Page 139 of Forgive You

“After that, I packed my bags and came home. I was finally done. I wanted nothing to do with him, and I only tolerated him at work. He didn’t want to accept it, though. He proposed to me a month later. Said he was sorry, dropped to his knee, and expected me to say yes. He left the ring on my desk so I could think it over.” I shake my head.

“But there was nothing to think over. I wanted to be with Jason. But Jason found the ring and saw the same situation thathappened over and over again. Me going back to Jacob. I can’t even blame him.”

“Does Jason know about his brother hurting you?” I look at my dad with wide eyes, the question fucking with the continuity of my heart.

“God, no. He’d kill him.”Literally.“No, Jason went back to LA, and I gave him time to cool down. But when Jacob realized I wasn’t going to say yes, he also realized he wasn’t going to run Bradford Real Estate with me after you retired.” I carefully meet my father’s gaze, realizing I’m hitting him like a wall of brick as the blood rushes from his wrinkled cheeks.

“Oh, no. He stole fifty thousand dollars to frame you?”

I swallow my sadness away. Or at least I’m trying to.

“No, he forced me to quit and push him forward to you or he would release a sex tape, destroying the Bradford reputation. Stealing the money was just a way to make you believe I was running for a legitimate reason.”

My father’s silence is deafening, frightening, and he’s not a violent man, but now I wonder why I never confided in him. There’s a wildness in his eyes I’ve never seen before, and as much as I hate the turmoil I know is going on inside of him, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so loved.

“Were you aware of the sex tape?” Kathy asks.

“No. Never.”

“That son of a bitch.” A fist slams on the tabletop, and Kathy and I both bounce in our seats.

Rage tenses up his shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Dad. I know you loved him like a son.”

His glare shoots my way, though I know it’s not meant for me. “Are you kiddin’ me? I loved him becauseyouloved him. He’s not my child.You are. He doesn’t mean shit to me if he doesn’t mean shit to you.”

I blink. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say shit that many times.”

There’s a little humor in my tone, but he completely misses it.

“So that’s why you moved to LA?”

I nod, staring at my yellow painted nails.

“I applied for a job at NVS and got it. I took it as a sign.”

“You realize we need to make sure he goes to jail?”

Not this again. I damn-near choked on my own tongue when Doctor Lowell asked meagainif I was sure I didn’t want to press charges. He didn’t push, but it was clear where his opinion was.

But I can’t.

My features twist, every ounce of blood pulled to my toes, because yeah,no.I shake my head. I confessed. I told them the truth. I opened up, but Iwillnotgo to the cops and risk Jason’s business. There is no fucking way.

He will never forgive me.

“I can’t,” I inform them firmly, and without any room for doubt.

“Why not?” Kathy screeches, incredulously.

“Calm down.” My father studies my face, while I keep shaking my head, until he frowns. “What else don’t we know?”

Fuck.

I don’t want to share this part. It’s worse enough that Jacob took something that was so pure and real and ruined it like it was nothing. He reduced it to something tacky, when it was the best moment of my life.

Well, until Santa Barbara.

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