Page 117 of Stone
“Insults were thrown, punches after that, and I pulled out a weapon thinking I could bully them. But they kept coming. I don’t remember everything because I was pretty high on drugs.”
I laughed. “Which meant your career could have been over before it started.”
Bradford nodded.
“So you shot the man who accidentally bumped into you and allowed my father to take the blame.” My vision was suddenly foggy.
“Everything happened so fast.”
Oh, no. If Bradford thought he wasn’t going to finish the story, he was dead wrong. “Who did you kill, Bradford?”
Bradford remained silent until Matis squeezed his arm around the man’s neck, immediately choking him. After coughing, he locked eyes with mine. “They were from France.”
Matis also looked me in the eye.
It was a small world.
“My father was a foreign diplomat,” Matis spit out. “He was celebrating his birthday with his friends in an American bar when he was shot and killed. I was only two years old at the time. I never got to know my father. It took me years to find out what really happened since your father paid off the men sharing a celebration with mine. Trust me. They paid a price for their silence with their lives. Now, it’s your turn.”
Dani gasped. She’d moved away from my protection, staring at her father with utter hatred in her eyes. “You killed a man then covered it up? You allowed Stone’s father to take the blame? You treated them both like dirt for years. Carter Bellows stood up for you. He kept your secret even after the way you treated him. You allowed this to continue. You lied. You lied to everyone.”
I was forced to grab her around the waist to keep her from lunging for her father.
“Breathe, baby. Calm down,” I whispered.
She struggled in my hold, issuing a single sob. When she pushed me again, I let her go, keeping my eye on what she was doing.
“I know. I’m sorry. Things got out of hand,” Bradford insisted. “I threatened your father if he ever told anyone. When you came along, Stone, I used you against him so he’d keep the secret. When you met Dani, I was angry. When you two fell in love, I was lost in the madness of power. When the child was born, I lost it.”
“Out of hand,” I added, laughing as bitterly as I’d done any time I could remember. “You lost it? You fucking son of a bitch.” I had to look away for fear of putting a bullet in the man’s brain right then. No matter my feelings, I had to think of Dani.
From behind me, I heard Gray sighing. This wasn’t shit he’d signed up for.
Neither had I, but maybe Bradford finally wanted to make amends.
“You destroyed the lives of my father and mother, Matis and his mother, and your own daughter because you didn’t have the courage to come clean with what you did.” I was strangely calm, more so than typical after everything Dani and I had been through.
Maybe because I was a father, things were different. Or maybe life had become more precious to me.
Matis and I had shared a knowing look. One of suffering and uncertainty, of needed answers that once found had left us unable to feel the sweet relief of peace.
“Why Dani?” I asked as if it really mattered now. “Why target an innocent woman, Matis?”
“Because I wanted Bradford Vale to suffer like my mother suffered.”
At least Matis was being honest.
“What now?” I asked. I could play this a couple of different ways. I’d yet to decide.
“Put your weapons down one at a time. I’m taking Bradford with me.”
“I can’t let you do that, son.” Gray stepped in, lifting his weapon.
I shot him a look. “This isn’t your fight, Gray. This is mine. Let the fucker take Bradford with him. What do I care?” I quickly shifted my gaze toward Dani, praying to God she didn’t do anything rash.
She stood her ground, slowly shifting her gaze back to her father’s face.
As I lowered the weapon in my hand to the ground, I allowed all the hate-filled memories to rush to the surface.
