Page 105 of A Game of Deception
The air rushed out of my lungs. My entire body went cold. He had been in my home. My private space. He had walked through my rooms, seen my life, and I had never known. The violation of it was so profound, so absolute, it was all I could do not to physically recoil.
“That…” he gestured dismissively with his hand, “obsession… was unhealthy. You were clinging to the ghost of a boy. I brought Xander here so you could finally see the man for what he is: a disappointment. I knew if I put him under enough pressure, the real him would crack.”
“With a little push from Diego,” I stated, the pieces clicking into place with nauseating clarity.
“Mano was a useful tool,” he conceded with a shrug. “A necessary accelerant.”
I stared at him, at this man who was my father, and felt nothing but a vast, empty chasm. “The lying, the bribery, the manipulation… ruining an innocent man’s life. None of this bothers you?”
“Innocent?” He laughed, a short, barking sound that held no humor. “McCrae was never innocent. He may not have beendriving, but he was drunk and reckless—the reason Jimmy was in that car. He deserved every single thing that happened to him.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make!” The words tore from me, louder than I intended.
“No?” He leaned forward, his eyes boring into mine, dark and intense. “Then who protects you, Tara? Who makes sure men like that don’t drag you down into their chaos? I do. It has always been my job to protect you from your worst impulses.”
“I protect myself,” I said, my voice low and dangerous.
He smiled that patronizing, infuriating smile. “You think you do. But you are still, and always will be, my daughter. You need my guidance.”
This was it. The final piece. “So that’s what this was?” I asked, my voice dropping to a near-whisper. “Bribing a cop, lying to me, orchestrating this entire, insane scheme… all of it… was just to guide me?”
“I did it all for you,” he said, and the sincerity in his voice was the most terrifying thing I had ever heard. “So that you could become the woman you were meant to be, without the anchor of a broken man dragging you to the bottom.”
He truly believed it. In the twisted architecture of his mind, he wasn't a villain. He was a hero. A father saving his daughter from herself.
I stood up slowly, my phone a heavy, righteous weight in my pocket. I had it. I had it all. But the victory felt like ashes in my mouth.
“I have to go,” I said, my voice hollow.
“Tara.” He stood, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes for the first time. “I hope you understand. Everything I did…”
“Was for me,” I finished for him. My voice was flat, dead. “I understand perfectly.”
I turned and walked to the door, each step a deliberate act of will. My hand was on the cool brass of the doorknob when his voice came from behind me, sharp with a sudden fear.
“Where are you going?”
I paused, but I didn't turn around. To look at him again would be to legitimize his existence in my world.
“You’re not my father,” I said to the door. “You’re just the man who ruined my life.”
Then I opened it, walked out, and closed it quietly behind me, leaving him alone with the wreckage he had made.
I walked through the mansion on legs that felt like they might give way at any moment. Maria called something to me as I passed, but I couldn’t process her words through the roaring in my ears.
Somehow I made it to my car. I slid into the driver’s seat and sat there, staring blankly at the imposing facade of the house, the home that had never felt like one.
With trembling fingers, I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. The recording app was still running, the timer showing it had captured every word of our conversation. I stopped it and saved the file, then sat staring at the screen.
In my hand, I held the weapon that would destroy my father. Justice for Jimmy, vindication for Xander, freedom for myself—all contained in a simple audio file.
I should have felt triumphant. Instead, I felt hollow, scraped raw by the realization that my father’s love—the one constant I had always counted on, even when I disagreed with his methods—was nothing but another form of control.
My vision blurred with unshed tears as I started the car. I had what we needed. It was time to end this, once and for all.
27
XANDER
