“No. Cole wasn’t like that.”
“Get a grip, Arabella. Of course he was. And now he lives in that depraved fucking town. A place we’ll never return to. Pack our stuff up, Arabella. This is happening.”
Maybe she should just keep her mouth shut and once he was gone . . . she’d just leave.
She didn’t have much money saved, but surely there was somewhere cheap she could stay while she got a job.
Right. Because people will snap you up. You have no job experience. You have no real skills other than baking and decorating.
She needed to step things up. Because it was clear that she desperately needed to get out from under her father’s thumb.
“Oh, and if you think about trying to run, just remember who pays for your precious Pop-Pop to live in such a nice home.”
Oh God.
Swallowing, she took a step to the side, toward the door of his study. He couldn’t mean that, right?
Arabella licked her lips as she gaped at him. “You wouldn’t. He has nothing to do with this. He’s your father!”
“And you think that means something to me? It doesn’t. That bastard never cared about me. The only reason I’ve been takingcare of him all these years is because of you. So I’d have a way of controlling you if you got out of hand. And it wouldn’t look good if my father was out on his ass, living on the streets.”
“Then you won’t follow through. This is a bluff.” Her heart was racing so hard that it hurt.
“Well, he’s very elderly and he has that heart condition. I’m sure no one would be surprised if he died of a heart attack.”
“Are you . . . are you really saying that you’d kill your own father just to get me to do what you want?” she asked.
How was she only now seeing the depth of his evil?
She shook in reaction, her stomach rolling over nauseously.
It was working, though, wasn’t it?
Hank knew that Arabella would do anything for her grandfather. He was the only person in this world that loved her.
“If you don’t come with me, you’ll have nothing, Arabella. You’ll be out on the streets. Your precious Pop-Pop will be all alone. But you can avoid all of that by just doing what the fuck you are told!”
“Why do you want me to go with you?” she whispered.
She didn’t understand.
“Because you’re a fucking pawn, Arabella,” he told her tiredly. “Really, why did I pay for years of schooling for you to end up this dumb? You’re an asset. You owe me. And when the time comes, you’ll pay. Now, go and get ready. I have a car coming to take me to the airport in two hours so you need to pack my bag first.”
“What about Pop-Pop?” she asked. “If he stays here it’s too far for me to visit. And I’ll want to make sure that he’s well taken care of.”
He eyed her for a long moment. “Do everything I tell you and I’ll have him transferred to a nice place in Austin. You can even choose it. Go against me and he won’t live a very nice life. What’s left of it. Do we have a deal?”
A deal?
What sort of deal was that? One where she ended off worse off, that was for sure.
But what choice did she have? She couldn’t look after Pop-Pop. She couldn’t protect him from her father. Well, she could. But only by doing what this bastard wanted.
Gritting her teeth, she nodded. “We have a deal.”
“Good.”
Moving out of his study, she headed into her bedroom. Then she slid down onto her ass. Tears threatened but she pushed them back.
