He put his hands in his pocket, looking smug. "There were few people who owed me a few favors."
I gaped. "Was there a ceremony? Or was it just paperwork? Is my marriage even legal?”
"Why are you so preoccupied with this? We have an opportunity to capitalize on this. And it's not like it's a hardship. You clearly like the guy."
"This isn’t Medieval times, Dad. Today, women like to choose who they're going to marry and be an active participant in it. You took that away from me. It hasn’t endeared Max to me, or you. You should just let it go. If you keep pushing this, it’s going to get out what you did."
He laughed, and it made me think of a cartoon villain. "Do you think anyone would believe you if you told them what happened?”
“I don’t know what happened.” I felt I was so close to getting him to say the right words.
He scoffed. “I told you, you experienced the good part. And I know you won’t tell anyone what you think happened. You would have already. Max Clark is definitely not going to say anything. It will ruin his reputation. It will make his family a laughingstock."
"Not if we had proof." When I said the words, I stepped far enough out of my father's reach. I watched him closely, wondering how he would respond to my suggestion that we had evidence of his misdeeds.
He gave that same derisive laugh. "What proof? There is no proof."
I stayed silent, hoping he'd follow that up by explaining how he'd been able to hide the evidence of what he did. But he didn't.
Dammit, he was making this hard.
I didn't want to tip my hand, but at the same time, I needed to get my father to say more. If he knew he was under investigation, would he say something to incriminate himself? I couldn't give away that James had hired Saint Security, but maybe I could imply that Max had. I didn't want to throw him under the bus, but he wasn't here, and it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that a man like Max Clarke would hire an investigator if he believed he'd been conned.
"I think Max has hired someone to investigate.”
The smugness on my father's face faltered. "He won't find anything."
"How can you be sure? Whoever you paid to help you, Max could pay them more to betray you. You know he could." I worried a little bit about mentioning that he paid money to pull off the scam would be a problem, but I needed my father to come clean.
"He was really freaked out when he couldn't remember the night before. He said something about having blood drawn to see if someone had slipped him a drug,” I lied.
"When was that?" My father’s demeanor went from triumphant to worried.
"Right after it happened."
My father thought about that and then he said, "It won't matter. Anything he might've consumed would have been out of his system by the next day."
Was that a good enough confession?
"Well, for your sake, you should hope you’re right. But if I were you, I'd let this whole thing go. It’s not smart to take on the Clarke family. I don’t want to be married to a man who didn’t choose to marry me."
In an instant, rage consumed my father. He strode toward me, grabbing me by the arms and giving me a shake. "You don't tell me what to do. I've invested too much time and money into this. So what, you were drugged and incoherent during your wedding. Any daughter would be grateful that I had gotten them hitched to a man like Max Clarke. You are going to go to the courthouse to withdraw your annulment, or so help me, Amelia—"
A knock interrupted my father's tirade. We both looked at the door and then at each other.
"Who is that?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I don't know." I hoped to hell that it was Dax and his team.
"Amelia."
My breath hitched as I recognized the voice.
"It's Max. Open up."
I wanted to let Max in because I was afraid to continue to be alone with my dad. But at the same time, I wanted him to go away. Until we had what we needed to put my father in jail, I didn't want him anywhere near Max.
My father's sinister smile returned.