Page 91 of Fast & Reckless
Silently she let herself into the office. No one else was there, just her dad, pensively staring at one of the monitors. The camera was trained on the garage, where the mechanics were hard at work repairing the damage to Will’s car. Except it might be Rikkard’s car soon if she didn’t fix this.
“He didn’t target me.”
Paul whipped around, startled to find her there. “Mira? What are you talking about?”
“Will didn’t target me. And he didn’t seduce me. He’s not some predator. He’s been so good to me, so kind and supportive. I think …” She had to pause to draw a deep breath, to stop the shaking in her voice and summon the strength to get the rest of the words out. “I think he loves me. You’re wrong about him.”
Will was not Brody. She hadn’t gotten involved with him as an act of reckless rebellion. She’d fallen for him, for all the right reasons. The only mistake she’d truly made was trying to hide it, and all because she didn’t want to disappoint her father with more ugly gossip.
And now here she was, destroying her own happiness to placate him, and somehow destroying Will’s future, too, allbecause she was scared of losing her father for good. Well, if loving Will meant she lost her dad, then she had to take that risk, because it was time to take a stand for Will, and for herself.
Her father watched her, first with skepticism, then with a sort of pitying sadness. “Mira, if he cared, he wouldn’t have kept you a secret. You should know that better than anyone at this point.”
“Yes, Idoknow better! And that’s not how it happened. It wasmehiding and keeping secrets, because I was so afraid of disappointingyou. Again.”
Paul dropped his head forward and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I am disappointed, Miranda. I thought you’d outgrown all that recklessness. But here you are, involved with the worst man you could have picked. And look what’s happened as a result. You’ve been dragged back into this nightmare after all these years, after you’d finally put it behind you.”
She shook her head firmly. “No.He’sbeen dragged into this nightmare because ofme. Look! Here you are, about to kick him off the team, and all because of me!”
Paul’s voice was thunderously loud in the tight confines of the room. “I’m about to kick him off the team because he’s a reckless liability! A fight with Brody McKnight, over my own daughter.”
“A fight Brody brought on himself! If you want to be angry at someone, Dad, be angry at him. Or be angry at me for lying to you. But Will’s done nothing to deserve your anger. He’s worked his ass off for three years to prove himself and you know he has.”
“Yes, he’s good, but that’s not enough …”
“If you want to kick someone off the team, kickmeoff! I’ve earned it, right? I know you’re sorry you ever brought me backhere, because look … I’ve just proved you right. You can’t trust me.”
Paul’s head snapped back as if she’d struck him, and his eyes went wide. “Mira … of course I trust you.”
“No, you don’t. You haven’t trusted me since I screwed up seven years ago. Do you think I can’t see it every time you look at me? I get it … I really do. I ruined your life and you had every reason to send me away—”
“I didn’t send you away. It seemed better for you to be at home, with your mother …”
“I wanted to behere, withyou. But you said I should go home. So I left. And I never came back, because you never asked.”
His face creased in confusion and pain. “I didn’t think you’dwantto come back and face this again. Facehim. I was trying to protect you. You thought I didn’t want you here?”
“You said you were sorry you ever brought me here, Dad. Believe me, that’s not something I’d ever forget.”
“I was angry, yes, but not at you. I was angry at myself. I wasn’t … I’m not …” Paul paused and took a deep breath. “Mira, understand … fatherhood wasn’t a natural fit for me, and with you so far away, I didn’t get much practice at it. You were growing up in LA with your mother and it felt like I barely knew you. When I started bringing you on the circuit with me, I finally felt as if I was your father, properly.”
The anger that had been fueling her began to ebb, and in the shaky, emotion-drenched aftermath, tears filled her eyes. “I felt that way, too. I loved being here with you.”
“I loved having you with me. But when that happened … the mess with McKnight … Ah, Christ, Mira. What sort of father lets his teenage daughter wander about alone in this place? That bastard never should have been allowed to get near you.”
She blinked at him in confusion, as his meaning, as the real reason behind his anger became clear. “Dad, it wasn’tyourfault. I was the one who got involved with him.”
“You were just a girl. A girl who’d been left on her own too much. And that was my fault. I never should have brought you on the circuit with me when I was so ill-equipped to properly care for you.”
“That’s why you sent me home?”
“I was not a proper parent for you.”
“Dad … I wasn’t a baby. I was sixteen. I made those choices. The blame for that is on me, not you.”
Her father’s face was aghast. “Mira, tell me you’re not blamingyourselffor what happened with that bastard?”
“There was a price to be paid for what I did. I get it. It’s okay. I understand why I couldn’t stay. I’m sorry you finally took this chance on me again and it blew up in your face. But I’m—”
