Daddy’sgoingtokillme for breaking into his office, but I don’t know how else to approach him. He ignored my last ten phone calls, and no one on the staff of the Looking Glass will tell me where he is. So now I wait at his desk, hoping he’ll see me on one of his security cameras, and finally show his fucking face.
It only takes ten minutes for the office door to swing open. Daddy greets me with a scowl, angry enough that I nearly lose my resolve. I hate admitting that he scares me. Something has definitely shifted between us, and he no longer looks at me as if I’m his pride and joy. He looks at me like he just wishes I was dead.
“Are you fucking stupid, Stacia? You’re risking everything we have by being here. You are wanted by the police because of your fuck up. You can’t show your face until you give them the true killer. What have you been doing? I haven’t heard a word about where you are with your task.” Daddy strides forward, not even bothering to shut the door. He’s that bold and dangerous. The staff knows to stay out of his way.
I hate being alone with him.
I hate feeling so small in his toxic presence.
Standing up, I straighten my shoulders, trying to give myself more height so he doesn’t loom over me. I don’t speak, just staring at him, mirroring his same leering expression. But I know I’m far from intimidating. I’ve given him no reason to be afraid of me.
That’s not the route I should take, and I know it. It’s just hard for me to cower and pretend that I don’t want to smack him for being so awful. For putting me in this position.
I need to be the perfect, obedient daughter, who loves her father and would do anything to please him.
I throw my arms around him, burying my face in his chest. “I’m so sorry, Daddy. I know I’m not supposed to be here, but it’s important. You weren’t responding to my phone calls, and I’ve been worried sick about you. I thought something happened. I was nearly killed by a hitman.”
Daddy turns rigid, his muscles tightening with my words. He doesn’t bring his arms up to hug me back and instead grabs my shoulder, forcing me away from him. “Goddamn it. I was afraid of something like this happening. I’ve been looking into Smithson, and it turns out, he wasn’t loyal. His people think you had something to do with this death. I suspect this has to do with that...but there’s more.”
Stepping forward, I clutch the front of his suit, peering into his eyes. I remind myself of Talon and the situation. I think about how he didn’t deny his part, claiming that he wasn’t framed. It’s still hard for me to even think it’s true. I might be stupid for it, but I can’t help it. I’ve fallen in love with that man. But there’s also Daddy. I’m torn between my family and my place and everything. Because if Talon challenges Daddy, one of them is a dead man.
“I know there’s more.” I try not to think about his comment about Smithson, the dead man that started all of this. It’s weird for Daddy to spill that kind of information without being asked. “It’s worse than that. I discovered it was an inside job. The hitman was hired by someone with a bank account linked to the society.” My voice cracks, my nerve faltering. I’m not going to disclose that I found the account connected to Talon. Daddy’s not the type to look into things. He knows that Talon isn’t exactly a man who can be framed. Christos believes him. I just can’t.
“Now what I discovered makes sense. What do you know?” Daddy clenches his jaw. What he discovered? He knows things and hasn’t told me? Of course he hasn’t. If it’s Talon...it’s not. It can’t be.
“I think this is all a setup as a power-play. The drugs. The murder. And now the hit on me. I think you need to look into things. I need my bodyguard, and I can’t do that with this fucking task hanging over my head. Don’t you think it’s better to have someone who knows everything protecting me?” I finally drop my hands from Daddy’s jacket, his scrutiny stabbing me too deeply that I can’t stay this close any longer. I can’t look at him either.
He remains silent and expressionless, not reacting to anything I say. It pisses me off.
“Say something. Please. I don’t understand. If you know something, why aren’t you more enraged? Someone is fucking with our lives, using me. Do you even care?” I ask, tugging at my wig. I’m growing to hate the disguise, and I just want things to go back to how they were, but I know that’s not possible.
Even if I’m no longer tasked with framing Leandro, I still have to figure out the situation with Talon. I’m drowning in all of these problems, and I can’t even ask for a life raft. The Society of Secrets would prefer I either sink or learn to fucking swim in rough waters.
“Your Majesty,” I snap, no longer able to maintain my desperate daughter personality. “You have to do something. Call order to the court. Tell them that I need my bodyguard. You need to figure out who is after us.”
Finally, Daddy reacts. His aged face deepens with wrinkles, his eyes turning into slits. I don’t even have a chance to brace myself as he charges me and grabs me by my throat, lifting me off my feet. He drops me onto the chair and towers over me, his broad body blocking any sort of escape path I can find. If he decides that he’s going to hurt me, there’s nothing I can really do.
I can’t fight from this position. I can’t do anything except pray. What happened to the man who promised me an empire? How can the scandals have rattled him so much that he’s willing to practically disown me? He knows I’m innocent, yet he’s treating me like I’m guilty. He’s treating me like I’m the one responsible for all of our chapter’s problems.
“I need you to shut up and listen to me, Stacia. This shit didn’t start happening until Christos showed up. So I’ve done some investigating. He’s the one behind all of this, starting with drugging you. He set up our club. He killed the patron, pumping more drugs in her system to make sure she’d overdose. Hired the hitman so he could get in your head. He is so damn obsessed with you that he’ll do anything to make you his, even if it means destroying our entire chapter. This is your fault, you know. Why couldn’t you just thank him for arranging both of your initiations? He saved you the trouble, considering half our chapter didn’t agree you were worthy. You guys would be married, and there would be no problems. You would’ve been a step closer to taking control of our family business. You’d be just years away from controlling the Looking Glass as Queen. But obviously you can’t see past your own fucking feelings. You act as if he showed the entire world the two of you fucking. The fact that you consider him choosing that over the other task presented to you guys as a betrayal... You’re a disgrace and a disappointment. And now I’m left cleaning up your mess again and again.” Daddy growls with his words, his accusations and comments burning through me, destroying every ounce of respect I had for this man. He’s lying. Christos isn’t behind this. I know that, because I know whose account is supposedly linked to it.
Now I realize why. He isn’t worried about such a challenge because he doesn’t see it as a threat. And why? I think he might be the one truly behind it. He’s manipulating me. He’s gaslighting me and making me feel as if I’m the reason for all of this when we both know I’m not. His explanations are too easy and unfounded.
I can’t believe this...yet I can.
What I don’t understand is why. Why go through the trouble? Why hurt his own flesh and blood?
“Did you know that I’m the one who presented the offer? I’m not usually allowed to say, but I thought it would be best for you. You didn’t have it in you to accept a real task, and it was the only way to ensure your spot.” Daddy steps back and crosses his arms, shaking his head. “You two had it so easy. He denied the challenge for a spot on a King’s Court. And this is how he repays me? He’s a dead man.”
My mouth dries. I can’t speak. I can’t think. All these years, Daddy fed me lies. He never once implied I’d been almost rejected.
Christos saved my life.
“I think I know a way to change things for you, Stacia,” Daddy continues, his voice softening in his true manipulative fashion. He thinks my silence means I believe him. “I will call order to the court and present them with this information. It’ll be an easy task. You can get the revenge you crave while we also deliver punishment. No one will stand in my way. Christos will fall. He deserves such a fate.”
I open and close my mouth in shock. He’s so far deep into ruining our lives, and so sure I’ll believe him. What kind of proof does he have that he thinks he can convince the entire King’s Court?
So I gather my bravado and ask, “What kind of proof do you have? These are serious allegations. I only have the accounts attached to the hit.”