Page 208 of Choosing You

“I hope he did. I liked that car.”

We go to answer the door. But it’s not the guy from the BMW dealership.

It’s Royce Sinclair.

CHAPTERFIFTY-FOUR

Sinclair shoveshis way through the door before Garret can shut it. My pulse skyrockets at the sight of him. He’s supposed to be in Des Moines! What the hell is he doing here?

“Mr. Sinclair, I’m sorry but my father’s not home right now.” Garret is playing it cool. Acting as if we know nothing. “I’ll tell him you stopped by.”

“I’m not here to see your father, Garret.” Sinclair smiles at me. “I’m here to see my daughter.”

My heart is now beating so hard I swear I can hear it, but I try to appear calm.

“Your daughter? I don’t know what you’re talking about. My father is dead.” The words come out of my mouth, but I’m not sure how. And I have no idea where the dead father lie came from.

Sinclair steps closer to me. “You know who I am, Jade. Don’t play games with me.”

Garret gets in his face. “You need to leave. Now.” Garret’s at least 5 inches taller than him and is way stronger, but Sinclair doesn’t seem to care. He stands there unnerved.

“I’m just trying to have a talk with my daughter.” He gets a smug look on his face. “I see you have a new car out front, Garret. Something happen to your old one?”

Garret grabs the collar of Sinclair’s long, gray coat and yanks him closer. “So you admit you fucked with my car? You almost killed us! Is that what you wanted? To kill your own daughter?”

“Take your hands off me,” Sinclair says calmly.

“Only if you get the fuck out of here.”

Sinclair reaches in the pocket of his coat and pulls out a gun, placing it against Garret’s chest. Garret immediately releases his hold on Sinclair and backs away.

I stare at the gun. I’ve never seen a gun in real life and now the first time I see one it’s pointed right at me. Ready to kill me. Ready to kill Garret.

“What are you doing, Royce?” Garret slowly moves in front of me, blocking me from Sinclair.

“I’m just taking care of some things that the people I hired couldn’t seem to handle.”

“So you’re going to kill us?” I go around Garret to face Sinclair.

Garret grabs my shirt, pulling me back. “Jade, stop it! Get behind me.”

I struggle with Garret, trying to remain in front of him. My fear fades for a moment as pure rage builds inside me as I look at Sinclair. I don’t even know him but I hate him. I hate that smug look on his face. I hate that he wants to hurt everyone I care about. I hate what he did to my mom.

“This is the way you deal with shit you can’t handle? DAD?” I say it forcefully with a touch of sarcasm. “I can’t deal with shit either. I guess I got that from you. But unlike you, I don’t kill people I can’t deal with.”

He gives me this weird, sadistic grin. “You’re just like your mother. You just can’t shut up and do as you’re told. She had that same independent, stubborn attitude. And that’s why we’re here today. She didn’t get rid of you like I told her to.”

Garret manages to get a firm grip on me and presses me tightly against him.

“Then why didn’t you just kill me yourself years ago?”

“Jade, I never wanted to have to do this. I’m a father. I have four other daughters. You and Sadie are nearly the same age. Once you were born, I had no desire to harm you. But then some very important people asked me to run for president. Do you understand what an honor that is? And the powers that come with that?”

My fear returns as he moves closer and I focus on the gun in his hand. “Yes. And I promise you, I won’t say anything. Not now. Not ever.” My voice is desperate. Pleading. “I don’t care that you’re my father. I don’t need your money or anything else. Just leave me alone. I swear to you I’ll never say a word.”

“You don’t get it, Jade. When you run for the presidency, you can’t take chances. You can’t risk something getting out. I left you alone all these years because I honestly didn’t think you’d be a problem. Nobody knew about you. Then you got that letter and I knew you’d start asking questions. You’re just like your mother that way. And when Sadie met you a few weeks ago, she commented how you two looked alike. She continues to mention it. Ifshe’snoticed, then eventually others will, too.”

“I’ll hide out! I’ll move far away! Nobody will ever know!”

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