Page 118 of A Legal Affair
“Of course you didn’t,” he snarled, advancing on her. “Philbin didn’t see fit to tell you and your brothers before yousigned on the dotted line. But that’s the kind of man you’re dealing with, a man so hell-bent on revenge that he’d sacrifice his own wife in the process of exposing my father’s dirty little secret. He was hoping you’d succeed where he’d failed to pry the ‘truth’ out of me. He was counting on the fact that somewhere along the way, my father had tearfully confessed his crime to me, admitting that he did, in fact, purposely kill my sister to protect his own reputation. But what Philbin has always failed to realize is that I’ve never doubted my father’s innocence. I think he was a conniving, heartless bastard for not telling me about my sister, and he was dead wrong for having an affair with another man’s wife, old flame or not. But Crandall Thorne is not a cold-blooded murderer, and Hoyt Philbin can damn well go to his grave trying to prove otherwise.
“So here’s my question to you, Daniela Roarke,” Caleb sneered, dropping to a crouch in front of her. Hard, angry fingers bit into her chin, forcing her to meet his viciously contemptuous gaze. “How much money did it take to make you sell your soul to the devil?”
She closed her eyes, awash in shame and regret. “It’s not important, Caleb,” she said tremulously.
“The hell it isn’t!” he growled. “I want to know how little it takes to make a woman like you sink so low.”
Her eyes snapped open. “I’m not a whore, Caleb!” she exploded, wounded by his cruelty. “I didn’t sleep with you because I was trying to pry information out of you. I slept with you because Iwantedyou! Because I love you!”
His eyes turned to shards of black ice, unthawed by her fervent admission. “That’s just too damn bad, Daniela,” he said, ominously soft. “Because if I never see you again, it’ll be too fucking soon.”
Her heart ripped in half. “You don’t mean that,” she moaned tearfully, begging him to take the words back, even if he really meant them. “Please, Caleb?—”
“Stay the fuck out of my life.” He shoved to his feet and stalked to the front door, slamming out of the house with shattering finality.
As her shoulders began to shake with silent sobs, Daniela covered her face with her hands and wept uncontrollably.
When she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, she looked up in startled surprise to find her mother standing there, wearing overalls and her favorite wide-brimmed straw hat.
Daniela gulped in a breath. “I didn’t know you were home, Mom,” she mumbled.
“I was in the backyard working in my garden,” Pamela said quietly. “I heard shouting, so I came inside to see what all the commotion was about. Once I realized what was going on, I stayed in the kitchen.”
“Y—You heard everything?”
“I heard enough.” Pamela’s expression was full of tender sympathy as she sat beside her daughter and gently gathered her into her arms. “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry,” she said soothingly as a fresh wave of heartbroken sobs racked Daniela’s body.
Long after the emotional storm receded, Daniela remained in her mother’s arms, comforted by her rocking motions.
“I made a terrible mistake, Mom,” she whispered hoarsely.
“Sounds like you did,” Pamela murmured in agreement.
“He’s never going to forgive me.”
“You don’t know that for sure. Sounds to me like Caleb really cares for you. He wouldn’t have been so angry if he didn’t.” She ran soothing hands up and down Daniela’s back. “I don’t know all the details, but it’s going to be all right, baby. One way or another, it’s going to be all right.”
Daniela wished she could believe her mother. But as she remembered the cold, lethal fury in Caleb’s eyes, she knew she had to accept reality.
Caleb was never going to forgive her.
In that moment, she wondered if she’d ever be able to forgive herself.
35
Dear Caleb,
I’ve started and deleted this message so many times I’ve lost count. I’m not sure I’ll have the courage to hit send this time, but here goes. I know I’m the absolute last person you want to hear from. You’ve probably blocked my number by now. But if there’s a one in a million chance of this message reaching you, I hope you’ll read it before deleting it. I never got the chance to tell you why I came into your life. The simple truth? I wanted to buy my mother her dream ranch. Though I can never repay her for everything she’s done for me, I wanted to at least try. I know that sounds like a lame cop-out, but it’s the truth. She’s always been there for me, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make her happy. I convinced myself it was okay because your father was a terrible person, just another corrupt billionaire who deserved to be taken down. But I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I’m so ashamed of myself for repaying his kindness with lies. I wouldn’t blame him for wanting revenge. Even my brothers are dreading some sort of retaliation. If it’s any consolation, my mother was absolutely mortified when she learned why we accepted theassignment. On one hand, she was touched that we wanted to bless her with the home she and my father had always dreamed of owning. But she didn’t approve of our methods, and that’s putting it mildly. She was livid. She gave us all the silent treatment for an entire week, and sometimes when she looks at me, I can still see the disappointment in her eyes.
I could give you all the excuses in the world for my horrible actions, but the fact of the matter is, there’s no justification for what I did to you. I hope you know how truly sorry I am for hurting you and betraying your trust. Please believe me when I say what we had was real for me. Every laugh, every smile, every touch, every kiss, every late-night conversation, every time we made love, I felt you deep down in my soul. You are the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to me, Caleb. You made me believe in true love, and now I’ll have to learn to live without it.
Caleb reread Daniela’s text, his jaw clenched tight. Every word on the screen twisted the knife deeper in his gut. Every phrase was like a fresh wound, every sentiment a cruel reminder of the future he’d been denied. He fucking hated her for deceiving him, for turning his world upside down, for rendering him pathetic enough to believe he could have it all.
“Thought I’d find you out here.”
Caleb looked up from his glowing phone screen as Evander stepped from the house. The sounds of laughter and music spilled out onto the covered back patio before he closed the glass door behind him.
Caleb jammed his phone in his pocket and turned away as Evander walked over and handed him a cold beer before joining him at the railing.
