Page 120 of Brutal Obsession

Thomas Brennan bristles. It’s slight, but I catch it in my periphery.

“Tonight, I came here to say one thing and one thing only.” Harper takes a deep breath. I see her shoulders trembling. “I’m taking a break from this family. I don’t want to work in my old role anymore, and I’m not interested in being your protected property. I never was.”

“I taught you better than this.” Thomas shakes his head, the slow and disapproving movement somehow demonic, with his dark eyes glowing as he glares at her.

“You’re right.” She faces her father head-on. “You did teach me better than this. You taught me how to be a victim. How to be invisible. How to stand in the back and go along with whatever you say.” Harper’s voice goes all high and rickety. Pride swells in my chest because I can tell she’s fighting tears, but she doesn’t back down. Not one inch. “I let you use me all these years because I thought that’s what a good daughter should do. But I didn’t realize that agood fatherdoesn’t use his children.”

“Shut your mouth!” Thomas roars.

“You will neveruse me in that way again as long as I live.”

“Apologize for your insolence,” Thomas demands. “Now.”

“I’d rather die.” Harper and her father descend into a vicious nonverbal standoff.

Finally, Thomas hisses, “Don’t tempt me.”

I snarl just as Shane holds up a hand, silencing the room. “Thomas, enough.”

Which doesn’t bother me, because I’m pretty sure any sound I could make is crushed as the meaning of Harper’s words sink in.

I’m unprepared to let Harper go ever again, so her announcement that she’s taking a break from the Kings does nothing short of throwing me into chaos.

What does that mean, exactly? Is she saying she’s out for good and, if so, where does that leave us?

If she turns her back on the Kings, does that mean she’s turning her back on me too?

Chapter 35

Harper

Is there a monumental telephone pole up my ass, or is that just the panic of facing this room full of powerful, violent, murderous men?

I would have been more terrified to face my father one-on-one after everything I’ve done, so I suppose I should be grateful I could kill three birds with one bombshell.

Riley was right. New hair changes everything.

New hair, new me. The old Harper could never have done this. I’m impressed by myself for the first time…maybe ever. And it’s so terrifying, stepping into my own personal power, that I want to run from the room as soon as I can.

I hope Shane can’t see me shaking. He’s staring hard enough.

“Harper, why did you run away?” Though serious, his tone lacks the vengeful edge I expect. Maybe my attempt to flee marrying his son didn’t offend him as much as I worried it might.

Forcing myself not to fidget, I roll my shoulders back to straighten my posture and stand tall, even though I have all the courage of a tealight candle.

“Because…” The rock in my throat stops the words.

The silence drags on as I hesitate.

When my father can’t take it anymore, he leans in my direction, as if to control me with his imposing stature. “Answer him, you ungrateful, traitorous?—”

When Shane holds up his hand a second time to quiet my father, impatience shines on his face as well.

“You choose to defy me with your silence?” Shane cocks an eyebrow at me.

I almost keep quiet, but then I sense Cian shift behind me, and that little candle flame of courage grows just a little bit more. I’m not alone here.

“I ran away because I couldn’t do it.” My head’s shaking, back and forth, tears dripping down my cheeks. “I was ordered to…to seduce your son, to pretend that I loved him, and I couldn’t do it.”

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