Page 137 of Love Collided

I was going to deal with my dad. I was going to ruin his life the way that he tried to ruin mine, but for now, all I was going to do was take my girl home.

FORTY

CHASE

Two weekslater

They always say revenge is bad.

That hitting back won't be satisfying, but they were lying.

I’ve never felt better than when I walked into my father’s office surrounded by FBI agents.

It hadn’t even taken long for them to organize it, and with his own son as the leading witness, they couldn’t ignore it.

I started pointing to filing cabinets, already knowing which one held the documents that had been tampered with. He didn’t fill all of them, knowing that if they looked through documents that had merit first, they might not keep digging.

He thought he could get away with it all. He thought he was nothing short of a genius, and for years that worked out for him.

And maybe it would have kept working out, but he tried to ruin the one thing I loved. After my mother was arrested for kidnapping, and he immediately bailed her out, they went after all of us. He began throwing every accusation and lawsuit against us that I could barely keep up.

Scout was doing fine now, mainly just cuts and bruises left, but it didn’t matter because they had both wanted to do worse.

They wanted Scout gone from my life, and had only been growing more desperate to ruin her.

So now I was taking away everything that he ever loved, which was his power and success. His success that had been built on the backs of others, and power that was nothing more than his image. An image that was currently being ruined on national news stations right this minute. The news crews outside the building were stopping other partners that were being walked out in handcuffs, and any employee that would stop to gossip, which was a surprisingly large amount.

Apparently, on top of being an asshole for clients, he was an asshole to his employees. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but it was strange to let go of every shred of respect you have for someone who was supposed to be the most respected person in your life.

My mother had already had everything taken from her, the rumors swirling so fast that her reputation was being drug through the mud, the downfall of her husband not helping the rumors calm down at all.

I stayed for another two hours, doing everything I could to get every drawer, cabinet, and locked box opened until they finally said I could go for the day.

Scout was downstairs, lounged across one of the oversized chairs in the waiting room. Her head was tilted back to the ceiling, eyes closed, and she looked so relaxed. I leaned over the back of the chair, brushing a stray lock of red hair off her forehead as her eyes fluttered open.

“You seem relaxed,” I said, nearly laughing.

“Not relaxed, just thinking.”

“About?”

“You.”

“What about me?”

She got up and wrapped her arms around me. “I was wondering if you wanted to make this living together thingnottemporary.”

“Scout, are you finally asking me to move in with you?”

“Yes, I am, but only if you are agreeing.”

I laughed, leaning down to kiss her. “Do you think I would want to live anywhere else? I’ve been trying not to rush you, but damn, I’ve given hints.”

“Well, I was just a little unsure how you felt about me.”

I laughed harder. “Was it the giving up of my life to be with you, or the tattoo of the nickname that made you question it?”

She held me harder as she laughed. “None of the above, just my anxious brain making me doubt that someone could love me that much.”

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