Page 92 of Make You Love Me

“Where the fuck is Leah? What did you do to finally convince her to leave me?”

I’m met with an amused silence from Ethel. “Tell me!” I yell.

“It was quite easy, actually. Your perfect little Leah isn’t as smart as we all think she is,” Ethel crooned.

“What the hell are you talking about? Tell me where Leah is!” I’m losing my patience with this woman.

“She loved you, I’ll give her that. Even when I told her she wouldn’t be able to give you a family, she said she didn’t care. That you guys could just adopt. She said she would never give you up… until I gave her no other option.” Why does she get so much enjoyment out of hurting her only child?

Leah and I had talked about that scenario. We knew it was a chance she wouldn’t be able to have a baby, but I told her without any hesitation that no matter what, I wanted her. We would find a way to have a family of our own.

I grab her by the shoulders. “Stop playing games with me. Tell me what the fuck happened?”

Laughing in my face, not scared at all, she says, “I know you’re a killer, Smith. But you won’t kill me. You don’t have it in you. You could barely handle killing thatSavage.”

Immediately, I drop my hands from her shoulders like she’s on fire. How the fuck does she know that? My stomach churns with anxiety.

Ethel lets out another venomous laugh. "See, not so smart after all. She wrote about that night in her journal. Even though it was in a lockbox in her closet, I had been going into it every so often since you two started seeing each other. I knew she would slip up, I just never thought it would be something quite that useful. I knew threatening you and your family would get Leah to agree to anything… even leaving you.”

Too stunned by Ethel's knowledge of that night to speak… it's not only me who could go down for the things we covered up. I've been told ever since I was a kid that if anything ever went down to call my dad or a brother first. The cops in our town have it out for anyone and anything related to the Rebel Knights. I know the few deputies we can trust, but you never know who may show up when you call. I just hate Leah was even the slightest bit involved that night.

Damn baby. I should have let her talk about that night more, but it was hard enough to live through it. I know writing her thoughts and feelings out in her journal was always therapeutic for her.

“Look Smith, it’s just business. My daughter was never meant to be with a low life like you. She’s the granddaughter of a steel tycoon, not a biker princess. The best thing you can do is just forget about her.”

That snapped me out of my shock-filled daze. “It’s not just fucking business… it's our life! I could never forget her. She deserves to be with me. She deserves to be happy, especially after everything she’s been through. NO ONE will love her the way I do. How can you do this to your own flesh and blood? You are a sick fucking bitch!”

She shrugs her shoulders without a care in the world. My words having little to no effect on her whatsoever. “She’ll get over you eventually. Money talks, she’ll find someone who can take care of her. Don’t worry,” she says nonchalantly.

That thought has me feeling rage like I never have in my life and punching a hole in the foyer wall. “Fuck you!” I yell at her as my hand starts to bleed. No amount of pain could surpass what I feel right now with the knowledge that she has truly found a way to keep the love of my life away from me.

How can I go on without her? We were supposed to be for life… forever. Seahorses.

“Smith, I suggest you leave before I call the cops, and let's be honest… I have a lot I can tell them. The Rebel Knights and your daddysure know how to cover up a murder, don't they?”

Fuck, I would never want my dad to take the fall for that night. He did what was best for all of us without starting a war with the Savages or taking a chance that the dirty cops in our town would try to turn something around on me. She knows exactly how to play me and right now she’s holding all the cards. I have no moves left.

Her voice is like nails on the chalkboard. “Oh, and one more thing Smith. If I find out you have tried to contact my daughter in any way, shape, or form, there will be consequences. Don’t think I won’t take her down with you. Sounded to me like she was an eyewitness who intentionally withheld evidence from law enforcement. I would rather her go to prison than witness her marry you.”

My soul burns for Leah with this knowledge. Not just because I know this truly means it's over but also the fact her own mother would do something so cruel to such a beautiful person. A person she created.

Heading towards her door before I do something I can never take back, I say, “You may think you’re better than me Ethel. You have more money… a bigger home, but Money can’t buy you everything and you certainly can’t take it with you to hell.”

Ethel gets herself together as she finally stands to address me.

“Now Smith, I wouldn’t call it blackmail. I was looking out for my daughter’s best interests.”

I laugh as I throw the copies we made down on her desk. “Don’t worry if they get wet. We have plenty more where that came from.” After G and Lottie came to me with all the paperwork that James had given them, I shared what was in the envelope James had addressed to me, feeling it was right they heard the whole story from me. Once it was all out on the table, we made a plan to confront her together and I asked to speak with Ethel alone first.

I see her trying to decipher what the papers mean and I take joy in elaborating for her. “Did you have Leah’s best interest in mind when you created a fund in her memory so that you could launder money for yourself?”

I see the minute her facial expression changes and she puts my words with what she’s seeing on the papers. “Yep, that’s right. It's all there from the last several years. Hell, just last week’s Gala has thousands unaccounted for.”

I chuckle spitefully as I stand and say, “Well, that’s not true. It is accounted for. It was moved into your offshore account and then transferred into the country club's checking account. Isn’t that right Ethel? You ran out of funds to get that club going years ago so instead of making an honest living you did the unthinkable.”

I move closer to get into her sullen face. “You used your dead daughter’s name and disease to keep you up. And to think you once called me a low life. YOU, Ethel Richmond, are the scum of the earth,” I say slowly and sternly, hoping she hears every fucking word.

I remember when I first started dating Leah. She would tell me little things her mother had said or done, and I was always shocked because there was really no better person than Leah. She was smart, classy, fun, kind, focused, and loyal. Even when she started living on the wild side with me, she was still a parent’s dream. It wasn’t until Leah left me that I realized how truly evil the lady she had grown up with was. I am beyond thankful that after she passed away her grandparents raised Lottie.

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