Epilogue
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“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Looking up into Malik’s concerned face, his golden eyes glittering with warmth, all aimed at her, Dani couldn’t believe he was the same serious brooding man she’d met three months ago.
She lifted her hand to his cheek before standing on her toes and straining to place a kiss on his lips. He still had to bend his head so she could reach. “Having you here with me helps, and, although it won’t be pleasant, I need to put this behind me once and for all.”
Large hands bracketed her hips as Jaylin leaned in close, his chest solid against her back. He repeated for at least the third time, “We’re both here for you, Dani. If it gets too much, say the word and we’ll have you out of here in a flash.”
She angled her head, nuzzling her face into the side of his throat. “My heroes,” she sighed. “Although I think I’ll be fine. What can he do from behind a high voltage security shield?”
“Words can hurt, baby. Especially his, you know it better than anyone.”
“If he does anything to upset you, trilana, we’re shutting this down.” This warning came from Malik, but he stared at his twin when he said it.
“Agreed.” Jaylin nodded.
An alarmed sounded, and her father appeared in the doorway, a guard by his side. He wore a loose-fitting, standard-issue boxy top and bagging pants, both cut to accommodate the electronic shock shackles at his wrists and ankles. Another encircled his neck, resembling a dog collar. If he got out of control, a zap would allow the guard to step in and haul him out.
He was pale, haggard, and had lost weight. She hadn’t seen him in several months, but he looked like he’d aged at least ten years.
“If I knew it was you, Daniella, and your two guard dogs, I wouldn’t have agreed to the visit. Take me back,” he demanded of the guard.
“Keep a civil tongue, Alltryp,” the uniformed man warned, to which her father scowled. He also cooperated when led to a three-foot-wide circle on the floor.
Once Daniel stood in the center, the guard stepped back and activated a handheld device. A low hum and a flash preceded the appearance of a wavering transparent force field shooting up from the floor and caging her father. Jaylin had explained this device on their shuttle ride up to the orbital prison. If he moved beyond the perimeter, he’d get hit with enough voltage to render him unconscious.
“This won’t take a minute,” she began softly. “I have something I wanted to say. Afterward, you won’t need to worry about any more unannounced visits from me.”
“What an unexpected gift,” he sneered. “Get on with it.”
She raised the sealed envelope, relaxing her grip when she realized she’d crumpled it. “This is from Nana Elise.”
“She isn’t your grandmother, you twit. I thought I explained.”
“Shut up, Alltryp,” Jaylin growled. “She will say what she came to say, and you will listen without any more lip. Do you understand?”
“And how are you going to make me comply, captain? Touch the force field and you’ll be twitching on the floor.”
“Officer Simmons?”
The guard nodded and twisted a dial on his device. Daniel opened his mouth, yet no sound came out. His eyes widened and his hands came up to tug uselessly at the collar around his neck. Locked in place, it wasn’t going anywhere. As he panicked, Dani grimaced and looked away. Malik’s hand found hers. His fingers opened her clenched fist, interlaced with her own, and held tight. As he did this, Jaylin’s hand moved up her back, slipped beneath her hair, and wrapped around her nape.
If this is too much, sweetheart, tell me, and we’re gone. His fingers flexed on hers, while Jaylin’s squeezed firmly, both giving her the strength to reply.
I’m okay, but can you get him to stop?
Malik cleared his throat. The guard looked at him, a brow raised. Jaylin gave a small shake of his head to which the man shrugged and adjusted the dial, this time to off. Daniel’s hands fell away from the collar as he gasped for air.
“This device is a prototype. In addition to the modes that incapacitate during an escape attempt or noncompliance, the collar can act as a silencer. The electrical impulses interfere with the vocal cords so the inmate has no choice except shut up.” He caught Dani’s horrified expression and added, “It looks and sounds worse than it is. All that choking was exaggerated. I can assure you, it’s painless.”
“It’s abuse is what it is! I’ll file a complaint,” her father exclaimed once able to speak again.
“Go ahead. I’ll get you a copy of the inmate control policy. This jewel has been added to the list of trail equipment. I have to fill out forms in triplicate every time it’s used. I hate paperwork and avoid it at all costs, though, in your case, I might enjoy it. Now quit your bitchin’ and let the little lady speak.”
“Thank you, Officer Simmons,” she said, appreciating his explanation, but hoping to move this along.
“No problem. You tell Blake I said hello next time you see him.”
“Of course, he speaks well of you. He asked me to tell you he’d be calling soon to set up a game of cards.”
“Should we send for tea and cakes for this reunion?” Alltryp sneered.
“Why are you always so nasty?” Dani snapped.
The twitch of his eyebrows said she’d surprised him. Rarely had she stood up to him. Instead being the obedient daughter, her life controlled to the nth degree by this intimidating man. But he didn’t look so scary now, especially in his bright-orange prison issue uniform, replacing a business suit.
It wasn’t lost on her, she’d gone from one authoritarian figure to two. The difference? Jaylin and Malik loved her, wanting only to keep her safe and make her happy. Her father had wanted to use her for his own gain, to have a living breathing outlet for his anger. What she wouldn’t give to have had Jaylin and Malik at her back while growing up.
Ready to end this drama, she opened the envelope.
“You told me the reason you hated me is because I look like my mother. It’s irrational to blame someone for something they have no control over. Even more so to blame someone for something someone else did. Rather like kicking the cat for your own screw up, isn’t it, Daddy?”
“Don’t call me that,” he barked.
“Why? You said you loved my mother once, and you dreamed of having a little girl to love who looked just like her. Well, the joke isn’t only on me anymore.” She pulled out the lab report, unfolded it, then turned it so he could see. “I am your daughter. Here is the proof. You’ll have plenty of time to sit in your cell and think back on the last twenty-five years and how you treated your own flesh and blood.”
“What kind of trick is this?”
“No trick. Simple science. Can you read this number, Daddy?” She shook the paper. “It says 100 percent without a doubt I am your daughter and that of your once beloved Ella. Your wish came true. Something you could have found out for yourself if you hadn’t been so entrenched in your loathing of my mother and using me as a target for your misplaced retribution.” She released the report and watched her father’s gaze follow as it floated to the floor. It landed print side up, the result glaring in bold red print. “You wasted years on bitterness and hate. You could have had my love, given readily, but you chose to be miserable and alone. Now all I feel for you is pity, although I shouldn’t.” She met his eyes for the last time. “After today, I don’t want to see or hear from you ever again. These two men are my family now, and I love them. As for you, from this point on, I have no father. For me, you cease to exist.”
Jaylin moved in closer, his hand leaving her neck to curl around her shoulder, and tuck her into his side. “You told me you loved your wife in the beginning, Alltryp, so you must have had a heart once. If it’s still in there, buried somewhere underneath all that malice, use it to look at your daughter, and see the loving, giving, wonderful young woman she has become, somehow—incredibly, so—despite having you as an example. But her beauty, both inside and out, is lost to you. If you ever get out of this hellhole, do not contact her. You’re officially out of her life. If you try, so help me, I don’t care if you’re a decrepit, feeble old man of ninety, I’ll make you hurt.”
“No,” Malik countered, his tone low and ominous in the stillness of the room. He moved past her, and sidestepped into a protective position guarding her front while staring hard into Daniel Alltryp’s eyes. “Bother her again and you won’t have to worry about my brother’s wrath because I’ll kill you myself.”
Resting a hand on his back, Dani felt the tension vibrating through his body. I’m done here, Malik, she told him through their link. Let’s go.
When he turned, her hand remained raised and ended up splayed on his chest. He grasped her fingers and squeezed. Yes, sweetheart. You’ve done what you came to do, and we’ve said all there is to say. Let’s get you back to the Renegade.
***
Though Jaylin brimmed with pride at Dani’s bravery and determination in facing her asshole father, his heart ached at the same time that she had to do such a difficult task. He wanted to scoop her up, hold her tight in his arms, kiss away her anguish, and protect her from any more cruelty ever touching her again. She would welcome his actions except for the last, saying it was impossible, pain and loss were part of life. But he and Malik had vowed to do everything in their power to minimize it. They’d all had more than their fair share of both.
Jaylin agreed it was time to end this, and went to the door, rapping hard twice in a signal to a second guard outside they were done. He waited as first Dani then Malik passed through and were in the hall before he glanced dispassionately back at Alltryp.
He sat stunned, his eyes fixed on the lab report on the floor.
“Stupid fool.” The older man’s head came up, tears in his eyes. His regret came too damn late as far as Jaylin was concerned. “You spent a lifetime amassing wealth, trying to fill a void of some kind, except you had everything you needed in the palm of your hand. For lack of a kind word, a smile, and a hint of a father’s love, you pissed it away. The irony is she’s more priceless than anything you manipulated to get. I get feeling betrayed, but killing your wife and your partner didn’t ease the pain, nor did tormenting an innocent young girl because she happened to look like the woman you once loved. Thirty-five years at least, wasn’t that your sentence? If I’m not mistaken, when you next see daylight, you’ll be as old as your mother is now. Enjoy your cold, lonely cell. You earned every minute of it.”
Having twisted the knife even more for Dani’s sake, he had the last word, and left her murderous father—who ended up as the only bastard in this scenario—without another thought.
The End