“You look good this morning, babe,” Luke said to me, smiling. I smiled back, but my gaze drifted from his face to the items before him. My stomach fell at the memory of when I found the box and all of its contents. I was in Luke’s house looking for my suitcase when I stumbled upon a box in his closet that contained personal information about me. Pictures, phone numbers, addresses-information that was gathered before I even knew Luke. Of course, Luke took the easy way out-accusing me of “going through his shit” when I had no business. I knew he was throwing the blame off on me just so he wouldn’t look like a dick. The thought pissed me off and reminded me why I was here and what I was going to accomplish today. I walked up to the bar, standing across from him and placing my elbows on the counter-holding my coffee between my hands
“Where did you get this?” I asked, nodding towards the box that sat between us.
“Let’s start off small,” Luke replied softly, which did nothing but piss me off more.
“No, how about I ask the fucking questions and you answer them. Truthfully,” I snapped back at him. This was the Dallas I was before he came into my life. I was a bitter bitch and Luke had helped me become a better person, but the bitch was still inside and now was a good time to let her show. Or so I thought.
“Watch your mouth, Dallas,” Luke said, his own fury growing.
“No, you watch your mouth, Luke. I’m not the one who has anything to prove.”
Luke’s head snapped back as if he had been slapped. He seemed to gather himself and his face turned to stone. “Kirkley gave me a file. I added to it. Most of these photos were taken by me or by people employed by me.” I stared at him in shock. Mayor Kirkley? What the fuck?
“What do you mean, he gave you a file?” I asked, totally taken aback by what he just told me.
“Kirkley owed your father some favors. When your mother was killed, he planned to send you to Mississippi to live with your grandmother. The agreement was that Kirkley kept an eye on you and your father gave him a shit-load of land and a promised position as Mayor as long as he held up his end of the bargain. Some paperwork was drawn up and the land that he loved would have gone to Stacy, if anything happened to you. That deal expired on your twenty-fifth birthday. A day your father thought he would live to see, although he didn’t.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I could feel my heart beat in my ear and suddenly it was too hot in the kitchen.
“What land?” I asked Luke. He was still sitting with his back straight and his face was still stone. He looked like a robot and I was sure it was a tactic he used to try and keep his temper in check.
“The land on ninety-eight.”
“But, I just purchased that land from him.” I thought back to Mason and Nathalie’s engagement dinner. I had purposefully worn that particular dress just to woo the mayor out of that property. I had a client begging to put a strip mall out there and I had convinced the Mayor that it was for personal use.
“No, you bought a fraction of the land from the Mayor, and let me guess, he wanted Carmical Construction to clear the timber? Said he owed me a favor? Well, let me tell you something, sweetheart, Paul Kirkley knew that this would happen. It just so happens that I was the lucky guy who ended up in your bed and not some other shithead. That’s why he wants me to cut the timber. He wants you to think we’re friends. He wants me to get close to you, so that I can gather as much information about what you plan to do with that property. Your tight lipped assistant won’t tell anything and we all know that trying to get something out of you is like trying to chisel cement with a spoon. So, what does he do? He waits ‘til I get in your panties and goes in for the kill.”
I couldn’t breathe. This was not happening. Luke loves me. I know he loves me. Why is he talking to me this way? Why was that property so important to Kirkley? I started to ask him, when he interrupted me.
“Regardless of what you think, Dallas, your dad was not a good man. He was a fucking crook. You were just a stupid, naïve little girl. You thought your daddy hung the moon. He was a murderer. A thief. A-”
“Shut-up!” I couldn’t take anymore. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You think, I was naïve? Do you really think that I didn’t see through all his bullshit? I know who he was, but I’ll be damned if I let you stand here and slander his name! You have no idea what really happened!” There it was. I said it. All these years, I had kept shit bottled up inside me, knowing, that if it ever came out, it would destroy me. I had secrets that I never wanted to be discovered. I had shit that I never wanted anyone to know, yet here I was exposing myself. I had become vulnerable and now Luke knew that I knew the truth. I could tell by the surprise on his face. Of course I knew my father was not a good man. He was good to his family. He was a wonderful father, a wonderful husband and a wonderful friend. But even though he tried to hide it, he couldn’t. He climbed his way to the top by stepping on other people. But, the world was not a fair place and he did what he had to do to get by.