“It’s unexpected, I know. But Lynch will want to see me.”
“Uh-huh,” he grunted.
“Just … tell Lynch his daughter is here.”
He looked up from his clipboard and grabbed a chorded phone from the wall. After a deep and muffled one-sided conversation, he hung up and returned to me. “We’re waiting on an escort.”
“I’ll take her,” said a low, burly voice. Just then, a large man with a scattered smile stepped forward. “I finally get to meet the amazing Mia.” He laughed, his eyes twinkling.
I raised a brow. “Do I know you?”
“Jinx. I’m a friend of Oliver’s.”
The big man was very talkative the entire way to Lynch’s office, but I was thankful for the distraction because I was clutching the flowers so tight, the petals were wilting. And when we approached, Jinx knocked over the door before opening.
Lynch instantly stood and thanked him before motioning me to take a seat.
I was too nervous to sit.
“You brought me flowers?” he asked, walking around his desk and sitting over the edge. My gaze roamed over him, trying to find bits and pieces of myself. Did I get my sinister thoughts from him? Was there a darkness lurking inside him too? I’d looked at the man so many times before, yelled at him, challenged him, cried to him. He held the same tired and caved in brown sunken eyes I could’ve sworn had been blue before, but I supposed my mind had a way of playing tricks on me.
“They’re for Dr. Conway.”
“Of course.” He swung his head to glance out the large window facing the Looney Bin, a place he’d sent me once before. “Dr. Conway. She isn’t here.”
“Oh.” I shifted in place.
“Miss Jett,” he cleared his throat, “Mia, what happened. Where were you?”
“I was fine.” To this day, I kept my promise to Ethan and his secret. Perhaps I didn’t owe Ethan anything, but despite what we’d been through, he was still my friend, and maybe I was the only person on earth who understood him. “I’m surprised you care, considering you didn’t look for me.”
Lynch dropped his head and shook it slowly. “That’s not fair.”
“Was it fair to keep this secret from me for two years while I was here?” Lynch had so many chances to tell me he was my father, but he didn’t. “Why was I the last person to know.”
“Because I had to treat you as a patient. Not a daughter. I planned to tell you, you know. On release day. But you’d already taken off before I had the chance.”
I released a long and steady breath. “Well, I’m here now.” I was done being angry. For so long, I’d been angry at everyone, holding so much pent up blame, rage, and grief. For once, I wanted to let it all go and not let those feelings tarnish this person I grew to be.
“Mia, I’ve been waiting for this moment, but I have no idea what to say. This is all new for me.”
“This is new for me too.”
He tapped his fingers over his desk and adjusted in place nervously. “So, where do we go from here?”
“I was thinking that maybe we could take it slow. Maybe you could tell me how you met my mom.”
Lynch smiled. “I would love that.”
“Oliver,” Dex sang, then laughed. “Your girl is here. You better come watch her.”
“She’s not my girl,” I reminded him through the phone, already on my way because Leigh had texted me, begging me to rescue her. She’d said James ripped off her knickers and made her dance on a table.
It was two in the morning, and the bass from the music thumped from inside, but it wasn’t the only house party going on at this hour. Constant parties went on up and down this street. Empty beer bottles littered the front steps, and I pushed my way through the door and into a house when a strong smell of stale cigarettes and even staler sex greeted me.
“Oliver!” Reggi exclaimed, and the rest of the crowd repeated, singing my name. I ignored him, my eyes scanning the bodies for Leigh. She was my ticket to Ghost, and without her, I’d never get the meeting or our freedom. Killing Ghost was my only option.
In a tight red strapless dress, Leigh swayed on top of the kitchen island as a bloke gripped her ankles, looking up her dress as she carelessly danced to hypnotic tunes with a bottle in her hand. Her blonde hair was a knotted mess over her head. Red lipstick smeared across her lips as she stumbled in red stilettos. I fisted the back of the bloke’s shirt and yanked him backward. “Get the fuck off her.”
