A ding sounded and the front door swung open. She had considered lying in wait and overpowering her father before he had closed the door. But she wasn’t ready to try to escape. There was still more information she needed. Information only her father could provide.

He strode in and smiled when he saw her sitting on the couch near the window.

“What do you think of the view?” he asked.

“It’s amazing. But Dad, I’ve got to know. How did all of this happen?” She spread her arms out to encompass all that he had accomplished since he’d left their family. “Why didn’t you come home?”

He sighed and loosened his tie. “I wanted to, princess, I really did. I thought of you and your mom countless times over these fifteen years. But as more and more time passed, it felt like a higher and higher obstacle to overcome. I didn’t know what to say to you to make up for all the time that had passed.” He stood. “Before we get into this, I need a drink. Can I get you something?”

She shook her head. She’d had more than enough alcohol last night.

He went to a cabinet against a wall between the kitchen and living room and glassware clinked. He returned and placed a crystal rocks glass filled with dark brown liquid on the glass coffee table, removed his jacket and tie, and undid another button on his shirt. “That’s better.” He settled himself in an armchair near her.

“Where have you been all this time?” she asked.

He took a sip of his drink and leaned back in the chair and crossed one leg over his opposite knee.

“I mean, obviously, you’ve been here for a while,” she said, “but where were you right after the attack? How did you survive?”

“One day, after Cody died, Tess came into my office as a client. When I first learned she was a shifter, I was angry and almost didn’t take her case. But she really needed help.”

Ryenne rolled her eyes. “For what?”

“She’d been picked up for solicitation, but she swore to me she hadn’t done it.”

“She was a prostitute?” she asked. Very little about Tess would surprise her anymore.

“No, she wasn’t. The cops caught her just after she’d shifted back to human and she was naked. In a public park. So, they assumed solicitation.”

“Why didn’t she just tell them she was a shifter?” Ryenne asked.

“Because she was very young and scared. So, I agreed to represent her. In return, since she couldn’t afford to pay me, she helped me track down your brother’s killers.”

One of Ryenne’s eyebrows rose.

“Turned out, they were a pack of wolves who were trying to go legit. Their alpha had started Lord Enterprises as an import-export company. Tess and I infiltrated their business and, in the process, they turned me. However, their alpha wasn’t a good businessman. He also didn’t realize who I was and that I had a hunger for vengeance he had helped stoke by turning me into a beast. When I learned to control myself, I killed him, assumed his identity, and took over his business.”

Ryenne let the words wash over her. Let them penetrate her mind, her defenses. She could smell the truth of them but they still didn’t explain why he never came home and why she and Mom knew nothing about this plan.

“But we thought you’d been attacked by rogue wolf shifters,” she said. “They found your blood.”

He nodded. “I am so sorry for that, Ryenne. When I assumed the identity of Lord, I had to kill Michael Cavanagh.”

“You let us think you were dead on purpose?”

“At the time, I was so deep in my plan for revenge that it was all I could see, all I could think, all I could live. I knew your mother wouldn’t understand; we’d already had several fights about my search for Cody’s killers. I hope it isn’t too late to make it up to you.”

“Too late? It’s been fifteen fucking years, Dad. You didn’t think to pick up the phone and call us, even once, in all that time?”

“Of course, I did, princess.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. “You lost that right when you chose to walk away from your job as my dad.”

He hung his head. “You’re right. Of course. I just didn’t see another way out. And once I was turned, my life changed. My needs changed.”

Ryenne knew all about a wolf’s needs. But she didn’t want to think about her father having those kinds of urges and who he’d worked them out with. Tess, probably. Eww.

A phone buzzed. Obviously not Ryenne’s.

Her dad dug his out of his pocket and looked at the display. He gave a deep sigh. “Are you willing to give me a chance or do you want to leave now?”

What did she want? She wanted to leave, to get as far away from this man who was her father and wasn’t, at the same time. But she couldn’t leave yet. She needed to secure her mother’s safety. And she understood the change he’d gone through since she was going through the same thing. Maybe she’d be better off here. With someone who’d been through it. They could try to repair their relationship, start over. She’d be around people who loved her and understood her.

Lucien had understood her. Until he didn’t. He’d been born this way. He’d had years to get used to the urges when he went through puberty and with a family who knew how to instruct and help him. Ryenne didn’t have that. Even if they all forgave her eventually, none of them could understand.

“I’ll stay.”

Her father’s grin brightened his face and her throat filled. She’d missed his smile. His open face. Her dad.

His phone pinged. “Ah, wonderful. Your mother has arrived.”

What was Mom doing here? And how?

Controlling her reactions with effort, she stared at her father. If he hurt Mom, nothing else would matter—having him back in her life, wanting a family who could understand her, nothing—she’d kill him.