Page 56 of Daddy's Dirty Little Secret

My father nodded. “Half a million, all in cash. Nonsequential, unmarked.”

Hayes raised his glass but said nothing. One of the guards scanned the serial numbers. Another examined the bundles under a blacklight. I stayed beside my father. He hadn’t let go of me, and I didn’t want him to.

Hayes gave a slow nod, then tilted his head toward the case. “Count it.”

One of his men stepped forward, pulling a small machine from a black duffel. He set it on the table next to the cash and plugged it into the outlet along the baseboard. The other man began removing the stacks one at a time, peeling away the bands and feeding the bills into the counter in batches. The machine whirred to life, steady and loud, ticking through the notes at a pace that almost drowned out the sound of my heartbeat.

A third man pulled out a digital tally sheet and began logging totals. Another walked in with a second machine, smaller and sleeker, and set it next to the first. They moved with practiced coordination, no wasted motion, no spoken instructions. This wasn’t the first time they had processed a payoff.

I stayed rooted beside my father, one arm looped through his, the other pressed protectively against my stomach. He didn’t speak. He just watched them work, jaw tight, shoulders stiff.

Hayes poured another drink and turned toward us. “You want one?” My father didn’t answer. Hayes lifted the second glass anyway and extended it toward me. “You look like you could use something to settle your nerves.”

I shook my head. “No.”

He gave the slightest shrug and took a sip himself, then walked over to stand behind the men at the table. The machines clicked and spun, counting down to silence, one stack at a time. It took nearly ten minutes for them to finish. When the final total appeared on the display, the man with the tablet nodded once.

“Verified. Five hundred seventy thousand. Clean.”

Hayes exhaled through his nose and set his glass down. “Good. That’s what I like to hear.”

I could feel my father’s body relax half an inch, just enough to tell me he’d been holding his breath. I leaned against him a little more, trying to breathe normally. I didn’t. My heart was racing, and my thoughts had started to tangle again.

I knew Xander had paid. This wasn’t warehouse money or something my father scrounged from wrecking his car. This was Xander stepping in and handing over half a million dollars without blinking. He knew what was happening here, the shame of what my father had gotten himself into, and instead of calling the police, he decided I was worth something. I just didn’t know why.

I didn’t know what he was thinking now. I didn’t know what this meant for us, or if he even wanted to see me again. But he had done this. He had saved me.

My father cleared his throat and looked Hayes squarely in the eye. “It’s done. This is finished.”

Hayes looked at him for a long time before answering. “You’re lucky it is.”

He stepped away from the table and walked toward us, hands in his pockets, expression flat.

“You took from me. Then you ran. You ignored my calls. That isn’t just business, Laurence. That’s betrayal.”

My father’s jaw tightened. “I paid.”

“You paid late.” Hayes’s voice sharpened, but only slightly. “And if it weren’t for that extra twenty, I wouldn’t be sogenerous.” My father opened his mouth, but Hayes cut him off with a gesture. “I don’t want an apology. I want you to understand what this was. You borrowed, you defaulted, and someone else had to clean up after you. That doesn’t make you a man, Laurence. That makes you a coward.”

My father didn’t argue. He just nodded with slow control.

Hayes turned his attention to me. “And you,” he said, voice measured. “You’re lucky he still matters to someone.”

I didn’t say a word. We were done with all of this. All I wanted was to get out of here.

Hayes motioned toward the door. “Take your daughter. Get out of my house.”

No one moved to stop us. The men at the table returned the counted stacks to the case. One closed the lid and locked it. Hayes didn’t spare us another look.

My father guided me toward the exit. I held his arm tighter than before, keeping one hand against my stomach. I didn’t speak until we were outside, and even then, I wasn’t sure I could.

We stepped out into the fading light, the door clicking shut behind us. The temperature had dropped, but the air still felt dry against my skin. I stayed close to my father, one hand locked around his forearm, the other braced over my stomach like it could shield me from whatever came next.

We were halfway to the edge of the driveway when I saw him.

Xander stood beside a black SUV parked at an angle near the curb. His arms were crossed, and his weight rested back against the driver’s side door. He didn’t move when we appeared. He just stared.

I stopped walking. My father slowed beside me, then turned when he noticed. He followed my line of sight and muttered something under his breath, but I didn’t catch it. My whole body had gone rigid.

Xander was in a dark button-down and black slacks. His sleeves were rolled up. His jaw was locked. He looked like a man trying very hard not to let something crack through the surface.

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what he wanted from me, if he wanted anything at all. He had paid. He had stepped in when no one else could have, and I hadn’t even been the one to ask.

His eyes met mine across the length of the driveway. They didn’t soften.

I forced myself forward again, one foot at a time. My father gave a slight squeeze to my arm before letting go and walking to the door of the SUV. I expected Xander to linger, to say something to me. I secretly hoped he would, but he turned and climbed into the driver’s side, and I was left to swallow the rising bile in my throat.

Nothing was ever going to be the same between us again.

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