“Isaac Mercado is your father?” Luke said softly, a hard edge to his voice that made Kasey cringe.

Yes, Isaac Mercado, the man who according to everyone in the room had people do all kinds of horrible things to get his hands on their property, was her father. The man who ran a mob family. Yeah, he was her father.

“Yes, for those who don’t know me, my name is Isaac Mercado. Kasey Sanchez is my biological daughter. Please just give me a chance to explain. I’m not sure what she’s told you, so let me start from the beginning.”

Kasey moved to the side and sat in a chair against the wall. She didn’t want to see the look of hatred and disgust on her friends’ faces. She couldn’t blame them, though. Her father and his cartel had done nothing but make their lives miserable for the past year or so.

“Peter Ardan had approached me about buying the mountain for a real estate venture I was considering. It was and still is perfect for what I intended. I gave him the go ahead to make an offer on my behalf. That was the end of my knowledge of things until a few months later when it came to my attention that my second-in-command had decided to influence things in our favor.

“I had no prior knowledge of the actions of Peter or my man. I didn’t sanction, nor do I ask anyone to sanction those events on my behalf. In truth, your mountain was not the only one I was looking into purchasing at that point. It didn’t matter to me which I ended up with as all three suited my needs.”

“Why should we believe you?” Luke asked angrily. “This could be bullshit, you have no way of proving it happened this way.”

Isaac smiled and pulled out a sheet of paper from his inside jacket pocket. “Read the date on this deed.” He handed it to Luke. “If you’ll recall that date is four days before Peter’s death. I’d already purchased another mountain. Now, why would I do that if I was trying to get your mountain still?”

“Maybe you wanted both mountains,” Luke shot back.

“You’re right, that’s a possibility.” Isaac shrugged. “All I can do is give you my side of what happened and provide you with what little documentation I have. But do consider your problem with Ralph. I was in no way connected with him or what he was doing. We even contained him until Agents Wilcox and Grant could arrest him properly. I’m sure they can both corroborate my story. I had nothing to do with that, did I, boys?”

Jeff grunted but nodded in agreement. “From what we’ve been able to piece together, everything he says is true. And in the case of Ralph, he even confessed to using the Mercado name because of your prior incident, hoping to scare you a bit.”

“Fine, what about the caves then? Are you denying you were involved in that, too?” Garrett demanded. “They broke into my house, looking for those entrances. They threatened our women.”

Isaac nodded sadly. “I’m well aware of that incident as well. I also confess that was not my fault.” He held up a hand to forestall the growls that sprung up from his words. “I did not send my men after your women or your house. If there is one thing I’m known for, it's that I don’t hurt women or children.”

“He’s right,” Jeff supplied grudgingly. “It’s common knowledge that he won’t tolerate that by anyone in or near his operations.”

“One of my lower level associates overheard me mentioning the caves and how ingenious it was for your grandfather to build his stills there. He had multiple ways in and out and could load right onto the boats in the river below.”

Garrett nodded in agreement but didn’t say anything else.

“This idiot only heard enough to gather that we wanted the caves for that same purpose, when my only intention was…well, I’ll get to that in a minute. But as I was saying, it was ingenious use of the natural resources and I was impressed. I’ve had your liquors and I must admit they are some of the best I’ve ever tasted.”

“You’re saying all the attacks on us were not orchestrated by you, but by well-meaning others and that you had little to no knowledge of the events. Fine, I can see that in a way, but why are you telling us this now?” Bastien questioned. “Because it's got something to do with your daughter—”

“No, this has nothing to do with her at all.” He cut Bastien off.

Kasey wanted to scream when her father interrupted, she needed to know what he was going to say.

“I just found out early Monday morning that my daughter was even in association with you. To my knowledge, she was working as a secretary, but I didn’t know where or any other details. That she was happy was all that mattered to me.”

“Why are you here then exactly?” Bastien asked again.

“Simple, a business deal. Over the last two years, I’ve been working toward making all parts of my organization legitimate. There are some of my associates who are resisting the change, but we are working on it. As a matter of fact, you are all acquainted with my niece Layla, correct?”

Kasey glanced to her side to see everyone nodding in agreement. She was pleasantly surprised to see that no one looked as angry as she feared they would. She still wasn’t ready to meet any of their eyes just in case, but maybe, just maybe, her father was helping after all.

“I brought her family here to help me with this change. Her father is, albeit brisk, and not the friendliest person on the planet, but absolutely brilliant when it comes to marketing and getting a business up and running.”

Jeff cocked his head. “And just what type of business are you attempting to get up and running?”

“A high-end resort with all the usual amenities, plus a few exclusive to us. I'd like to hire Rakida Construction to do the work. Mr. Auberon, I’d like to commission you to do the furniture. Mr. Lyon, I’d like to stock Mountain Spirits in the lounges and rooms of the guests. Mr. Tygrys, I’d like to partner with you to offer outdoor adventures to my guests.”