Page 69 of Hidden Falls

I’d never actually seen a “sneer” until now, but there was no mistaking that expression now that I’d seen it.

“Why?” I was genuinely stumped by this.

Paulo shrugged, staring out the window.

“Your papa wants you to be happy,” Noella said. “He thinks you like the United States better and will feel more at home.” She made a little sound of distress and shook her head.

I glanced at her sharply. “What is it?”

“I worry that your stepmother and siblings will be angrier because of this.”

“No shit. I’ve already got enough to deal with from them.” I folded my arms tightly over the sinking sensation I felt in my belly. “I wish he’d talked to me. Asked me what I wanted.”

Come to think of it, that was the whole problem, wasn’t it? He’d had men kidnap me instead of reaching out to Mom and setting up a meeting with a mediator or a lawyer like a sane human.

I got that he thought Mom was the criminal, but there was something else going on here I was missing, and it had to do with why he wasn’t using the usual legal channels. Could he be a gangster or something? I mean, why all the security? And we were isolated. No one came or went from that mansion but employees. And the money. So much money.

But I’d seen what he did all day. He was just a businessman like any other.

I rubbed my stomach; I felt a little carsick.

We pulled in behind the other SUVs, parking in the turnaround driveway of a fancy house surrounded by a high, spike-topped wall.

The sound of crashing waves and the smell of the ocean on the other side of the usual high wall was an encouraging sign to me. I was now assigned a room on the same hallway as my siblings; that would make it easier for my little sister’s nighttime visits, at least.

“What town is this?” I asked Papa, when I came down from the pretty bedroom I’d been moved into and found him in his new work library, set up much like the one we’d left in Mexico City.

“La Jolla, California. There’s a very good girls’ school here that I think you will like.” My father could look very kind when he wanted to, and he seemed to want to when he was looking at me.

My heart rate picked up; this could be my chance!

There was no way his men could watch me every minute at school. I’d assumed he would bring in a tutor or something so that I wouldn’t have access to the outside, but he must believe that I might actually want to stay with them. That made me feel a little sad. I was getting to like him, though I hated to admit it.

That said, the next morning when Noella presented me a pleated skirt, white button-down blouse, and a wool blazer with a pair of sturdy shoes and knee-high socks, I put my hands on my hips and said, “no way.”

“Here. Look the school up online,” Noella said, handing me her phone. She had already pulled up a list of rankings. I’d told her that my biggest dreams and aspirations had to do with college.

I skimmed down the list of top-ranking private schools and found the one I was going to; it appeared that Trinity Girls’ Academy was one of the best.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I won’t be here for long,” I said.

Noella rolled her eyes but said nothing. She tapped the tray she’d brought. “Eat your breakfast. You need something in your tummy to face the day.”

I ate the food. I put the clothes on, picked up a leather satchel on a strap, and headed downstairs and out the front door to the same limo I’d ridden in before. Paulo held the door open for me, but my father stood beside it.

“You look beautiful.” Papa pulled me in for a hug and kissed my forehead.

I went along with this. I went along with everything. I was still waiting for my moment.

But I couldn’t deny that a warm fizzle of something sparked in my chest as my dad hugged and kissed me.

Papa really loved me.

He loved me enough to go to considerable expense and trouble and make everybody else around him uncomfortable so he could have me in his life.

No one had ever gone out of their way for me before; my stepfather Peter had walked away from our family the year before and then only came back because he loved Mom. Mom lived for her job, and we were side benefits.

But Papa?

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