“Sweet pea, it’s so good to hear from you,” Herman Shaw says, his booming voice projecting around my kitchen where I have him on speakerphone. Jared is beside me, and we agreed he’d remain silent while I talk to my estranged father. “I have missed my little princess.”
“Quit the bullshit, Herman, and don’t call me that. I’m not your little princess anymore.”
“You’ll always be my princess, Sydney,” he says in a softer tone.
I grip the edge of the counter hard. “You lost the right to call me anything with your controlling ways, and I see you still haven’t changed.”
A pregnant pause ensues before he clears his throat. “Dirk is there to keep you safe. You’re in danger, Sydney, and if you think I haven’t been protecting you these past few years, then you’re more naïve than I realized.”
Jared glares at the phone, and his mouth opens to defend me, but I shake my head, silencing him. This is my fight, and I’m doing this my way. “You’re a paranoid freak, Herman,” I say in a cold tone. “And if you don’t stop harassing me, I’ll take out a restraining order. You’re not the only one with powerful contacts and friends in high places.”
“Everything I do, I do for you, pumpkin.”
Again with the fucking names. When I was a kid, I adored my father and I loved how big his love felt. Now, I wonder if he has always been manipulating me and I was just too young to understand it.
“Controlling every aspect of my life was for me?” I snarl, losing the tenuous hold on my emotions. Every time I talk to my father, this happens. He enrages me. He drags me back to that dark time in my life, and I hate it. I hate him.
“I was protecting you then like I’m protecting you now.”
“I don’t need protecting!” I yell.
“If you’re hanging around with Jared King again, then you most certainly do.”
Jared and I share an exasperated look. “You’re certifiable, Herman, and I’m done with this conversation. Call your hound dog off, or you’ll be sorry.”
“Come to New York,” he blurts. “I’ll send a plane. I’ll tell you everything I didn’t back then.” Desperation is transparent in his tone.
“You’re too late. I already know. Gladys filled us in.”
The growl that crawls down the line has me jerking back in instant fear.
“Whatever that fucking bitch has been saying is bullshit, and you need to stay away from her, Sydney.”
“I know Mom had an affair with Amos and you destroyed his business in retaliation.”
“That’s only part of it, sweet pea,” he rasps. “I know you hate me, and I know I’ve given you good reason to, but just hear me out. I’ll tell you everything.”
“The time to tell me everything was back then.” I hate how my voice wobbles. Jared stands and comes up behind me, circling his arms around my waist and offering physical comfort.
Leaning back against him, I cling to his arms and siphon some of his strength. “You ripped me away from the only boy I have ever loved. I still remember how you scoffed at me. The things you said and did. I will never forgive you for it, and I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Actions speak louder than words. Your actions spoke volumes, Daddy.” A sob swells in my throat. “I love Jared, and there is nothing you can say or do that will ever take me from him again.”
“Sydney, please. I—”
I hang up before he can spew more lies.
Jared turns me around on the stool, holding me close as I wrap my arms around him and cling to him with a desperation I feel deep in my bones.
“He’s fucking crazy,” he says after a few beats, smoothing a hand up and down my hair. “Mum was right. He’s dangerous.” He tilts my chin up. “I know how much you hate the idea of a bodyguard, but I’m scared for you, babe. There’s Herman, Toria, and the news that’s sure to break soon. Please let me assign a couple of guys to look out for you. I swear you won’t even know they’re there. And I’d like to talk to my lawyer. John will know what to do about your father. He can’t get away with stalking you like this.”
There is no point fighting something that is inevitable. “Okay. I won’t fight you on it anymore.”
“Thanks, babe. I will breathe easier knowing my guys are shadowing you and keeping you safe.”
“Leave my father to me.” I’ve had an idea I think might get Herman Shaw off my case once and for all.
“Are you sure?” he asks as his phone pings in his pocket.
I nod. “If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”
