Page 40 of Hated By the Boss

"Paige?"

"That's her real name, but the men I do business with...they listed her name as something else. Told me she used to be the woman of some arms dealer but was let loose when she double-crossed her lover."

"And of course," I said dully, "you didn't bother to check if their story was true." He never did. It was why Thomas kept insisting he hadn't done anything wrong. He had paid in good faith. Purchased lives of people who had hurt other people.

And yet...

His journals said otherwise. In them, his own truth came out to damn him. He had written frequently of how some of the subjects passed on to his "care" didn't seem to match the profiles he was provided. But in the end, he had chosen to be blind, deaf, and dumb to all the clues around him. And because of that—-

"I'm just glad you're alive," Thomas said.

But I'm not.

"When he told me he had avenged his sister's death by killing you—-"

He had.

"I was terrified. I didn't know...I don't know what I'd do—-"

He might not, but I did.

Because now...everything was suddenly clear.

Painfully, devastatingly clear.

"I love you, Dad."

I heard Thomas inhale sharply from the other end of the line.

"I tried to stop loving you after finding out what you've done, but I couldn't. And now I realize...I don't want to."

Thomas started to weep.

"But Daddy...I need you to do something for me."

"Anything—-"

"If you really love me, and you want us to be a family again—-"

And now, I was weeping, too.

"I need you to do one thing."

"Anything, baby girl."

"The last day of your trial's coming up soon—-" Oh God. Tears rushed down my cheeks, and I could barely hear myself over my sobs. "—-and I want you to tell the court you're guilty."

Thomas' furious breath hissed down the line, and the sound ripped my heart open.

"Are you fucking serious—-"

"I just want you to be the Daddy I grew up with," I whispered.

"And you can't have that if I'm not behind bars?" Thomas demanded.

"No," I sobbed out. "I can't."

"I can't fucking believe this—-"

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