Page 162 of Merciless Intents

She flew on my father’s private jet? Now Iknewsomething didn’t seem right. Sebastian would never justloansomething out like that. Fuck, I’d never even known him to help anyone unless it would benefit him in some way, and I couldn’t think of a single way Rick getting his daughter back would help him.

Unless, of course, my father planned to use Temperance as leverage. He wasn’t above that. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past him at all, but I hadn’t noticed any issues. He hadn’t said or even acted any differently regarding Rick. They both had a push and pull friendship. They both did favors for one another all the time because it benefited the other, but the private jet thing… That’s not the type of thing Sebastian would do withoutgoodreason.

My hand absentmindedly moved to rest on my stomach as if it would settle it in some way.

I scoffed. “Yeah…safer.” I shook my head in disgust. “After everything she’d been through, you launched a full assault on her. Why, Harper? I don’t fucking understand. I hadnoneof the knowledge you do, and even I was convinced she didn’t deserve it. I just went along with it because I’m a selfish prick, and I was getting something too good to pass up out of the deal. But you…youknew. You knew, and youstillwent along with it. You stillaskedfor it, for more pain for her. You saw what had happened to her and somehow thought it wasn’t enough. So,why?”

“I don’t know!” she shouted, tears forming in her eyes. “And now that I’ve seen…” Her hands covered her face as her head shook back and forth quickly. “Now that I’ve seen what happened… Watched her parents die and saw her thrown like she was… Watched how she was wounded so badly and almost died herself…” She sniffled, and her eyes met mine. “I feel terrible.”

My face fell as I stared into her eyes. “You… You feelterrible?” I asked incredulously. “Are you fucking serious? Youknewthose things already! There’snoway Rick didn’t tell you the details of what happened to herbeforeshe ever even arrived! In fact, I’d wager he told you he found Temperance, and you threw a fit. You probably begged him to leave her be and have nothing to do with her.”

“Of course! She was fuckingpoor—”

I was so shocked I couldn’t even allow her to finish. “What the fuck doesthathave anything to do with it? That’s fucking low, Harper, and you should knowjusthow awful that sounds ifI’mthe one calling it out.”

“Ugh! Jesus, Damian! Would you stop interrupting me? I had a good reason, damnit.” I put all my weight on my right foot, relaxing the other as my arms crossed over my chest while I stared at her expectantly. She rolled her eyes before continuing. “She was poor. She had nothing. If you were her, and you found out you were adopted, andthenyou discovered your biological father is not only a senator, but arichsenator with generational wealth, what wouldyoudo?”

She gave me a triumphant “I gotcha” look, but I wasn’t having it.

“You’re right.Iwould have gotten every damn penny I could have out of him. So would you.” She nodded, and her knowing smile spread, but I wanted to wipe it off her face. “That’sus, Harper. We aren’t her. We’re both assholes. Selfish fucking assholes withzeromorals to speak of. She, however, was raised better than both of us. Sheisbetter than both of us. You judged her all because she was poor.”

“Well, that’s mighty fucking magnanimous of you, but I can’t fucking change it now. Get off my back.”

I raised my brows. “Get off your back? You tortured this girl,your goddamn sister!You betrayed family. Youliedto me. You broke not one butbothmy golden rules, and I willnotget off your back. You will fucking pay for this.”

That got her attention.

She swallowed hard. “What are you going to do? I feel bad enough already.” She sighed. “I tried to apologize to her. I tried to make it right.” A scowl then marred her beauty. “But she turned me away. She turned her back on me, too, so don’t give me that self-righteous bullshit. She’s no better. I have nothing right now, and she still turned on me like she swore she’d never do. She’s a piece of shit like the rest of us. You just put her on some kind of weird pedestal because you’re in love with her. Leave me alone.”

Her statement made my brain want to shrivel, die, and leak out of my ears into two puddles on the floor. How thefuckcould she see things that way? Temperance hated me, and I wasfullyaware of why. I wasfullyaware I deserved every last ounce of her disdain. I was awful to her.

But Harper had been worse. I was cold and brutal to a stranger. Harper went after her own sister. She’d held Temperance to an impossible standard and then blamed her for a failure that was no failure at all.No onewould have been able to withstand everything Harper had pulled and still manage to give her one last chance. The fact her ass wasn’t in jail was enough to tell me Temperancehadn’tturned her back on her. Not really. She just had no desire to try to be her friend anymore or whatever it was she had in mind.

And now knowing Harper was the only living relative she had outside of Rick—and that it would have felt like a betrayal to replace a man like her father, who’d been so good to her—I had to assume Temperance would have had high hopes for Harper. For a chance to have a sibling.

Goddamn you, Damian.The more I spoke to Harper, the more I hated myself because I was no better, no matter what I said.

“You could have called off the bet,” I snapped. “You could have told me you were done, but you didn’t.” I shook my head and turned before pacing back and forth in the bathroom.

What the hell happened now? Temperance had been through hell. If everything Harper had said was true, then Temperance was in danger back in Indiana, but because of what I’d done, she wasn’t safe here, either. Though one could argue with the number of times she’d been injured or emotionally damaged since being here, she’dneverbeen safe at Crestview.

Who possibly could have figured out who she was? If Rick had been looking for her all those years, and he hadn’t found her, who the hell did? Something didn’t smell right. The story just seemed… off. I was never wrong, and now knowing my obsession over Harper and Temperance was warranted and that I’d been right, I doubted I was wrong here, either.

“There’s more to this story,” I said.

She groaned and lifted her hands palm-side up. “Youalwayssay that.”

“Yeah, and I’m never wrong. I called you out when you first asked me to hunt down Temperance and send her packing, but you were a clever little liar, weren’t you?”

She shrugged. “So was she. Hell, half the lies I told you were ofhercreation. She’s not above self-deprecating lies if it saves her ass. She told whatever she knew would save her ass and that I’d go along with.”

My face scrunched up. “You’re confusing as hell. Do you realize that? One minute you’re crying over what happened to her, saying you’re sorry. The next minute, you’re talking shit about her, and the tone of your voice is so hateful. Which is it? Love or hate?”

Her jaw ticked as her nostrils flared. She didn’t like being called out. “None of your fucking business.” We both stood, staring in silence at one another for several moments. “So, what now?”

I scoffed again and threw my hands up. “I don’t fucking know.” A sigh escaped me as my head fell back. There was a water spot on the ceiling I’d never noticed before, but then again, it was the girls’ bathroom, and I wasn’t in here often. “She has to go.”

“What? Still? Didn’t you just snap at me that I could have ended the bet?”

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