His tone was deceptively calm.
Eerily pleasant.
I tried to swallow as I shook my head. “No, Daddy, just—”
He snatched my phone out of my hand before I could finish. “Jack,” he sneered when he read my half-written text. “Did you think I was an idiot, Delilah, is that it?”
He took a step toward me, and my heart lurched into my throat.
“No, Daddy.” It came out as a whisper as my lungs seized up at the pure fury in his eyes.
“You didn’t think I’d remember the name? Didn’t think I’d be keeping an eye on the boy who distracted you the last time?”
“N-no, it’s not like that.”
“Enough!” The cold edge slipped, and his voice rose in anger.
There was no going back now. I knew that. I knew it so well. My legs were shaking, and all I could hear was my own breathing and the rush of blood past my ears as I tried to think of something to say. Anything to make him calm down. But a part of me knew…
It was too late. For me, at least, it was too late. But not for Jack.
“He didn’t do anything. This was my idea,” I said. “It was all me.”
My father’s laugh was sharp and cruel. “True, he was an idiot to fall for your brainless, witless charms. But don’t think I didn’t see the way he’s been eyeing you all night, and I heard all about how he came to visit you the other day.”
“It wasn’t like that—”
He took another step toward me, and I could feel his anger like a vibration in the air. It seemed to coil in his body like a snake waiting to strike. It turned his stately features into a mockery of themselves—a sneering, cruel version of the smiling man the rest of the world knew.
“Really, Lila, what a stupid, stupid girl,” he said, the softening in his voice somehow making it so much worse.
Tears welled up and threatened to choke me as he moved slower, his movements dangerously smooth.
“If you couldn’t control yourself and play the part of a good little girlfriend to Brandon, the least you could have done was snare a guy with some money. Some power. But no, you’re just like your mother, going for the losers who can be broken just like that.”
He snapped his fingers, and I flinched.
“I can ruin his life, Princess. And you know that I will.”
No. No, no, no. Jack didn’t deserve my father’s wrath. It was me. I was the fool who’d thought I could sneak something past him. I was the idiot who thought I could steal some happiness and not have to pay. “Daddy, please. I can ex—”
Crack! The sound of his hand connecting with my cheek hit me at the same time as the sharp, shooting pain. My sight went black and then red as the backhanded smack knocked me sideways.
“You little slut,” he growled, stalking toward me as I tried to scramble backwards on the floor. “Just like your mother.”
I stopped when my back hit the edge of my bed. Terror had me staring up in horror as his nostrils flared and his face turned mottled and red.
“You had one job,” he said, his hands clenching at his sides. “One job, you worthless little whore.” He reached down and grabbed my jaw, cupping it so tightly that his fingers dug into my skin and I cried out at the pain.
“Please, Daddy,” I tried to whisper.
He tugged me up and half dragged me to standing as his fingers dug in deeper, sinking into the skin of my neck. “I should have known you’d turn out to be like her. Useless little girl.” He shoved me back, and I fell onto my bed with a bounce.
“Stay here and keep your mouth shut, do you hear me?” He took a step back and ran a hand over his hair to smooth it, his chest heaving as he fought for control. He still wore a sneer as he eyed me one last time before walking away with a muttered comment that might as well have been another slap.
“Useless.”
The word followed him out the door. It filled the air as I choked on a sob.
It rang in my ears as I sank down onto my bed and let my tears soak the pink pillowcase, turning it a bloody shade of red.
Twelve
Jack
“Back again, huh?” I said as Tess slumped over the table beside me with a sigh. “I guess I’m just irresistible to you Devereaux girls.”
Tess arched a brow, but her lips twitched with amusement. “First of all, neither of us are girls, thank you very much.” She slipped off her heels and sank a few inches. “And I’m a Baker, not a Devereaux.”
I nodded. “That’s right. I forgot you took your mom’s name.”
She kept her mouth shut.
“I suppose there’s a story there.”
She gave me the side-eye but kept quiet. She’d been doing a lot of that tonight. I’d tried my best to get any info out of her about the latest findings when it came to their dad and Lila’s mom, but Tess had been oddly tight-lipped.
Well, maybe not oddly. It wasn’t like she and I were close friends or anything, although I’d always liked Tess, and I was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. But if Tess didn’t trust her own sister with family secrets, maybe it was asking too much that she let me in on them.
“So,” I said slowly, leaning forward and lowering my voice. “What exactly is your plan with the Vivien angle?”
Might as well try again, right? I was nothing if not persistent. Or maybe just stubborn. Either way, every protective instinct I had was itching to make things right for Lila any way I could.
I thought Tess was going to give me the silent treatment again. She’d been doing a good job of deflecting my questions or just meeting them with silence all night, but every time she looked my way, alarm bells started going off for some reason I couldn’t explain.
Maybe it was because there was a wariness there beneath the surface, and I didn’t think it had much to do with me.
I got the feeling that there was something Tess wasn’t telling me. Something she wasn’t telling anyone…
“Tess,” I said. “I know you’re used to working alone. But…” Ah hell, I’d never been good at emotional crap. I shrugged. “You’re not on your own anymore.”
I could have sworn I saw a battle going on behind those dark eyes of her. Without the glasses and the dark hair falling in her face, she looked younger. More innocent.
And I realized now just how much she’d been on her own.
Up until recently she hadn’t even trusted her own sister to be on her side. And from what I’d seen of the Devereaux family and what I knew they’d done to Brandon and his parents…
“Hey,” I said, leaning forward until I was in her space. “You’re not on your own. You know that, right? Lila might be… well, Lila. But there’s no better person to have on your side.”
I hated the idea that I had to clue her in to the awesome woman who was my girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
The word alone made my lips twitch up with happiness.
“Look, I know Lila acts like a flake sometimes, but it’s just an act. And, trust me when I say that I know as well as anyone how she can come across as manipulative, but the more I’ve gotten to know her, the more I’ve realized how loyal she can be.” I swallowed when Tess’s gaze grew intense as I rattled on about Lila. “She’s a good person, just—”