He moved to the lounge chair beside me and sat, facing me, resting his arms on his legs, bent over.

  I watched him, side-eyeing him, but he didn’t lift his head up. He kept it forward, looking at the ground or at his hands, I didn’t know. I just knew my father still couldn’t bring himself to look me in the eye.

  “If you think Kash hasn’t been ready for this war since he was six, you don’t know who you’re sleeping with.”

  It was another sucker punch.

  I closed my eyes. I didn’t think I could do this while looking at him.

  His voice dropped. “I met Calhoun Bastian when I was around your age, had my head filled with thoughts and plans and ideas like you do. I was going to conquer the world, and damn it, I got fucking close.” An edge of regret lined his words. He looked up now, his eyes ringed with the same emotion. So much of it. “I know this has been a long time coming, but for the life of me, I didn’t know what to say.”

  About Kash?

  No.

  Comprehension flared, and I jerked forward.

  Oh.

  Oh!

  Me. He was talking about me now.

  I tried to close it down, but emotions surged up. My throat swelled. A lump was pending, and the waterworks were on deck.

  No, no, no. I could not handle that.

  Not anymore.

  But he didn’t know any of that, and he spoke, his tone softening, “Want to know the most humbling moment in someone’s life?”

  I frowned.

  “It’s trying to explain to the daughter you always knew about, whose mother made the decision to keep her away and out of the limelight, how I wanted to care for her, love her, support her but I couldn’t—and that now, somehow, the reason it had been decided to keep her a secret never mattered, because here she is, her life threatened all the same.”

  Whoa.

  That was a total knockout.

  He got me. Smack in the feelings.

  “Um,” I whispered.

  Stellar genius, here. Yours truly.

  “I have nothing to say in my defense, especially after finally having you here and still not talking to you.” He laughed ruefully. “Your mother chewed me back and forth from China for that one. I got a fresh set of road rage this morning. The tire tracks are still smoking.” A soft laugh, filled with so much regret still.

  “Truth is that I’ve no idea what to say to you. Still don’t. I’m here and I’m trying to figure it out, get my legs under me, but I’m failing. I’m totally failing, and I have no idea how to talk to the daughter who’s the most like me of all my kids. Messed up the first time I saw you, too.”

  Something was opening in me. Something small, but something.

  A small crack.

  He kept on, still not looking at me. “I should’ve said this to you the first day you were pulled in after the kidnapping attempt. Hell. I should’ve just tried harder. Then I heard what happened and … shame.”

  I was focused on my seat. My hands were picking at the chair.

  “I was ashamed. The reason your mother decided to keep you away was the exact reason you were coming to me, and I was elated. I’d finally get to see my daughter in person. Not just a report on my desk, or a sound bite. Or knowing that she was applying for my scholarships, that she wanted a job where I worked. My daughter. Mine.

  “You won those scholarships on your own, if you ever start doubting yourself. You did. Not me. I had no bearing on the team who picked the winner, but I was glad. I was damn proud of you, because I was still a part of your life, though there’s no reason you ever need to give me the time of day. You. I am proud of who you have become, and”—his voice dipped—“I am humbled, because all of that was your mother. Not me. I don’t know if you would’ve turned out the way you have if you’d been under my care.”

  I knew who he was referencing.

  “You don’t give him enough credit.” I lifted my head now. Matt deserved that from me. “Give him structure. Give him purpose. He’ll blow you out of the water.”

  He held my gaze, his own eyes filling with a sheen of tears.

  He said, “We tried.”

  I bit out, “Do it again.” Matt would’ve owned a company by now, if he’d been pushed how I was. He hadn’t been. He was given what he wanted. “Challenge him, but not from disappointment. From pride. From respect.”

  Peter nodded, ducking his head and rubbing his hand over the back of his hair. He gripped his neck before dropping and lifting his head again. “I’ll do that. You’re right. I’ve let things go lax since his mother died.” His voice grew thick. “I won’t do that anymore.”

  Then we sat there in silence.

  I didn’t feel I needed to say anything, to explain myself, to prove myself. Perhaps call me cocky, but I felt my record spoke for itself. And him … He’d already shared enough. Maybe it was good enough for the first real talk between us?

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He needed to know. I spoke up, my chin lifting almost defiantly. “Just so you know. I ain’t going nowhere.” Grammar be damned. I spoke from the heart. “Matt. Seraphina. Cyclone. They’re my family.”

  Kash.

  I was staring back at him, daring him to challenge me.

  His mouth curved up and he nodded. “I wouldn’t let you go anyway.” He nodded again before standing. “I have more to say, but we can talk another time. I think we should talk often, actually.” He started for the door behind me, but paused and pointed to my computer. “Calhoun has his own team. Every search you’ve done for him, I promise that he knows it’s you. And he’s reading enough from it if you don’t cover your tracks. He’ll know you care for his grandson. He’ll know your skill level, and he’ll know where you are every time you search.”

  Why, I oughta … I straightened to my fullest height. My pride was hurting. “I’ve been covering my tracks. I had a whole program running to throw every IP address it can think of to block them.”

  “It won’t be enough.” He gave me a sad smile. “You’re not the first to try and battle Calhoun like that. I’ve been warring with the man for twenty years now, ever since I met Kash’s parents. And when I say that man isn’t like anyone else you’ve handled, I mean it. You can do what you can against him, but it won’t be enough. I know it. Calhoun knows it.” He quieted a moment. “Kash knows it. If you want to help take him down, let Kash take the lead. He knows his grandfather the best. He’s the only one who has a chance at beating him. Trust me on that. Trust Kash on that.”

  Trust Kash on that.

  He said my man’s name in a tone like I didn’t know my own man.

  I gazed down at the laptop screen after he left, an icon blinking, giving me Calhoun Bastian’s location, and I sighed, turning it off. All of it.

  Maybe he was right. Maybe not.

  What I did give him credit for was that he’d been playing this game a lot longer than me, and this was for Kash. I cared too much to be reckless. And with that in mind—and with the whole conversation between my father and me, which was letting me walk with my head a little higher, with an extra bounce in my foot, with a little less weight on my shoulder—I went in search of my man.

  I went in search of my family.

  FIFTY

  “You talked.”

  It came out as an accusation, from my own mother. She was sneering as she said it. The pool was in an uproar, as Matt’s friends had just arrived, and I tuned all of them out.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You and your father.” She was full-on sneering at me. It wasn’t even slight. It was covering her whole face. “You and he talked. I can read it on you.” She hiccupped to herself, turning away. “Damn shame.”

  “Hey!” I snapped. “He’s my father. It was about time he came to me, and you know it. I don’t get why you’re all pissed about it. He said you chewed him out for ignoring me.”

  She stopped, then huffed. “I did, but…” She half turned away, dropping her voice low. “Just don’t forget about your mama, okay?”

  Oh, God.

  I reached for her, but she stepped away and grabbed Cyclone up as he was running by. He laughed, trying to pull away, and the two were in a game of tag within seconds. She was darting, veering around everyone, and somehow Seraphina ended up pushed into the pool. Cyclone pivoted back and pushed my mom in as she was extending a hand to Ser, then jumped in over them.

  He was happy.

  Seraphina was happy, too.

  Glancing over the pool, I saw Quinn smiling fondly at both of them, too. Then her face tightened up when my mom’s head popped back up, and her head lifted, finding me across the pool. Her smile faded completely and, her shoulders stiffening, she headed inside the house.

  “You’re temporary, you know.”

  Damn.

  I turned. Victoria had sidled up next to me, and—bully for her—I just now realized I had pulled back until I was standing in the corner. No one was within hearing distance. She got me. But wait. No. Bully for me. She’d been pissed about me since the beginning. I had a gut feeling it was always about Kash, with everyone saying he was her ex, but maybe it was time I found out.

  I sighed. “What’s your problem with me?”

  She grinned, holding a wineglass in hand. “Just one?”

  She’d darkened her hair so it looked like a sunset, a wheat blond mixing in with bright highlights. Long limbs. Long legs. A pastel yellow tunic, sheer enough that her white bikini could be seen, ended just over the tops of her legs. She didn’t wear shorts, just her bikini bottoms. Her heels were high, but sparkly and pink. Sunglasses covered her eyes, and she had a slight smattering of lip gloss coating her mouth.

  I didn’t rise to her bait. “How long did you and Kash date?”

  Her eyebrows shot up. I’d caught her off guard. But she recovered quickly, shifting back on her heels and saying smoothly, “We were together for two years.” She hesitated before plunging forward. “But I’ve known him forever.”

  I was trying to see it. I was.

  I was trying to run the math in my head of Kash with her, but I couldn’t see it. This was a conversation I should run by Kash, not her. I’d seen too much to know I shouldn’t believe whatever she had to say. I wasn’t a jealous person, though I could feel intimidated, pushed down.

  I’d just feel hurt, not anger.

  Which was happening now, slightly, because there was a small voice in the back of my head wondering why he picked me.

  I tuned back in to what Victoria was saying.

  “Kash and I are meant to be together. Everyone knows it. Why do you think Quinn has me come over for Seraphina?” She was so haughty as she was talking. “I’m family. Already. He’ll get tired of you. You’re just a novelty to him, a brand-new shiny toy. Trust me; he’ll come back to me. He always does.” She sounded so assured.

  But I still couldn’t see it because he had not once looked at her, not ever. If Victoria’s name was mentioned, he never even paused.

  He would have. There would’ve been a look, if he had cared, if she was the one he was meant to be with. So I told her my thoughts.

  The look on her face. Dark and stormy.

  “You don’t know anything.” She lowered her head, almost hissing under her breath. “They’ll all get tired of you, and they’ll remember why you weren’t brought into the family in the first place. There’s a reason you were kept a secret. Once the press stops giving a shit about you—and that’ll happen too—you’ll be shipped back to where you came from. Everyone will forget you. Matt. Seraphina. Cyclone. They’ll all move on, continue with their lives, because you’re beneath them. You’re a secret. You aren’t worthy of this family.”

  The words stung.

  I gritted my teeth. “You don’t know anything.”

  “I know that—”

  “Enough!” A growl erupted from behind us, and we both whirled.

  I gulped.

  Victoria paled.

  Peter was standing there. Hands fisted. Steam coming out of his head. Jaw clenched. He was pissed. He swung his gaze to me. “Is that what people have been saying to you? That you aren’t worthy of this family?”

  “Mr. Francis—”

  He didn’t cut her off. He didn’t say anything to make Victoria jump back, but he looked at her. That was it. Just a look. One deep and withering look that said everything. If the girl spoke up again, she was risking her life

  and

  That.

  Was.

  Awesome.

  Suddenly, all those words she’d said to me weren’t so piercing anymore.

  But he was still waiting for me to answer, and as he looked back to me, I ducked my head down. It was one thing seeing how he eviscerated Victoria with a look, but it was a different thing to have the father I never knew, who’d been ignoring me, who finally just spoke to me for the first time tonight, look at me as if he was viewing me with a whole new filter.

  Things. Annoying things were clogging my throat.

  “What’s going on?”

  Matt and Kash came over. Kash spoke over my head. “What’d you say, Vic?”

  Vic.

  God. He had a nickname for her.

  “Nothing—”

  Peter overrode her. “She spewed out a bunch of bullshit, that’s what she was saying.” He took a beat, saying more softly, “Bailey.” He waited. Then, “Look at me. Please.”

  I did, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t have the emotions in check, and a tear slid down my face.

  I heard Chrissy gasp as she was rounding the pool, too.

  Hayes women didn’t cry. We endured. We were tough. We kept going.

  We did not cry.

  Except these eye things kept leaking. They were broken.

  “What the hell?” There was my mama bear, growling. “What’d you say to her?” But she wasn’t accusing Victoria. Her words were directed at Peter, her finger in the air.

  He threw his head up, an incredulous look on his face. “Keep your hate in check, woman. I’m trying to make things right, for once. And I’m done waiting around.” He swept the entire pool area in a gaze, his eyes falling and pinning to me. He spoke up. “Labor Day is in a week and a half. We will be having a party that day.”

  Quinn came forward. “Honey?”

  Matt frowned. “Dad?”

  His jaw clenched. “It’s time I announce my daughter to the world.”

  He wasn’t done.

  He turned to my mom. “I am never letting her go, not again. Do not push me on this, and do not make this difficult. I will take you on if I have to.”

  “She’s an adult. No one’s got custody of her,” Quinn was saying, coming forward in her own high heels and wearing an outfit remarkably similar to Victoria’s. “She can make her own decisions—”

  “Exactly!” He was skewering his wife and my mother at the same time, with the same look. “She’s a part of this family from now on. I will hear nothing against this, do you both understand?”

  I was confused. Not about Quinn, but my mom. Chrissy hadn’t been trying to talk me into leaving. She had stayed. She was just as locked in with Seraphina, Matt, and Cyclone as I was. But I still saw that guilt. That was there for a reason.

  A hand came to my back. Kash. He slid it up to my nape. “Security will have to be tight.”

  Some of the fight left Peter, and he dipped his head in an abrupt nod. He raked a hand through his hair, rubbing it briskly over his face, but his other hand was still in a fist. “Yes. We’ll put together a protocol.” He said to me, “I hope you’re okay with this, but you are my daughter. You have always been my daughter, and it’s time everyone realized how your place is here with us and should’ve always been.” He glowered at Victoria once more, but she had faded from my side, starting to turn so she was hidden behind her friends.

  He stalked off after that. Quinn went after him.

  My mom faltered, watching me, and I shook my head. I didn’t want to hear whatever she was going to say. My mom always meant well, but maybe she wasn’t always the right person to listen to.

  Kash then clipped out, “What did she say to you?”

  FIFTY-ONE

  I was a mess.

  The ten days had gone by so fast. So much happened when everyone was getting ready for the party. It was a big to-do. My alerts had been going nuts from people posting about it. Security was going to be insane. They had a helicopter going over the property. I was trying not to focus on all the speculation or how livid Martha had been when Peter told her his plan. He hadn’t cared. He said it was happening and she needed to adjust her plan, so she did. She was proficient, if anyone needed one word to describe her.

  The Bonham poisoning affair/pending divorce scandal was nipped in the bud and, instead, glowing stories came out about me. They talked about things I had forgotten had happened, like awards I won in elementary school or how I applied for and won so many Phoenix Tech scholarships when it wasn’t known I was his daughter. I had earned those on my own, and the competition for them had been stiff.

  They talked about my photographic memory, the graduate program I was attending, and how even that was prestigious. The wow factor was in full effect. All these people coming to the party were now coming not only because they were nosey a-holes who wanted to see the ins and outs of Peter Francis’s family but also because they were curious about me.

  Another person being buzzed about in the papers: Kash’s grandfather. The financial papers reported he was in the United States and traveling to our area.

  Camille Story wasn’t the only blog speculating about whether Calhoun Bastian would make a surprise appearance at the party, even though he wasn’t invited, and they were reporting that Kash had brought an order of protection against him. That had been news to me, and since Kash had closed up regarding everything except having sex with me, I hadn’t brought it up.

  When I say “closed up,” that wasn’t an exaggeration.

  He didn’t talk. Literally.

  He was silent. He was tense. And he was affecting everyone.

  The tension had been building over the last month, but it was on steroids now. Kash was readying for a fight, and it seemed he thought he was the only one going to handle it. I tried to ask about his grandfather, but he’d just pick me up or kiss me or, well, basically he’d carry me to bed, and what girl could say no to that? One touch and I was a melting puddle for him. The tingles zapped me just by a look from him. But I knew he was worried. There were nights when I woke to find him sitting in the living room, in his office, at his kitchen table, alone and in the dark. Sometimes a glass of bourbon was set in front of him. Other times, it was just him and the darkness.