Page 71 of The Way You Bite
“What did Dominic do?” Blay demanded.
Oh my God.This was her biological father.Don’t be intimidated.She broke the stare with him to gingerly sat upright. Muscles ached. Her head spun. “You must be…Dad? Or do you prefer Father?”
“Call me whatever you wish.”
“Dad?” Trace repeated dully. The horror on Trace’s face shredded her heart.
Don’t hate me, please.Forcing bravery, she said, “He didn’t fill you in on that gem, Trace? I was told by the wolves that Mom and this guy started their fling long before I was born. Dominic’s not really my father.”
Trace’s thoughts bombarded her.It’s bullshit. They’re playing her for some reason.Out loud, he said, “It’s not true. If so, you were…you’d be a…” He inhaled sharply. “A mix?”
Blay moved to stand between her and Trace. Protective?
“It’s not my fault, if it’s true.” The abomination of a mix would go against every code of purity they’d both been brought up to believe as law in the Scarpa household.
“I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. You’re still Vee. Still my sister,” Trace said.It’s bullshit.
She smoothed wrinkles in her shirt. “How did you end up here, Trace?”
“We planned to get you back and tracked you to that house. This wolf knocked me out during the fight.”
She scooted to see around Blay. “What exactly was the plan for me when you got me, Trace?”
“Everyone had their own plans. Ambrose, Dominic, Hsu-Li. I planned to get you the hell away from the wolves, and then away. Anywhere away. Safe. Maybe with Aunt Carol.”
“Our sister just married into the New York vamps where Carol lives. Dominic owns that territory now. How could you even think to put her at risk like that?”
“Carol has many connections. It’s why most vamps steer clear of her. She’s your best bet of getting out of the country at this point.”
“Where’s Lexan?” she asked Blay.
“He’s dealing with political minutiae. I would still like an answer to what Dominic did to you. Exactly.”
Relief whooshed through Vee. Lexan lived. He was here. When no one around her was speaking, she glanced up. What had they been talking about? Right. Her and Dominic. “I’m not sure this makes great father-daughter getting-to-know-each-other conversation.”
Blay glowered. “Tell me what the sadistic guttersnipe did.”
“Dominic and I have never gotten along. I’ve never bowed to his dictates easily, which meant sometimes he got mean. I got mean back. We both got hurt.” She shrugged, unwilling to relive the specifics of the past.
Trace said softly, “She barely survived one or two of those when she was a teenager.”
“I held my own just fine.”
“How could you not kill Dominic for that?” Blay growled at Trace.
“It’s not his fault. He would’ve. I asked him not to.” Vee wished she could jump up and tell Blay to back off of Trace, but she was still acclimating to sitting upright.
“I, too, would like to know why Trace put up with Dominic’s behavior,” Lexan said from the doorway. He added telepathically to her,“You okay?”
Her heart slammed into her ribs so hard that it stole her breath.
Okay from what? Ingesting blood or issues with Dominic. She wanted to end the Dominic discussion. It resurrected bad memories buried long ago.
“Sis, you’re in serious danger. How can you pass for vamp and none of us ever picked it up? I mean, if anyone got a whiff, especially Dominic, you’d be—”
“Executed,” she finished.
“I still don’t detect anything.” Trace sniffed in her direction and shook his head.This is a scam. Don’t fall for these guys’ bullshit.
