Page 42 of Shattered Union

Chloe gapes at her. "Really?"

Ava smiles widely. "Really, hun. So, can I?"

Chloe nods. "It's only a small show. The bigger one happens later on in the year."

Ava and Callie both shrug. "We'll both be there for the two of them," Callie tells her with a wink.

A man taps the bar with his glass.

"Ah, duty calls," Callie says. "Let me know if you need anything."

I watch on as she moves down the bar and smiles at the old guy who’s waiting to be served. Fuck, she’s so close and yet so far away from me.

“Dad, what are you going to do?” Chloe asks me once Ava’s out of earshot.

I turn back to my daughter. “About what?”

She rolls her eyes at me, looking so much like her mother. “About Callie,” she hisses. “I stormed in here, shouting and screaming and instead of telling me to get lost. She told me what happened. Do you love her?”

I’m not talking about my fucking love life with my thirteen-year-old daughter. “Yeah, Chlo, I do, but there’s so much shit to sort out. It’s going to take a while. But while I’m married to your ma, nothing’s going to happen.”

She nods thoughtfully. “What has she got on you, Da?”

I stare at my daughter in disbelief. “What?”

“Da, I’m not stupid. I’ve known what Ma’s like since I was little. I know she has something, or you’d have ended the farce of a marriage a long time ago if she hadn’t. So what is it? Surely nothing is worth the hassle of dealing with her for the rest of your life.”

I debate whether or not to tell her. In the end I settle for giving her the basics. “Your ma has evidence against one of your siblings.”

She shakes her head in disgust. “It has to be either Danny or Holly. The rest of us aren’t yours.”

I blink. “Excuse me?” I bark out, wondering what the fuck she means by that.

She shrugs. “It’s not like Ma kept it a secret, Da, she’s let me know I was never yours and Danny was your pride and joy.”

Fuck me. That motherfucking bitch.

“I’m proud of all my children, Chlo, all of you. I don’t have favourites.”

She glances away, her shoulders bunched up to her ears. “But, I’m not your actual daughter. Only Danny and Holly are yours.”

A red haze forms over me. God, that bitch.

“Where did you hear?” I ask her. My fists clenching. I want nothing more than to track down her mother and strangle the fucking cunt.

“Ma, she told me. Da, she hates us, she never wanted kids, so why the hell does she keep popping them out?” She shakes her head.

“Chlo—”

She shakes her head. “It’s okay, Da,” she whispers.

No it fucking isn’t. “Peanut, it’s far from fucking okay. Your ma is a fucking bitch and I’m sorry I’ve not protected you from her.” I’ve done a piss poor job protecting all my kids from the evilness of their ma.

“What has she got on you, Da?”

“It’s a flash drive. Danny and Melissa are working on locating the bank we think she’s got a safe deposit box at.”

She blinks. “Oh, you mean the BOD?”

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