I shivered as I watched the man go. Even with Wes by my side, that guy gave me the creeps. I wasn’t sure who he was. I’d certainly never seen him before, and judging by the look of confusion on Wes’s face, he’d never seen the man either. That just made my heart pound even harder and faster.
What the hell was going on here? Who was that man and what did he have to do with Lucas telling us to come home? Wes and I looked at each other, both sharing the same firm, determined gaze. We both wanted answers, and there was only one guy who’d be able to give them to us.
I followed a step behind Wes as we both headed for Lucas’s office. He was sitting behind his desk, smoldering when we walked in.
“What’s going on?” Wes demanded. Arms crossed in front of his chest; he locked eyes with his father. As scary as the guy in the hallway had been, it was easy to forget just how intimidating Wes could be. “Who was that guy? And why did you want us to come home right away?”
Lucas let out a sigh as he shook his head. He leaned back in his chair and peered first at his son, then at me. He waved his hand, dismissively at first. “Don’t worry about him. He’s no one important, just a messenger. The important thing is...” He took another deep breath, and then let it out slowly. He looked more frazzled than I’d ever seen him, even the other night at dinner after his argument with Wes and Kathy. “Carter King, your father, wants to have a video conference with you.”
Wes went rigid next to me. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “A video conference? Why does he want to do a video conference instead of coming to see me in person?”
The guy had been absent my entire life and after Mom died, he all of a sudden wants to talk to me? And yet, he can’t even be bothered to get in the car and drive over to see me in person? And why was that such a big deal that we had to come home right away? Couldn’t that have waited until we were done surfing?
Lucas and Wes exchanged looks. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wes shake his head, ever so slightly. Glaring at him, I elbowed him in the ribs. I’d told him no more secrets, damn it, and I meant it. I was tired of being kept in the dark about everything. I wanted to know the truth, whether he liked it or not.
“Your father is in prison,” Lucas said at last. “That’s why he wasn’t the one to come get you after your mom died. And that’s why he hasn’t been in your life. I’d told you he was dead because that was the easiest way to explain everything, but he’s very much still alive.”
“Just in prison,” I repeated, mouth hanging open. Of all the things I’d expected, that wasn’t one of them. “So, the reason he left Mom and I alone all those years, bouncing around from scumbag to scumbag, it’s because he was in jail?”
Okay, maybe that was being harsh. Yeah, Mom had dated a lot of scumbags over the years, but she’d dated some decent guys, too. They hadn’t all been terrible, but none of them had ever really been my father. And even though I’d told myself hundreds of times over the years that I didn’t need a father, the truth was, I wanted one.
“I’m sorry,” Lucas said. And, if I was being honest, he really did look sorry. The pained look he gave me was proof enough of that. Heck, he looked like he’d aged years in the span of a week. “I wish I had better news for you, but you wanted the truth, so there it is.”
“What was he arrested for?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. But again, it was the difference between wanting something and needing it. I’d spent this much time in the dark already. It was time to shed some light on everything, to finally have it all lay out in front of me.
But, of course, that was too easy. Lucas’s jaw set as he glanced between the two of us. At first, I thought maybe he wasn’t comfortable discussing it with Wes in the room. Then, I realized that wasn’t it. Wes already knew everything. He’d known my father was in prison. Not only that, but he knew why.
I turned and punched him in the arm, over and over again. I knew it wouldn’t do much against someone like Wes, but it helped me get my frustration out. “Damn, it Wes! You agreed! No more lies! One of you needs to tell me the truth, damn it. I’m tired of everyone deciding what’s best for me. I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself.”
“Bella, please...” Lucas said, leaning forward. He really did look like this was tearing him apart inside. And, if I hadn’t been so upset, I might’ve understood. But right then, I was just so damned fed up with all the lies and secrets in this damned family.
“No. Tell me the truth. Why is my father in prison, Lucas? Don’t I deserve to know?”
My hands balled into fists as I struggled to keep myself under control. I didn’t care that I was being rude. I was so angry right then things like politeness didn’t matter much. Everyone had been keeping things from me ever since Lucas had shown up on JP’s doorstep and practically dragged me here.
If he was just going to keep in the dark, what was the point of bringing me here? Why not just leave me where I was?
“I... I can’t tell you,” he said, at last, slumping back into his chair and looking defeated. Wes wasn’t looking any better. He just stared down at the floor, like he was waiting for it to open up and swallow him.
“Can’t or won’t?” I challenged. Hands-on my hips, I glared at him, only vaguely aware of how much I must’ve looked like my mother right then. She’d used the same pose every time she’d been having an argument with her man of the month.
When neither of them responded, though, I had my answer. I turned and walked out of Lucas’s office, stomping the entire way down the hall and up the stairs. If they weren’t going to give me the answers I needed, then I’d get them on my own.
I wasn’t going to just sit back and trust them anymore. If they wanted me to trust them, then they were going to have to start giving me a reason to. Because right now, trust was not at the top of the list of things I felt for the two of them.
I wasn’t even sure if it was on the list at all anymore.
Chapter 8
Stomping around my room for a while helped relieve the rest of the build-up tension. I’d thought Wes and I were making progress, finally starting to open up to each other. So why the hell wouldn’t he tell me the truth about my father? What was such a big deal that neither of them thought I should know about it?
Was he some serial rapist? A mass murderer? What could possibly be so bad they wouldn’t even tell me about it?
Once some of the steam had dissipated and I could think clearly again, I stared at the laptop sitting closed on my desk. Lucas had gotten it for me not long after I’d moved in to use for school work. Wes had one of his own, and Sebastian had his gaming rig, so Lucas had figured it was a good idea to get me one too.
I’d only used it a handful of times doing essays for my English and History classes, but now I had an idea. Court records were public, weren’t they? That meant I should’ve been able to find out exactly what Carter King had been arrested for.
It only took a few moments to find the website for the California courts. I’d assumed that was where he’d have been arrested, and it seemed as good a place as any to start. When I typed in his name, it brought up a handful of inmates that’d been arrested over the years. Halfway down the first page, though, I recognized the man in the orange jumpsuit glaring at the camera.