Page 144 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

Dad lifts his head. “I hit Jasmine.”

“What?” I ask.

“I’ll tell the police I hit her with my car,” Dad says. “I’m… I might have taken your father away from you, but I’m not going to let your mother get taken away as well. Everything she did was for you and your sister. Everything she did was because of me. I’ll tell them that I hit Jasmine. I tried to kill her.”

“I will tell them you’re lying,” Arthur counters.

Cassel, who I hadn’t noticed had been playing with a computer behind me, turns the monitor around. “Oh man. That’s so sad you’re going to say that. Because this looks like all of your accounts, doesn’t it? It really looks like I could destroy them, doesn’t it? I could wring you fucking dry. I could make it so all of your investors believe that you’ve been siphoning money off them for years. I could destroy you. You might get out of this with a slap on your wrist, but you’ll get out without a fucking cent to your name if you don’t shut your mouth and do whatwe’ve asked. Let your daughter face the time she deserves to face for what she’s done, or it’s all gone.”

Arthur grits his teeth.

Jasmine looks a bit panicked about that. “Dad, no, you can get me out of this.”

“Not if he’s fucking broke,” Cassel says. “The police are almost here. Hurry, Arthur. I’m not a patient man.”

“I will say whatever you ask me to say,” he gets out through gritted teeth.

Cassel smiles. “Good choice.”

“Ellis, come on,” Tavish says as he reaches out to me.

I glance over at my dad, wondering if this will be the last time I see him. Wondering if I ever want to see him again.

“I’m sorry,” Dad says. “I truly am. And I know that excuses nothing.”

I reach out and take Tavish’s hand, letting him pull me from the room.

“Now I really need to meet this mother of yours,” he says. “She sounds like a badass.”

“She does. They really will go to prison?”

“They really will. ‘Arthur,’ aka Cassel, sent out a distress call. They’re heading here right now where they’ll confess everything.”

“And if they won’t?” I ask.

“I noticed Cassel recorded the whole thing. He’ll be sure to cut out the parts about your mom and he’ll cut out who was in the room with them. But he’ll make sure a fun little show is playing for them when they come in.”

“Did you guys plan all of this?” I ask.

“Fuck no. I told you, we plan nothing.”

“Then how the hell did it all come together?”

“We’re just damn good like that. I’m just thrilled you came to save my life,” he says.

“Save you? I did nothing of the sort. I actually got caught at one point. Leland’s the one who saved you.”

He grimaces. “Hell no. One hundred percent you.”

“I just like stood there as he fucked them all up.”

“I don’t believe that for one moment,” Tavish says before turning to me. “I’m positive it was you.”

“Ha, funny,” I respond as he leans in and gives me a soft kiss.

“I know we’ve only known each other for like… days…”

“Feels so much longer than that.”

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