The chirping birds outside woke me from my blissful sleep. I rolled over to find Rebel, naked and inked, sleeping next to me with the covers kicked off. The memory of last night rushed back to me—Rebel taking me in the alley, going back to his place and fucking in the shower. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep with a towel still wrapped around me.
I lay there and admired his shredded body and watched him rest. Rebel deserved it after all the hell he'd been through. Was everything he said really true about my father? I couldn't fathom that he would send the man I loved to prison just to keep him away from me. My father was everything to me. I had to get to the bottom of it. Maybe he had a good reason? I knew I was fooling myself but the only way to find out was to straight out ask my dad.
I didn't want to wake Rebel so I got dressed quietly and left him a note by the bed that I was out doing errands. I walked through Rebel's one-story house and it was exactly how I remembered it—sparse furniture, stained carpets, and broken drywall. Nothing had changed because Rebel had been imprisoned.
I went to the kitchen and took the keys to his Ford truck that he only used to haul stuff. His Harley was parked next to it and was tempting to ride. Rebel had never let me drive it before and he'd freak if he found out I took his bike without asking. The truck would do fine to get me to my apartment.
My phone rang as I started the truck. The screen read Lily.
“I'm so sorry, I totally forgot to call you last night,” I blurted out.
“What the hell happened last night?” Lily replied.
“There's too much to talk about over the phone. I went home safe and sound with Rebel.”
“Want me to come over and we can talk?”
I desperately wanted to spill my guts to Lily but my father took priority. “I have a couple things to do but I promise we can talk soon.”
“You sound different, Kayla. Is everything all right?”
I didn't even know how to answer that question. Rebel and I were back together but my father was probably the reason he was in jail for all those years. “I'm fine, Lily. Just have a lot of things on my mind. I'll talk to you later.”
I hung up the phone and raced over to my apartment to change. I tossed the red dress into the laundry hamper and put on jeans and a black blouse. I needed to look respectable if I was going to my father's building to interrogate him.
–
Spencer Enterprises took up almost an entire city block and was the pride of Saint Marks. My father provided jobs to more than seventy percent of the town's population. Over the years I'd only visited him a handful of times at his office. My dad was a busy man and I normally needed to make an appointment.
But today was different. He was going to speak to me no matter what.
I pulled up to the security booth and showed the guard my driver's license. “I'm Mr. Spencer's daughter.”
He took off his sunglasses and looked at me and then my license. “Good to have you back here again, Ms. Spencer. I'll ring up and let them know you're coming.”
I took a special elevator that went straight to the top of the highest tower. The doors opened to an enormous lobby with a tiny desk at the far end. A blonde woman—younger than me—sat behind the desk, her nails clattering against the keyboard.
“You must be, Ms. Spencer,” she stated. “Your father is in a meeting right now that could take a couple hours. You can come back if you want?”
I didn't care about some stupid meeting. Nothing was as important as this. “No, my father will see me now.”
The secretary tried to stop me but I reached the door to my father's office before she could get her hands on me.
My father's office was as big as my apartment. Expensive paintings covered the walls and floor-to-ceiling windows showed off an impressive view of the town. His huge oak desk stood at one end with a long rectangular table surrounded by office chairs on the other end.
My father sat at the far side of the meeting table and almost every chair in the room was filled with business suits. Everyone turned their attention to me.
My dad stood up in his chair.“Kayla, I'm in the middle of a meeting right now. If you could wait until it's over and then we can talk.”
“No Father, we're going to talk right now.” I rarely ever crossed him so he knew it had to be serious.
“Gentleman, if you would please excuse me. It seems a family emergency has come up. We'll reschedule for tomorrow.”
I waited by the door until the entire office emptied out.
“Kayla, this is most unusual. That was a very important meeting.”
I walked over to the opposite end of the meeting table. “Cut the shit.” I hadn't been this angry with him since before Rebel went to prison. I set both palms face down on the table.
“What's the matter, Kayla?” he asked.
“I want you to tell me the truth. The whole truth. And don't lie to me.”
“Kayla, I always tell you the truth,” he interrupted.
“Are you the reason Rebel was arrested?”
My father sighed and slumped back into an office chair. “I never wanted you to find out about that.”
So it was all a lie. Rebel was telling the truth. Rage boiled in my stomach. I would have slapped my father across the face if he was close to me.
“How could you? I loved him.”
“That was exactly the reason why. Rebel wasn't the right man for you. I could see you going down the wrong path and I had to do something to stop it.”
“By ruining a man's life!” My palms on the table had formed into fists.
“By saving yours, Kayla,” he said softly.
I pounded against the table, taking my frustration out any way I could. “I didn't believe you were capable of something like that.”
“I was only trying to protect you.”
My voice began to waver. Hold it together, Kayla. “You went too far. I don't want your money anymore and I don't want to see you again.”
“You'll see it my way eventually. Rebel is a bad guy and he will only hurt you in the end. Please stay away from him.”
Tears formed in my eyes. My father meant the world to me. But I never knew how evil he was. I turned around and ran for the office door before I started to sob.
My father called to me but I ignored him. I closed the door behind me and fell to the ground, letting it all out. I didn't care that the secretary was right there, watching me cry my heart out.
I picked myself up and went for the elevator, wiping my nose. The doors closed just as my father opened the office door and looked at me one last time.
Anger and sadness stormed through my soul. I didn't want to believe my father could do anything that insane. But he did. And it wasn't right.
Rebel went through so much hell and it was all for me.