Was that what loving someone who wasn't family was like? You just wanted them to be happy? And you were willing to do whatever it took to ensure they were happy and healthy?
You’d kill for them.
Die for them.
Maybe it was.
Horse had moved off the bed and was sitting in front of Arabella, like he was guarding her.
“Tell us,” Kellan urged her. “Tell us everything.”
“What’s going on?” Jake asked.
“I have something to tell you about the break-in today. I have a feeling that I might know who did it.”
25
Those words erupted out of her so fast that she nearly tripped on them.
But as soon as she said them, Arabella felt better. Like a weight was lifting off her shoulders. And that knot in her gut was loosening.
“What do you mean you might know who did it?” Jake asked. “Are you in trouble?”
“Maybe? I don’t know. But first, is Abe okay? Did you talk to him? They didn’t break into his house too, did they?”
“We did talk to him. He said he’s been out all day at an appointment and didn’t see anything.”
“I’m so glad he’s all right. And my stuff? The house? Is it okay? Did anything survive?”
Jake shook his head. “Seems they were really thorough. They went through and smashed most of the stuff in the kitchen. There’s a bit of crockery that survived. Most of your clothes were slashed as were the mattresses. Someone took a knife to the drapes in the house as well. And ripped up some of the carpet.”
“This wasn’t a robbery,” Kellan said.
“We’ll need you to check if anything was taken rather than destroyed,” Jake said. “But it doesn’t seem that way. It’s like someone with a vendetta did this. Is there anyone who might do that?”
“Um, yeah. See, I didn’t just move here because I wanted to get away from Austin and out from under my father’s legacy or memory. Whatever you want to call it. That was just part of it. The other part was that I loved this town the last time I was here. It felt . . . right. Like coming home or something. I’ve dreamed about it and thought about it ever since. It just felt like the right decision to make. But there was a third reason. My ex-fiancé.”
“Cole?” Jake asked.
“No. Not Cole. I had another fiancé.”
“Another fiancé?” Eli snarled. “Did your father force you into that relationship too?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “And the thing is that he wasn’t nearly as nice a man as Cole.”
Kellan kept rubbing her back but she could feel him growing tense and knew that he wasn’t happy.
“What do you mean?” Jake asked. “How could your father force you to get engaged to someone?”
She glanced away, sighing. “This is a bit embarrassing, but I didn’t really care with Cole. I had told myself that I’d never be able to trust a man so why not just keep my father happy and marry the person he wanted. After meeting Cole a few times I could tell he was a decent person. If a bit distant and cold. Still, I didn’t think he’d hurt or threaten me. So I guess I kind of saw him as my ticket out from under my father’s thumb. At the time, I’d only just started selling my baking and hadn’t gotten into content creating. I barely had any money and I knew I could get a job, but I didn’t have any savings for a place to live. Or to help pay for Pop-Pop’s nursing home.”
“Wait,” Jake said slowly. “Are you saying that your father would stop paying for your grandfather’s nursing home if . . .”
“If I didn’t do what he said? Yep. That’s what I’m saying. That’s exactly what he told me the first time I tried to go against him. If I didn’t do what he wanted, then he would make sure that Pop-Pop got kicked out onto the street. My grandfather isn’t in the best of health. He has some heart issues and his medication costs a lot. There was no way that I could have paid for his medication let alone the nursing home as well. So I did what my father wanted. Pop-Pop was the only person in my life who had ever shown me affection or love. I couldn’t let anything bad happen to him.”
“Baby, I’m so sorry. That’s fucking awful,” Eli said.
“Yeah, I mean, once Cole broke things off I was kind of relieved but also sad because I thought he would help me get out of that situation. I stupidly thought my father wouldn’t do something like that again. Especially not after he decided to run for Lieutenant Governor of Texas. I never knew he was interested in getting into politics. One day he just told me we were moving to Austin and to start packing. I don’t understand it but suddenly all of our financial issues had disappeared. We had a nice house, an expensive car, Pop-Pop was moved to a good nursing home. I didn’t trust it and he wouldn’t tell me how he did it. I started building up my business again because I knew I still had to find a way out.”
