I could feel the tension through the line, envisioning his scowl. He hated when I talked back or called him out. Those were the times he reined in the leash tighter, cutting off my oxygen until I could only get back in line.
“Pack your shit and return home.”
“And if I don’t? If I give it all up?”
“Then I’ll show you what a prick I can really be. Since you spent the holidays with the Hent family, I’m sure you realized they own a successful resort in the western part of Connecticut. The one your mother loved so much.”
My body tensed, my grip on my phone so tight it was leaving indents in my skin.
“I have plans for that resort that include demolishing the original structure and building a multi-level hotel catering to the more elite skiers.”
“You’ll never do it. That resort is successful, and they already have an elite clientele. They would never sell to you. Besides, you promised Mom.”
“She’s been dead for almost twelve years. I don’t give a fuck about promises that no longer hold meaning.” My hatred singed me, and I strained not to throw my phone in the lake. “It would be a shame if they suddenly started having problems. Unhappy lodgers? Failed inspections? Faulty equipment? God forbid they have a tragic accident on their property.”
And the true depth of my father’s viciousness was there for me to see.
“You wouldn’t.” But I knew he would. When my father had an eye on a company or a location for one of his hotels, he got it. His hands had been dirty long before I’d even been a thought.
“I would. Did you know her mother was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago? That their medical bills drained their savings? That they paid for her college with loans they didn’t tell her about because there was nothing left?”
Tori had told me about her mother, how she’d been in remission after battling breast cancer, but nothing of the finances. She’d spent two years working on their books for them and running the finances of the resort, but that didn’t mean they’d given her insight into their personal finances.
I rubbed the space between my eyes. My father was boxing me in, giving me no way to escape.
“Leave her, and if you don’t and decide she’s worth the risk, not only will I take her parents down, I’ll ensure her career spirals. I’ll lock her out of every firm and ensure she never makes it further than answering service calls for the rest of her life.”
He’d blocked any chance of me finding that escape because I would do nothing to hurt Tori, and he knew it.
“And if you dare tell her about any of this, I’ll ensure it happens at the same time as I change the stipulations in your trust to make you wait even longer to find her again. I’m sure that by then she’ll have moved on.” The thought had me struggling to breathe. “Love is a weakness, William. I told you that years ago. It blinds you and leaves you vulnerable. Hard and uncaring, cruel and vindictive. It’s the only way you’ll ever step into my shoes.”
I didn’t want to step into his shoes. It was something I had never asked for but that he had expected since the day his only son was born. He wanted my obedience while he molded me into another version of himself.
“I hate you,” I snarled.
“I never asked for anything different. Hate fuels. Love destroys. Pack your things. I expect you in my office ready to work on Monday morning. Your outside training is over. It’s time to return to the fold and accept your destiny.”
He was gone before I could say anything else. There was nothing to say. No way I could stop the train that had derailed again. I had done this to myself. To Tori. And she would be the one who suffered because of my selfishness.
Chapter 13
Tori
The elation of picking up my wedding dress had diminished through the evening. Gabe had returned from his walk and, upon finding me naked in bed just like he’d requested, had torn his clothes off and taken me with a passion that had left me riding wave after wave of ecstasy. He hadn’t let up until my body was putty in his hands. It almost seemed like he would never touch me again and needed to fill himself.
I stood in the doorway, watching as he stared blankly at his phone while he sat shirtless on the couch. Something was wrong, and I was certain it had to do with the call from his sister. The pizza he’d ordered for us sat untouched in front of him, his half-empty beer bottle next to it. I’d never seen him so distant and worry gnawed at me. Determined to bring him back to the present, I went back into the bedroom and searched through the bins at the bottom of my closet. Pulling out a pack of colored paper and two pairs of scissors, I returned to the living room.
The pack thudded onto the coffee table, jerking him from his thoughts. Hazel eyes that no longer held their sparkle looked back at me. They roamed my body before lifting back to mine. A quirk of a smile formed, giving me some hope that he was still in there.
“You know you look entirely too sexy when you walk around in my T-shirts.”
I dropped next to him, my hip bumping his thigh. “Don’t get any ideas. You just wore me out for the next week.”
“Too bad because I was planning to bury my face between your legs the rest of the night.”
“You’re naughty,” I said, noting how even his playfulness seemed off.
He took my hand and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles.
