“Fair?” he interrupts me.
I throw off the covers. “Fuck you, Titan,” I growl, getting out of bed. I wrap a towel around me that was lying on a chair and yank open the bedroom door. I come to a halt when I see Bones and Luca sitting at the kitchen table with Haven and Jasmine. Nite is standing in the kitchen, and a man is standing next to him. “Dad?” I breathe.
“Hey, sweetie,” he says softly, setting down his cup of coffee.
I stand frozen in my spot. “It was a dream,” I whisper.
“No, it wasn’t.” He comes closer to me.
“You’re alive?” I choke out, tears stinging my eyes.
He nods once. “Yeah, I am.”
He reaches me and holds his arms out wide, waiting to see what I do.
“But you’re … I saw you …” I never saw his body. He had been cremated, and we had a memorial service in remembrance.
“I’m so sorry, Emilee. Please forgive me.”
The first tear runs down my cheek. “Of course.” I choke. “Of course.” I run into his open arms, and he wraps them around me. I never thought I’d get this again. His love. His smell.
I don’t dare close my eyes, afraid he may disappear. “I don’t understand. How are you here?” I pull away and look up at him.
He wipes the tears from my cheeks. “It’s okay. We have plenty of time to talk about it.”
“We do?” I ask surprised.
He nods. “Yeah. We’re going back to Vegas. Together.”
“We are?” I can’t believe it. “When?”
“Whenever you want. I have a jet fueled and on standby.”
My face falls. “I burned down your house,” I say, and my bottom lip begins to tremble at what I’ve done.
“Don’t worry about that.” He cups my face. “Luca has a penthouse downtown that he has offered me. No one will know that we are there.”
I take a step back from him and nod. “Okay.”
“Go pack your things and I’ll inform them we are ready.”
I turn and walk back into our bedroom. I’m throwing things into my suitcase when the door opens, and Titan enters. “You can’t be serious?” he growls. “You’re going to go with him?”
“Yes,” I say and stop what I’m doing. “He’s my father. I thought he was dead …”
“Yes, because he tricked you. He tricked everyone.”
“He was in trouble.” I don’t know the full story, but obviously, he faked his death and needed the insurance money.
“God, you can’t be that fucking stupid,” he snaps.
My chest tightens at his words. How cold they were said. As if he believes I really am stupid if I go with my father. “Titan …”
“No!” he shouts. “He could have come clean to you. Or filled you in on his plan. But he didn’t, Em. He didn’t trust you.”
His words hurt because they’re true. But I swallow the knot in my throat. “He’s here now.”
“To use you,” he snaps. “Just like George did. Just like …”
