Page 111 of Fierce King (L.A. Ruthless 1)

He frowned at me. ‘You know why. I would have gone to jail for the rest of my life, sweetheart. He threatened to expose me.’

I shook my head. ‘But with what, Dad? The information he has on you could damage his business beyond repair. Why would he ever expose it?’

His frown turned to a scowl. ‘For lots of reasons, Alana.’

‘Such as?’

He snorted and shook his head. ‘You wouldn’t understand. I’ve always protected you too much, and in doing that, I’ve failed you. I can see that now. You don’t have a clue how the real world works, sweetheart.’

I wondered if he actually believed any of that bull-crap. ‘But that’s just it, Dad. I do. And what you told me just doesn’t add up. Not to mention that two days before my wedding, your campaign received a three million dollar donation from The Montoya Corporation. So, I’ll ask you again. Why did you force me to marry Alejandro Montoya, because it sure as hell wasn’t to stop him from ratting you out to the Feds like you told me?’

He scowled at me. ‘He’s been filling your head full of lies about me. And like a stupid little girl, you believe him?’ he hissed.

‘I’ve seen the papers myself, Dad. And I am not a stupid little girl.’

‘I can’t believe you would believe that animal over your own father!’ he spat.

‘You think he’s an animal?’

‘I know he is!’

‘Then why the hell did you sell your only daughter to him?’ I snapped.

He jumped up from his chair. ‘How dare you come into this house and accuse me,’ he shouted, spittle flying from his mouth. ‘You ungrateful little bitch. I tried to give you a better life. And it was no easy feat either, convincing him to take you on.’

‘What?’ I looked up at him as my legs started to tremble.

‘Yes, that’s right. I had to do a real sales job on him. I convinced him you were some fun-loving Manhattan socialite who would be able to hold her own in his world, instead of a boring bookworm who would rather spend her Saturday nights working than going out with her friends. But of course, you don’t have any friends, do you, Alana? You never did have.’

I stood up until I was staring him in the face. ‘I never had friends because you insisted on making me work on your campaign every spare hour I had.’

He laughed in my face. ‘I did that to give you some purpose in your life, Alana. Without me, you would be nothing. I arrange your marriage to the King of fucking L.A and even that’s not good enough for you. And now that he’s seen you for who you really are, he’s tossed you aside. So, you’ve come crawling back to me trying to blame me for the fact that he doesn’t want you. I hope he realizes he doesn’t get a refund for returning you. You’re used goods now, sweetheart!’

I felt the sting of his words like a slap to my face. I choked down a sob. He would never see me cry.

I was Alana fucking Montoya!

‘You couldn’t be more wrong. Alejandro loves me because of who I really am, not because of who he tries to make me be, or who you tried to convince him I was. You sold me to him, Dad. You sold your only daughter to a man you knew to be a ruthless killer. You call him an animal, but you are a monster.’

He raised his arm and brought the back of his hand crashing down against my cheek so hard that my head snapped backwards. ‘You ungrateful little whore,’ he raged at me.

I backed away from him as he advanced towards me with his fist in the air.

Paulo came through the kitchen door so fast that I hardly had time to process the fact that he was in the room until he had my father in a choke hold.

My father struggled. ‘Get off me,’ he sputtered as he flailed against Paulo’s superior strength.

‘If I let you go, are you going to sit your ass down?’ Paulo snarled.

‘Yes,’ my father choked.

Paulo released him and my father stumbled to a chair, rubbing his throat. ‘What the hell are you doing. You work for me,’ he rasped.

I looked at Paulo and he nodded at me. ‘Actually, I work for Mr. and Mrs. Montoya,’ he said as he glared at my father.

‘What?’ my father snarled. ‘But you’remysecurity.’

‘I am. But I am employed by The Montoya Corporation. I was selected by Mr. Montoya himself to protect you, and also to keep an eye on his investments.’

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