"It's going to be okay," I said, forcing brightness into my voice. "You're going to get through this. I've been talking to a union lawyer who takes pro bono cases. The plea bargain was coerced, the sentence was excessive—"
"Bree," he sighed, the sound rattling in his chest. "Don't waste your life on a lost cause."
My hand fisted. "What do you mean a lost cause Daddy? Can't you see your defence team botched—"
"I don't want to appeal."
"Daddy—"
"Listen to me, Sabrina." He leaned forward, forearms on the table. His voice dropped low enough that I had to strain to hear over the murmur of other conversations. "Let things be."
I slammed my fist on the table. "Like hell I will!" My voice cracked. "How selfish can you be, Daddy?"
His jaw tightened. "Selfish? Selfish, you say?"
"Mom needs you.Ineed you!" Tears burned my eyes. "And you just let yourself get railroaded into this… this prison. I don't know who you pissed off, but can't you see you were targeted?"
Something shifted in his expression. "Finally, Sabrina. You're starting to open your eyes."
I blinked, thrown. "What?"
Dad glanced at the guard, then back to me. "You're right. I was set up. Brendan Farrington made me an offer."
My stomach clenched. "Jordan's father? When?"
"Last summer. The day after you went to the Spring Fling dance with Jordan."
The room seemed to tilt. I'd lied to my parents that night—told them I had a late shift. I was shocked my Dad knew where I went that night. But more surprising was the fact that Brendan Farrington came to Henderson.
"His father came here?" I whispered. "I didn't know he ever visited."
"Oh, he did. Now and then." Dad's mouth twisted. "Checking on his investment, I suppose."
Jordan had never said a word about his father being in town.
The realization settled like a stone in my gut. I was Jordan's dirty little secret kept from his powerful father.
I shook off the dark thoughts and pressed on. "What did Brendan Farrington want?"
Dad took a breath. "He offered me a job. Manager position at a refinery in Algeria. Five times my current salary. Your mother's medical bills would be covered. You wouldn't have to work yourself to the bone supporting us anymore." He paused. "But there was a condition. The whole family would relocate."
My mouth went dry. "All of us? To Algeria?"
"I turned it down, of course."
"Why did you?." I cried.
"Because it wasn't about giving me a job, Bree. He was getting rid of you.
"Me? How?"
Dad scoffs. "When I declined his offer, he told me in very unpleasant terms, of his son's interest in my underage daughter."
Heat flooded my face. "Jordan—we didn't—" I stumbled over the words. "Not until I turned eighteen."
Dad waved me off, as if it didn't matter. "At first, I thought the man was just being a controlling rich asshole. And I believed Jordan to be very different from his father. So I watched. Waited to see how he would treat you."
He rubbed his face with both hands. "But the more time you spent with him, the happier you seemed to be, and the more I worried that you could fall for his charms. That's when I warned you to leave him."
