You can live over the bakery and do whatever you do with your little fairy friend, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened.”
I stared up at him in shocked amazement. Was he insane? He wanted me to break up with Royal, had called J.T. a fairy, and thought after that—and everything else—there was any chance I was going to come back to work for him? For him?
No fucking way. Not ever. I wanted to storm out and never see him again. I stayed where I was. I still needed answers, not that it was likely my father would admit to anything.
“Why do you have an Inn uniform, Dad?” I asked again, my voice just as hard and unyielding as his. I was tired of being pushed around. Tired of being disregarded.
“None of your fucking business, Daisy. I'm your father. I don't owe you any explanations. I don't owe you anything.”
“You owe me twenty fucking grand. That's what you owe me.”
My father smirked, one eyebrow raised. “Prove it.”
“You know damn well I can't since you broke into my home and stole the contract.”
“You can't prove that either. The only one who has evidence of theft is me. All I have to do is talk my mother into filing charges and you'll be headed to jail. Is that what you want?”
“Grams would never do that to me,” I whispered, shock stealing my breath. She wouldn't. No way. Except…
My father cocked his head to the side, his smirk growing deeper. “I bet she would, though. If your mother and I work on her. Tell her you need to learn a lesson, that she can always drop the charges, but we need to scare you straight. And there's the matter of her missing jewelry.”
“I didn't take Grams' jewelry!” I shot to my feet, knocking my phone to the floor.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, and I knew I'd lost.
I knelt to pick up my phone, locking the screen so it wouldn't stop recording when I shoved it in my pocket. I didn't have much, just threats, but it was something. At the very least, it was proof