Page 98 of Just My Luck

I blinked. “You’re here.”

“Of course I’m here.” He turned to the detective. “Thank you, sir—for your duty and care of my son.”

I watched in shock as my father shook hands and charmed everyone in the office of the police station.

He turned to me. “Let’s get you home, son.” His hand landed in a hard thump on my shoulder as he pulled me toward the door.

I moved with wooden steps, and we walked into the sunlight. Dad’s car and driver were waiting for us. Russell King climbed in and I followed, sitting next to him in the back seat of the luxury car.

The mood shifted as soon as the door to the outside world slammed shut. “These messes of yours, Abel... they’re really getting to be an inconvenience.”

“I’m sorry.” My apology was so automatic it made me sick. I swallowed past the pebbles in my throat. “It was a misunderstanding. Sloane’s ex-husband was giving her and the kids some trouble. I only had a conversation with him, but—I’m working it out.”

My father laughed. “Harassing a man in a public place with the help of Sullivans? You’re better than that and you know it. We have to be smart about this, son.”

I lifted a noncommittal shoulder. I didn’t trust my father and wasn’t about to divulge my suspicions that Jared was behind the fire at the Robinson place. I was already looking into it, and knew it was going to take some time. My father was undeterred by my stony silence.

The car wove down county roads in the direction of our hometown. The closer we got, the more a hot ball of tension pinched behind my shoulder blades.

“No more outsiders, son.” It was clear from his tone that my father’s words were a warning.

I stared at my calloused hands.

His disappointed, long-suffering sigh was so familiar I could recall it in my sleep. “Did you really think a half-rate criminal like Oliver Pendergrass was going to take care of things for us?” Disdain rolled off his tongue as he scoffed. “Please.”

How the fuck did he know about Oliver?

I struggled to maintain my composure. “I am doing what I can to figure it out. But now her ex is missing, and they’re looking at me, apparently.”

He waved a hand in the air. “He won’t be an issue anymore.”

I stared at the side of my father’s face as the car rolled down the street. “What did you do?”

My father adjusted his shirtsleeves beneath his suit jacket. “What I always do. I took care of the problem. Stop asking questions, Abel.”

Ice ran through my veins.

Like you took care of my mother?

I opened my mouth to ask—to accuse—when he stopped me.

His heavy sigh dripped with parental disappointment. “I assumed you would have learned your lesson the first time.”

My blood ran cold. “My lesson?”

Dad shifted against the leather seat. “My children don’t seem to appreciate all I do for them—the lessons I have taught. That’s my cross to bear, I suppose.” A chilling smile spread across his face. “But you learned, didn’t you? I knew a little time away would prove to you where you belong. This new, unfortunate development was just a blip, and it’s taken care of. Tell me you’ve finally learned your lesson, Abel.”

Dread and sweat prickled my hairline as realization settled over me. “It was you. You were the reason the judge was so harsh at my sentencing?”

“Harsh?” he chuffed. “You killed a child. Do you know how bad that looks?”

I blinked, unwilling to accept the truth scratching at my brain. “I fell asleep. It was an accident.”

The words felt foreign, and I waited for the inevitable shame to seep in, reminding me that I was truly a monster. Only... there was nothing. The pain and guilt never really subsided, butfor the first time, I was starting to accept that what happened was truly an accident.

“True. It was very unfortunate.” He swallowed the word as if holding back his disgust. With a sigh, he spread his hands. “But look at you now. You’re home, running a successful business.” His shoulder bumped into mine. “You’re a King and finally acting like it—thanks to me. Though we still have to talk about your little stunt with Sloane’s trust fund. If it were anyone else who’d done that to me, things would have gone very differently, but you are my son.”

My nostrils flared. “Leave my wife out of this.”

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