me. After all, it’s not as if you haven’t already hurt me enough.”
She kept her hands tucked. “Don’t you dare play the victim.”
“I have every right. You left. You stole my children.”
“You’re a control freak.”
“I was your husband.”
“That didn’t give you the right to hurt me.” Even worse than the bruises of the flesh, the hematomas of the mind lingered the longest.
“You should have asked for a divorce.”
“You would have said no,” Portia blurted.
“You’re right, I would have refused, and after the children were born, I’d probably have had you entered into a program to deal with your obviously hormonal mental lapse.”
She pressed her lips together. “I don’t want to be your wife.”
“You don’t get a choice.”
“Yes, she does. And so do we.” Mae stepped out from behind the drapes and eyed her father. “You’re not a very nice person.”
“I don’t need to be nice. But I will be obeyed. Return to your room. At once. It would seem you require the same lesson as your sister when it comes to obedience.”
But rather than listen, Mae moved closer. “You know, for a long time, I suffered under the misconception that I required a father. I wanted one so badly, and when I found out you were alive, I couldn’t wait to meet you. In my mind, I’d built you into something grand. But it turns out you’re”—she eyed him in a way that showed he left her unimpressed—“disappointing at best.”
His face twisted. “You dare insult me?”
“Mom says I should always tell the truth, which is hypocritical coming from her.” Mae rolled her eyes. “But, sometimes, she is right. You’re not a very good person, but I am. Which is why you get a second chance.”
Portia blinked as her daughter took on a maturity that had taken her much longer to find.
“What are you babbling about?”
“You’ve been a very bad man, Father.” Mae shook her head. “Which is why you’re being arrested.”
“By whom?” he sneered. “Not that it matters. Any charges levied against me will get tossed by my lawyers.” Ronin was so blasé about it as he stated what he believed was the simple truth and took a sip of his wine.
“Might be kind of hard to have the case dismissed with the evidence I provided,” Mae declared, leading Portia to seesaw between pride and terror. Oh no, she hadn’t.
She had.
“I’ve emailed a few international organizations with details of your crimes. Money laundering. Drugs.” She shook her head. “You made it so easy for me to find.”
It astonished Portia just how much she’d underestimated her child.
“You lie.”
“Do I? How about you ask them.” Mae eyed the ceiling, and it was then that Portia heard it, the whup-whup of helicopter blades. More than one. A flash of movement outside, and Mae’s expression turned smug.
It dawned on Portia what Mae had done. “You called a SWAT team? Are you insane?” Portia might have yelled it, whereas Ronin spat, “You little bitch!”
Mae appeared to have factored many things into her plan. How to take her father by surprise, how to ensure that the case was airtight, but she’d never planned for the one thing that happened.
Ronin attacked Mae. He threw himself at her, hands outstretched, and Portia could only scream because she couldn’t move fast enough to intervene. Ronin hit her daughter and slammed her into the floor.
Mae didn’t get back up.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ted roared, a primal sound as he saw Mae go down. He’d just rappelled out of a helicopter—which was a blast from the past—and hit the ground running. He aimed for the patio doors, where he could see his target. Saw the fucker hitting a child.
Marie’s warning to go slow went right out of his head. Danger. Danger. Instinct took over, and he yelled, “Hey, you ugly coward. Why not pick on someone your own goddamned size?”
Hearing Ted, Ronin rolled from Mae and stood, bouncing on the balls of his feet, fingers beckoning. “You want to fight, then let us fight.”
The guy wanted to do a hand to hand competition? The butt of the gun by his side was already gripped in Ted’s hand. It would be so easy to draw it and shoot.
Kill Ronin, a man he probably wouldn’t have many nightmares about. It would solve so many problems. But then he looked at Mae. Tucked against Macey, her eyes wide with fear.
“Don’t kill him. We have to find Lin first.”
“Where is she?”
Ronin smiled. “Probably dead by now. My staff is very good at following orders.”
“I’m not dead.” Lin stepped