Page 255 of The Bluffing Game

“You told her to stop flirting with me?” He looks surprised. “I thought she just wasn’t interested anymore.”

“So, you did notice her noticing you?”

“It was hard to ignore actually.” He gives me a cocky smile.

“So, what? You liked it? I’ve never seen you smile like this.”

“I’m not smiling.” He tries to hide it, but he can’t. “I just thought maybe she was no longer interested or …”

“She’s not,” I say, giving him a look. “You leave her alone, you hear?”

“Like I said, I’m going out of town.”

“I hope you’re going out of town for a good reason,” I say. “Not because of all this craziness.”

“I don’t know,” he says. “But if you want, I have the folders and files in my car. We can go to the police station now.”

“Yeah, let’s do it. I’ve taken the afternoon off work. I’ve got nothing else going on.”

My phone starts ringing again, and I see it’s Jimmy the Fish, but I ignore it. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that he was my dad.”

“He had his reasons, you know—good reasons.”

“What good reasons?”

“You don’t get it, Sage, because you’ve never known that life, but it can be dark. He was trying to protect you, and I know you don’t want to be protected.” He holds his hand up to stop me before I even start. “I know you are your own woman. You’re strong, you’re beautiful, you’re kind. These are all things that Dalton has said to me, by the way, but you also have to remember that they lived in that world. They know what can happen. You don’t. Jimmy, he’s a hard man. I think his mom died when he was four. He was raised by his aunt, and then she died, and then he was just with the guys. He doesn’t know what it is to be soft. He doesn’t know what it is to be around a woman. You know he’s never even had a relationship longer than three months.”

“He hasn’t?” I’m surprised.

“He hasn’t. So, Jimmy doesn’t know what to do, he doesn’t know what to say, he doesn’t know how to act, and he sure as hell doesn’t know how to be a dad. But he wants to try. I truly believe that.”

“So, I should be okay with that, with the little that he’s willing to give?”

“He didn’t even know about you until a few months ago—you know that, right?”

“Yeah. I mean, that was my mom’s fault.”

“I know, but you have to give him some credit.”

“I suppose so.”

“And Dalton too.”

“I’m not talking about Dalton.”

“I know you might not want to, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s not a bad boss. And I know he cares about you.”

“I know he cares about me, but that’s not the point, Brett. The point is that I needed more from him. I wanted more from him. He should have been honest with me. He should …” I pause. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t even want to talk about it right now. I want to go to the police station and figure out what we can do to get Parker locked up for life because he is a psychopath and I don’t want him threatening anyone else.”

“Let’s do it,” he says. “I got your back. And, Sage, can I say one thing?”

“I don’t really care what you have to say, Brett. I don’t forgive you, and I don’t like you. You can say what you want about Dalton and make up whatever excuses you want, but I don’t care. The only reason I’m going with you is to get Parker. He’s not a safe person. And I want to ensure he goes down.”

“Noted.” He nods. “I admire you, Sage. You stick up for what you want, and you back yourself, and those are qualities I can get behind. Not that you obviously need me to get behind them, but you and I were built from the same cloth.” He nods at me with a look of respect. “You’ll get through this no matter what, and we’ll take Parker down. You have my word.”

“Thank you, Brett. I really appreciate your help with Parker. But just know, with regard to everything else, you’re dead to me. And Dalton can rot in hell for all I care.” I know that I’m being harsh to him, maybe even too mean, but I can’t seem to let go of any of the lies.

As we walk to his car, I realize that even though I’m getting what I want, I’m still achieving this goal with someone else. And that’s when I realize that in life, no man is an island. You can’t do anything and everything alone.