Page 46 of Falling in Reverse

What did you do, Mom?

Fury boils in my veins as I stare back at the man who claims to be the bane of my whole town’s existence. He’s obviously seen time. The dark hair on his head is turning slightly gray at the roots, but it’s his eyes that freak me out.

They’re exactly like mine.

Which doesn’t mean a fucking thing.

“You see, your mother was in the same financial situation you’re in, except I’m sure her credit score was more jacked than yours.” My nostrils flare because he doesn’t know a thing about me, and yet he’s a judgy asshole. “She also didn’t have the same drive or pride as you do. I highly doubt you’d seek anyone for help, but Paisley showed up at my door with information that I’ve been searching for decades.”

I want to ask what Mom could possibly have that would be of any interest to him, but I refrain. Anything this man says to me, I don’t buy. He couldn’t even sell me a pack of gum.

“I was missing a daughter, Bay,” he continues, cradling my attention with ease. “I found her.”

My chest tightens as sky blues openly stare back at me. My next inhale halts in anticipation.

No.

No.

I rapidly blink, trying to scan his whole face, but not wanting to look like I am. “Still don’t know…what that has to do with me.”

Emilio doesn’t break hold of the vice currently squeezing my insides. “I believe you do.”

“Listen,” I leer, almost gasping as I try to control my breathing. My palms sweat underneath the bottle of whiskey I’m still holding as I ball the other into a fist. It roughly feels like I’m veering back on the path of a panic attack, and I refuse to have two of those in one week. It’s just not happening. “If you think you’re gonna walk in here and tell me that you’re taking my sisters…you got me fucked up.”

One of his brows perks to the wooden ceiling. “I didn’t take you as slow with your quick-witted responses, Bay. What part was confusing?”

“The whole fucking thing,” I deadpan.

He unhurriedly picks at the edge of his white bar napkin. “My daughter, Haven Wildes, was taken away from me when she was three.” His heavy and unwanted gaze flicks up to me. “That resonate for you?”

“No.”

“You’re my daughter?—”

“You’re such a fucking liar,” I ground out through a sprinting heartbeat. “If this is your game to gain South Shore, you’ve picked the wrong chess piece.”

“I don’t need you to gain South Shore. Especially some little brat who steals my guns and believes she’s going to get away with it.”

“I didn’t steal anything.”

“Well, the description fits perfectly. My son described you to a tee, Haven.”

“It’s Bay.”

“Whatever you want to be called, it doesn’t change the DNA test nor the facts.”

“Get out of my bar.”

He doesn’t move or even break a sweat when he says, “You’ll come home. You don’t, I crush South Shore. You keep running your mouth, I’ll have your fake father paid another visit. You don’t follow along with what I say…” He allows the air between us to thicken until it begins to squeeze my throat with his suffocating ultimatums. “I’ll kill everyone you’ve ever known. Starting with that Levi Wallace you like so much. Then I’ll take Ellie and Mae and sell them for a fortune. Young girls, virgin adolescents, go for a pretty penny, Bay. Don’t test the lengths I will go to make sure I have my daughter back. You admire them…and I love you. I’ve searched for you for decades, and I started to believe that maybe you were dead.”

I don’t answer him, mulling over escape routes and how I’m going to get out of this. How I’m going to keep my best friend from being targeted by a man who has a load of power backing him up? To come up with a way to ensure my sisters are safe from harm.

“So, again…I want you home. I wish for us to get to know each other.”

“You don’t want me that close to you, trust me,” I ground out through my teeth. I’ve killed before; I didn’t like how I felt afterward, but it’s there. And now that he’s just laid all his cards out when it has to do with my youngest sister, I’ll do it again and deal with how I feel later.

“I’ll be the judge and jury on that.” He reaches inside his coat pocket and pulls out a plastic bag before chucking it on the wooden bar top. “Hair samples. Feel free to do your own DNA test.”

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