Page 21 of Promised Vows

“First, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I paused a beat and added, “For a girl who was abandoned by her father out of the blue and without a single goodbye.”

His chest expanded as he took a deep breath. “I had no choice.”

“You were the boss, and you expect me to believe that?”

Sighing, Papa’s expression turned stern. “Anna, sit, so we can talk.”

I dropped my arms and walked to the couch, flopping down. I’d hear him out. “Okay, I’m sitting. Talk.”

On his way to the love seat across from me, he unbuttoned his suit and folded into the chair. His head tilted and a smile graced his lips. “My goodness. You’ve only become more beautiful since the last time I saw you.”

“Papa, please tell me what happened. Jason wouldn’t even talk to me. One day I had a family, and the next I didn’t. What did I do?”

“Nothing. You did nothing, Anna.” His gaze lowered to the floor. “You and Jason were very close, and I don’t wish to speak ill of him, but…” His eyes met mine. “I didn’t retire. Jason orchestrated a coup. He took the family from me.”

“What?” I came to the edge of the couch.

“He wanted to move the family in a distasteful direction, and I disagreed.”

I knitted my eyebrows together. “What sort of distasteful direction?”

Papa held my gaze. “Trafficking women.”

That warred against what I remembered or thought I remembered. Jason was trying to convince Papa to close the strip clubs before everything happened.

Shaking my head, I replied, “No, Papa, I don’t believe you. The last strip club closed two weeks ago. Why close the club if that’s where he wanted to take the family?”

“That’s why we fought. I wanted to keep the clubs and stay out of the sex trafficking. He thought if we closed the clubs, it would make it look like we weren’t in that line of business anymore. Law enforcement would turn their attention to another family, leaving us to profit under the radar.”

When I didn’t speak, he went on. “We’d been fighting for control, and the day I left, he’d struck the final blow. He said he would kill you if I didn’t relinquish my power. That he would make me watch while he did it and that he would do it as slow as possible to torture me.” His eyes held tears. “I couldn’t do it. To keep you safe, I left without saying a word. He didn’t trust me to say goodbye.”

My head throbbed. Papa was telling me my brother threatened to kill me to obtain power so he could sell women and children. That didn’t make sense. Jason and I were close…until he began pulling away. It’d been a slow progression over many months. It wasn’t until Papa left that I realized I’d lost my family. Jason wouldn’t explain why. I was excommunicated.

But Papa was here. “If that’s true, why are you here? Wouldn’t Jason know? Wouldn’t that mean you’re putting me in danger right now?”

He moved to the edge of the seat, like all of a sudden he needed to whisper. “Jason is distracted, and I still have loyalists inside the family who don’t like the things he’s done. We are taking advantage in the hopes that I can reclaim my power and stop what is happening.”

I had no clue what to think.

“Please, Anna, believe me.” He stood. “I have missed you terribly. You have been in my thoughts. I have worked to reunite with you from the moment Jason forced me out of the country.”

My eyes burned with unshed tears. I looked up at him. “All this time. These people loyal to you couldn’t have passed along a message to me?”

“It wasn’t that simple. They had to be careful too, but the number of men who back me has grown. That’s how I was able to sneak into the city. Even now, they are putting their lives at risk so I could see you.”

I pushed off the couch. “Papa, you broke my heart. How can I trust that you won’t do it again?”

Without another word, he gathered me into his arms like he would when I was a teenager. “I will prove my worthiness to you. I will fight to stay with you this time.” He leaned back, holding me by the arms. “I was too weak last time. That’s not the case now.”

“What will happen to Jason?”

“I hope I can make him see reason. If not, I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt him. He’s my son. I love him as I love you, but he has wronged me.”

Pushing away from him, I walked to the door, opening it. “I need time to think, Papa.” My heart was shattered. Papa leaving me, and Jason being responsible.

The idea that Jason and Papa had been locked in a silent, deadly struggle for power all these years seemed absurd, yet terrifyingly plausible. How could I have missed the signs? Were there clues hidden in plain sight, obscured by my childish innocence or willful ignorance?

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