Was that going to happen to her?
Her breath shuddered in and out of her lungs. “I’m going to need so much therapy.”
Huh. Look at her. Able to joke in the face absolute fear.
“There won’t be any therapy for you,” Lee/Liam told her with a sigh. “What are you doing here, Arabella?”
“Um, you kidnapped me, remember? Or the deputy did.” She nodded at Doofus.
“I meant why are you in Haven,” Lee/Liam gritted out. “Did you follow me here? Did you know about the drugs? Did your idiot of a father tell you?”
“What? No. I had no clue that you were creating d-drugs here. I’ve w-wanted to live here in Haven for years. It was meant to be a s-safe place for me.”
Instead, it might just be the place where she died.
God. The guys were going to be so upset if she died.
“Really? It’s a coincidence that you moved into a house right next to where I’ve been brewing a batch of drugs? Drugs that killed your father?”
“What?” she whispered. “How did they kill my father?”
“I told him he was taking too much of it. But would he listen to me? No. That fucking idiot always did what he wanted even though I made him Governor. It seems if you take small doses you’re all right, but once you take a larger dose you get this feeling of euphoria, of being invincible.”
“What do you mean? You made him Governor? How? Why?”
The more they talked the more time her guys had to find her. And she knew they would be looking. They would be tearing up the town for her.
“Because I couldn’t do it. But I wanted the connections to powerful people in order to push my drugs. I needed to get information on those in power so I could sell my drugs and have them look the other way. Where better to do that than at elite social functions. The shit that goes down at those things is unbelievable.”
He wasn’t even exaggerating. She’d seen it.
“So you helped my father with his debts?” she asked.
“I found a buyer for his company to make everything look more legit. And I had some shit on Richard Lyle so I leaned on him anonymously to let your father run on his ticket. Then, after a certain amount of time, I had Lyle removed. And your father took his place.”
“You murdered Governor Lyle?” she asked.
Wow. How did he sleep at night? This was horrifying.
“Well, not personally. I couldn’t afford to get my hands dirty if I was going to become engaged to the beautiful and untouchable Arabella Bridges.”
“Why?” she whispered as her stomach rolled again.
“Getting engaged to you was going to give me access to those parties and functions. No one would suspect you. You never mis-stepped, hell you never even swore. You were the perfect little ice princess. Your father was meant to go all the way. We were about to announce his run for Senator. Then President. Imagine how much power I would have as the advisor of the President of the United States.”
Advisor or controller?
“But my father died,” she said.
“Fucking idiot,” Deputy Doofus spat out. “He should never have started using.”
“I thought a little bit was a good idea, it made him more charming, more relaxed,” Lee/Liam said. “Less likely to explode. But then he got addicted.”
“Why did you disappear after his death?” she asked Lee/Liam. “I kept expecting to see you.” For him to come for her.
“I had to go into hiding because some asshole on your father’s staff saw me give your father the drugs. And he had photo evidence.”
What?
