Page 215 of Unravelling The Beast

As I study his reaction, he doesn’t seem confused, he doesn’t look surprised, and he just stares at me. I gulp the entire glass of bourbon back in one shot and hiss as it hits the pit of my stomach.

I sit forward, placing my empty glass on the table before resting my forearms on my knees and looking him in the eyes.

“Did you set me up with your fucking daughter on purpose?”

While maintaining eye contact, he takes a small sip of his drink before lowering it to his thigh and eventually speaking with a serious tone.

“When I found out you were dating my daughter, I was one call away from having you killed.”

I inhale deeply as I look away, recognizing that all my senses and thoughts were right. When he speaks again, my focus swiftly returns to him.

“I know exactly what you are, Arlo, and I never wanted that for my daughter. I have protected her from all this ever since she graced this horrific world.”

My eyebrow raisesas I respond.

“So, why the fuck didn’t you?”

He lets out a long, heavy sigh and sits forward while stroking his hand over his gray stubble before speaking.

“The more I looked into you, the more I saw that my daughter was safe since you don’t kill women and we share similar values.”

I shake my head, confused.

“But you know I killed my wife. You’re not fucking stupid; you know everything.”

He gives a small nod before standing, and I watch him as he moves around a little, thinking, before he suddenly halts and side-eyes me with his back to me.

“But you don’t remember that night, do you?”

My jaw tenses and I look down as I answer flatly.

“No.”

“Your father was a wicked man, Arlo.”

I lift my head as he turns around, and I narrow my eyes on him, becoming irritated.

“Why the hell didn’t you stop all this sooner? Wren got taken and if I didn’t get there as quick as I did—”

“Yet you did.”

He squints his eyes at me as he takes another sip of his drink and I challenge him.

“You fucking tested me. You put your own daughter in harm's way for what? To see if I were up for the fucking challenge?”

He studies me briefly, then sets his empty glass down, picks up the bottle of bourbon, and while pouring us each a glass he begins.

“When I discovered that Charles was preparing to sell Wren, I waited to see how far you were willing to go to save her. I had people watching you the entire time to ensure you were where you needed to be at the right moment. If you hadn't been there, I would have killed every single one of you, and Wren would have been none the wiser because she probably believed you were dead anyway in that crash.”

I just stare at him in disbelief as he sets the bottle back down and offers me a glass, but I respond.

“Do you have any idea what type of fucking shit she went through?”

He sighs and sets the glass down in front of me because I completely ignored it, and he shrugs his shoulders.

“My daughter has chosen this way of life for you, Arlo. She knew who you were and what you do, yet she decided to be with you nonetheless. She needed to know exactly what she was getting herself into now that she had entered this world and decided to stay.”

He crouches down across from me and continues, looking me dead in the eyes.

---