A thousand stones sank in her belly, and the weight of being Connolly Lamb’s daughter hung heavy, like an anchor pulling her down, down, down. She closed her eyes and did what she used to do as a girl. She pictured a beach on a Hawaiian Island with the swing swaying in the breeze. She could almost hear Shandra’s voice cueing the next move in the yoga flow, gentle and reassuring, a balm to her broken heart.
Be the light, and always remember, love is stronger than any force holding you back.
Inhale peacefulness and exhale stress. Inhale love and exhale forgiveness.
Libby opened her eyes. She wanted to take Shandra’s advice, but she couldn’t exhale forgiveness.
Not for her father.
It was one thing to call and ask for cash, but coming here to spy on them was next-level duplicity. And she wasn’t about to stand for it.
Ditching the mantras, she hurried past Raz, leaving Sebastian’s room like a gathering storm, and flew down the stairs to the second floor.
“Do you want me to take care of him, plum?” Raz asked, taking the steps two at a time behind her. A muscle ticked in his jaw as his energy darkened—or maybe that was her vibe overshadowing his. She couldn’t tell.
“He’s my father. I’ll deal with him.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
She shook her head. “You heard him, Raz. He’s here to snoop around. You don’t have to give him the satisfaction of getting to tell his friends he got to meet the champion, Erasmus Cress. No, I won’t do that to you. I’ll tell him to leave on my own.”
“Yeah, you can tell him, but I’ll be by your side when you do it,” the man answered, as stubborn as a mule.
She blinked back tears. “I don’t want you to see this. I don’t want you to think that I’m anything like him.”
And there it was, the searing humiliation and the thunderous anger she’d carried for more than a decade. The burning resentment snarled and popped in her chest.
He ran his hands down the sides of her arms. “I know you’re not like him, plum. I know who you are.”
“But you’re still coming with me, aren’t you?”
He tipped her chin. “I meant what I said. Your fights are my fights.”
There was such comfort in his words that his kindness alone nearly brought her to tears.
“Okay, but let me do the talking.”
Without a word, he nodded, then gestured toward the staircase. Step by step, she gathered her resolve, hardening her heart. When she reached the first floor, she was ready for battle. She flicked on the outdoor lamps and glanced through the window. In response to the blast of light, her father cried out, flailing his arms as a cascade of cracks and thuds added to the flurry of movement. She swung open the door, stepped onto the porch, and observed her dad bent over and working furiously to balance the stone stack he’d knocked over.
“There’s my girl. I’ve been waiting to surprise you,” her father said, glancing over his shoulder toward the gravel road that led to the Victorian. He must have assumed it was the only way to the house.
She crossed her arms and observed the man. It had been several months since she’d last seen him. He’d lost weight, and his clothes fit awkwardly on his slight frame. He smoothed his hair and straightened like a child gearing up to ask for something. She knew this song and dance well.
“We were in town and came in through the back. You must not have heard us.”
“I sure didn’t,” he answered, shifting his stance nervously as the pile of rocks teetered, then tipped over again.
What a perfect analogy for the man.
Raz joined her on the porch, and immediately, she wanted to melt into his embrace and erase this part of the night from her memory.
“Well, look at that. It’s Erasmus Cress. Hello, I’m Libby’s father,” her dad exclaimed, doing a crap job of faking surprise as he gawked at the man. He’d already started collecting intel for good old Tony, whoever the hell he was.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Raz said, his tone negating the nice part, but her starstruck father didn’t notice.
“Oh, it’s Connolly Lamb, but Connolly is fine,” he blathered.
Connolly Lamb.
C. L.
It hit her like a wrecking ball.
Was this visit part of a grander scheme? Would he try to pump information out of her by pretending to be an investor?
Would he sink to that level of deception?
Would he?
He already had.
She’d heard him admit it on the call.
“What are you doing here, Dad?” she asked, her tone razor sharp. This was his chance. If he admitted he’d come to glean info on the championship match, it would turn her stomach, but at least it would be the truth.
“Your brothers mentioned you were spending the summer here. They told me about your new job working with Erasmus Cress.”
Translation: He’d called Anders and Alec to fish for details about her situation.
“And?” she bit out.
“And…I was passing through town. I’m headed south. I’m on my way to Albuquerque for a job. Well, not so much a job…but an opportunity. A facility management position opened up, and a buddy of mine knows the owner.”
Translation: The man was using all his tricks to butter her up.
There was no job opportunity in Albuquerque, Timbuktu, or in a galaxy far, far away for Connolly Lamb.
She would have known this even if he hadn’t blabbed to his pal that he’d be back in Denver late tonight.
She stared at the man. “Are you the C.L. in C.L. Investments, Dad?”
Her father’s brow crinkled. Confusion replaced his plastic smile as his attention bounced from her to Raz. “Libby, I’m here to see you. Can’t a father stop by to visit with his only daughter?”
Each lie cut into her like a lash.
“Do you see that window on the third floor?” she asked, pointing to Sebastian’s room. “I’m willing to bet you didn’t notice it went from closed to open a few minutes ago.”
She’d chosen her words carefully, speaking the only language her father understood.
He swallowed hard, the muscles of his throat constricting. “No, I didn’t notice. I was…uh…checking the ball game scores on my phone. You know how I love sports.”
Oh yes, she knew.
“And then your phone rang, and it was Tony,” she continued.
Her dad stared at the pile of fallen rocks. “Sweetie, I…”
“Please don’t call me sweetie,” she interrupted. “I know why you’re here. And I’ll make another wager with you. I bet you’ll be leaving empty-handed. It’s such a shame you’ll have nothing to share with Tony.”
Venom dripped from her tongue.
How dare he lie to her face. Then again, why would she expect anything different? The good man, the man he’d once been when her mother was alive, had withered away. Each bet and every broken promise had transformed the man into a ghost of the father who used to give her piggy-back rides and take her to the petting zoo. She was ready to let him have it, to tell him to lose her phone number when Sebastian’s cry quelled the rage churning in her belly.
“Mibby,” he called, his sleepy voice cracking her hardened facade.