“Dad, they had no choice.”
“No choice?” Dad growls again. “We would’ve protected them.”
“Uncle Joe”—this from Donny—“they had no reason to believe we would’ve protected them. They were kids.”
“Iwasn’t a kid.” Rory’s voice. It’s soft and distraught.
“I’m not going to let you do this,” I say. “We’ve talked about this, Rory. You were barely eighteen.”
“I wasn’t a kid,” she says again.
I turn to my father and glare at him.Don’t you dare, I tell him with my eyes.Don’t you fucking dare go after her.
His lips are pursed, his jaw tense.
He’s angry. Yes, he’s angry, and he has a right to be. But damn it, if he goes after the woman I love, I’ll never forgive him.
Then I drop my jaw.
I did not just think that word. The L word.
Doesn’t matter. All that matters right now is Rory, and I need to protect her from my father’s rage. And yes, it’s rage. I see it everywhere.
“Dad,” I say, “this isn’t about Diana. She had already recovered by the time Rory and Callie even knew. It doesn’t matter.”
“Uncle Joe”—from Donny through the phone—“Brock is right. YouknowBrock is right.”
“We’re talking about your sister,” Dad says to Donny through clenched teeth.
“Yes,” Donny replies, “and trust me, I was plenty pissed off when I first found out. Diana’s fine. There were no long-term effects, and like Brock said, Diana had already recovered by the time the rest of this happened.”
Dad sucks in a breath. “Callie could’ve come to us when she first heard the confession.”
“This was ten years ago,” Donny says. “They wanted to have proof. Don’t you see? There was no proof.”
“We would’ve found the proof,” Dad says.
He’s right. We would have. We would have manufactured it if necessary. But that doesn’t matter now.
“If this fucking degenerate is a relative,” Dad grits out, “I will personally see to it that he never gets a penny of Steel money.”
Good. Now we’re back on track.
I nod. “I’m with you there.”
“Me too.” From Donny.
“Give me a minute,” I say. “I need to talk to my dad.”
“Sure,” Donny says.
I press the mute button.
“You need to apologize to them,” I say to Dad. “To Rory and Callie.”
“I don’t need to apologize to anyone.”
“Callie’s going to be a member of this family, and Rory—”