“Sit, son.”
He sets the crystal on his marble-top desk and pours me a glass, sliding it to me, but I leave it be. This isn’t father-son bonding time, and whatever it is, he needs to spit it out.
“What do you need, Father?” My tone is sharp as knives.
He edges forward, pressing his elbows on the desk. “What’s Lilac’s real name?”
I cock an eyebrow, stroking the back of my neck. “Lilac Lauren.”
He clasps his fingers together, an unsure expression on his face.
“Are you sure? When I put her name in the database, there’s very little to no information on her. I suspect the transcript shesubmitted to the school is fake. It’s like she’s wiped from the system.”
There isn’t a person we can’t find. Something is off. I don’t think he looked because he doesn’t want me marrying her.
My gaze lingers on the flames dancing in the built-in fireplace. “I don’t believe you.”
He hands me a manila folder, then eases back into the chair.
“See for yourself.”
Slowly, I open the file. A picture of Lilac when she first started at North Haven University stares back at me. Her lavender hair was short at the time, and her gray pupils are dull. My eyes roam over her social security number and date of birth.
“I couldn’t find a birth certificate.”
There has to be information on her somewhere. He’s not looking in the right direction, surely.
I hand the folder back to him.
“Maybe she was born out of the country?”
“I checked. I even had Kyle look into it, and he said he couldn’t find anything,” he states. Kyle is Jameson’s father. He works in the IT department, but he’s also part owner of the club, like my father. They’re good friends. Since he found out his wife was fucking me, he hasn’t spoken to me. And Jameson? Our relationship isn’t rocky, which is strange. He didn’t seem upset about it, to be honest.
Shaking my head, I lean into the chair, stroking my goatee.
I know she’s hiding something because when I ask her questions about her past, she instantly switches the conversation and starts making up shit.
I’ll find out what my pretty princess is hiding.
I close the folder and toss it in the trash.
Something is definitely off. We usually can find information on anyone—even if they use a fake name. But for some reason, my father couldn’t do it.
However, I’ve been obsessed with her from the minute I laid eyes on her last semester.
Her innocence draws me in, and she’s a good girl that I want to corrupt. I love her charming personality, the way her eyes light up over the simplest shit, and how she’s so down-to-earth. She needs my control and protection, that is the only way I can keep her safe from herself and others.
“I found someone else for you to marry. Her name is Tanya. She—”
I ball my fists, keeping them glued to my lap.
“No. I’m still going to marry Lilac.”
“You can’t do that,” my father snarls.
I spring to my feet. My heart pounds. “I will. It doesn’t matter who she is to me.”
My father’s nostrils flare.
