Page 65 of Traitorous Lies
And how could she risk everybody else’s safety, including the six men opening their home to her?
Anger had him shoving open the door more violently than he should have, and it banged into the wall, no doubt leaving a mark. Monique jumped at the sound and spun around from where she was standing, staring out the window. At least she had the good grace to give him a sheepish look.
“I have to go, Dad, but this conversation isn’t over,” she said before lowering the phone from her ear and ending the call.
“You called your father?” he growled, aware of the menacing note to his voice even without Monique’s flinch.
“Uh, yeah, of course. Isn't that why I'm here? To organize a meeting for you with my dad? I mean, that’s why you came up with the whole track me to the Halloween ball in France plan, wasn't it? You wanted my help connecting you with my dad, so that’s what I'm doing.”
The fact that she sounded so genuinely confused as to why he’d have a problem with her calling her father didn't soothe his anger.
If anything, it did the opposite.
How could she be so blind to the danger swirling around her?
Was being run off the road not enough? Being kidnapped? Shot at?
What was going to be enough for her to take off her rose-colored glasses and see the reality that was staring her in the face?
“You shouldn’t have called him without talking to me first,” he snapped, making her flinch again.
Still, she jutted out her chin and looked back at him defiantly. “It was safe to make a phone call. It couldn’t be tracked. I checked with Lion in the car that I could make calls without compromising anyone’s safety, and he said I could.”
“He said you could call your rescue to check in, not your rapist father,” he spat. It wasn't really anger flooding his veins, it was fear. Monique meant a lot to him, more than he would have thought given how short a time they’d known one another. It was one thing for her to be sweet and innocent, but it was another to ignore reality.
It made her the spoiled princess socialite that everyone thought she was, because it showed she had no real grasp on the real world, and he didn't know how to combat that.
Which left him almost breathless with fear.
He couldn’t lose her.
But how could he keep her safe if she was fighting against him?
“You have no proof my dad raped your stepmom,” Monique told him. “And I don’t need your permission to make a simple phone call. I was doing exactly what you want and trying to find out where my dad was, or at the very least, have him fly out to wherever you want to meet him so you can talk to him and then move forward, looking for the real fourth rapist.”
“What you did was show me that you're like a child, willingly closing your eyes to the danger right around you,” he shouted, knowing he had to tone it down but unable to stop himself. “When are you going to grow up and stop believing in fairytales, unicorns, and magical happy ever afters when life has shown you nothing but that it’s a cold, dark place? When are you going to stop playing the role of spoiled little princess and enter the real world?”
November 11th
12:32 P.M
It felt like someone had flicked a switch.
Shutting her down.
Like Jax’s words had been a blizzard raging through her soul, completely wiping everything away.
Child.
Spoiled.
Princess.
Monique had always hated that word.
Always.
Until Jax anyway.
