Right now, she’s blocking out the meaning behind Vaughn’s words.
“Yes, it was Alex,” he confirms in a stilted voice. “All I know is that, one night, the cop wouldn’t help with something, so the drugged-up idiot kidnapped his daughter. He locked her somewhere and—” He chokes on the sentence, gouging his fist into his eyes. “He raped and battered her to death.”
“And you introduced that fucking psychopath to your teenage daughter,” I spit out, my pulse skyrocketing.
“He got clean,” Vaughn wails in defense. “When Octavius told me what Alex did, I saw an opportunity... I was tiredof failing, scared of what your father would make me do in exchange for keeping those pictures buried. I needed a win, and I wanted that win to be Rhett.”
“So you wiped Alex’s background and blackmailed him into working my father,” I say, flexing my fingers to stop them grabbing the gun and emptying the clip into Vaughn’s head. “Was Aalyiah his way in from the start?”
“No... Of course not. I didn’t know about your sister’s involvement for a long time.”
“That’s what he meant,” Hailey whispers. “When Alex said I was his insurance policy... he was going to use me as leverage if things went wrong.” She wiggles her hand out of my grasp, snatching her wine glass. “Did you know we were dating? Did you know what he was doing to me?”
Vaughn shakes his head. “Not until that night.”
“We were sneaking around for months!” she snaps, the anger in her tone quickening my pulse. “How did you not notice?!”
“I... I didn’t pay attention, Hailey. I avoided you for so long I wasgladwhenever Alex came over and I didn’t have to sit alone with you. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I was riddled with grief; I couldn’t see any light.”
“He abused me for months,” she spits. “I let him becauseyouweren’t there. I had no one. You didn’t talk to me. You didn’t care and Alex... at first, he was nice. He had time.”
Vaughn stares at her, guilty tears running down his cheeks. It’s clear he regrets his choices and, while I understand grief, he wasn’t the only one grieving. He wasn’t alone. He had a daughter. A daughter he alienated because she reminded him of his late wife. A daughter he left in the claws of a rapist and killer.
“He talked to me,” Hailey continues softly. “He bought me pretty things, called me pretty names... I didn’t feel so lonely when he was around. It was fucked up later, but even when heonly stopped by to have his dick sucked, he was there. I wasn’t alone.”
A pained sob almost rips Vaughn’s chest wide open. It’s not often you see a man of his stature break down. The weight of the pain he’s caused his only daughter is crushing him... and there’s still more sinister shit for him to confess.
“I wish I could turn back time,” he whispers, wiping his face with both hands. “I swear, I never meant to hurt you.”
“Too late,” she snaps, finishing her wine.
Broadway doesn’t miss a beat, refilling her glass as if he’s her personal bartender.
“So, when you sent Alex to retrieve the evidence from Rhett, you weren’t doing a noble thing,” Hailey continues. “You weren’t trying to send a bad man behind bars. No, you were trying to cover your own ass. Then Rhett found out he got screwed over, Alex died, I lost my memories...” She frowns, tapping her nails along her glass. “Did you know Alex gave me the evidence?”
He nods, weighing his next words. “He called me that night of your accident. You were in the car with him. He said Rhett’s men were after him and that if anything happened, you’d know where the evidence was.”
I wonder if that’s how my father found out. Did he get his hands on a recording of their conversation and discover Hailey was the key? He couldn’t have had a bug on Alex’s phone. If he did, he’d have known he was working him much sooner.
“So you hid Hailey at Lakeside and lied through your teeth the whole time she was there,” I say. “What about Matthews? How does he play into this?”
“Matthews didn’t know shit. Well, he knew Alex was working Rhett, and that Hailey had the evidence, but he had no idea who Alex really was, what he was there to retrieve, or that I was blackmailing him.”
“Keep going,” I urge. “Tell her about the night she ran from Lakeside.”
Hailey shifts beside me, tensing like a drawn bowstring. “What about that night?”
Vaughn takes a moment, swirling the amber liquid in his glass while he gathers the courage to continue. “Matthews called me after you told him about the flashbacks and Nash.” He shoots me a pointed look. “I knew thatNashwas someone from Rhett’s crew and I panicked... If he found you at Lakeside, I had no hope of keeping you safe for however long it took for your memories to come back.”
“You motherfucker,” Broadway clips, apparently losing his patience. “You fucking piece of shit.Youstaged the kidnapping?!” And he’s on his feet, gun in hand.
“Calm down,” I clip, gesturing for him to stand down. “Let him finish.”
“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Vaughn utters. “The ground was slipping from under my feet.” He meets Hailey’s eyes. “I wanted to make sure you’d be safe. Had I known where—”
“Get. To. The.Point,” I seethe. “What did you do?”
He swallows hard, eyes idling between Hailey and me. “I called Octavius because he’s in those pictures too. If you look closely, there are many powerful people in the background. Not just mafia, but politicians, CEOs, army generals, celebrities... He didn’t know those pictures existed until then. I begged him to hide Hailey. I knew he’d most likely kill me once he had the evidence, but that wasn’t important... what I didn’t anticipate, was that he’d involve Noretto.”
