“It doesn’t matter.” He stood. “I did what I had to do to protect you.”
Oh, God. I felt the color drain from my face. Was it possible…? My heart stopped.
“You killed her?” I couldn’t believe those words were coming out of my mouth, that I was accusing my father of murder.
“I saved you,” he snapped. His eyes bulged, and his face was beet red. His grip on the glass was so tight his knuckles turned white.
“You left me!” I stood, seething anger filling my veins. “I was seven. I needed my dad, and you left me.” Tears pooled in my eyes and trickled down my face.
“I protected you,” he shouted and threw his glass across the room. It smashed against the wall.
I yelped and jumped back, eyes wide and blurry from my tears.
“I made the problem disappear,” he said more calmly. “And then I took off.” He laughed bitterly and held his arms out. “I left, disappeared for a while, lived off the grid, changed my name again so no one else would connect me to you. I did it to save you, Chloe. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be safe.”
I sniffled and wiped my cheeks. So, that’s why my father walked out of my life—because he was trying to prevent me from being sacrificed to the vampires. It all made sense now, but he killed someone. Granted, he’d done it to protect me, but that didn’t make it right.
“Wait…” I said suddenly. A fresh wave of nausea rolled through me. “Did Mom know about all of this?”
He nodded.
I let out a sound that was a mix between a gasp and a sob, and I once again slapped my hand over my mouth. Mom had known? She’d lied to me my whole life, too? Was there anyone I could trust?
“I never wanted you to know about any of this.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m sorry I left you and your mom. Believe me when I say I never wanted to, but I had no choice. I had to protect you. Even though I knew it broke her heart, your mother understood. She only wanted what was best for you, too.”
His expression was tormented, and a pang of sympathy punched me in the gut. All these years, I’d thought he left because he stopped loving me, but that wasn’t the case at all. He loved me so much he did the unthinkable. It was hard to be mad at him for that, but I also couldn’t stand here and look at him knowing he murdered someone in cold blood.
I swiped at my tears again. “Why did you come back for me now? What happened?”
“Jaxon Halstead happened. He told me if I didn’t come get you, you’d die. After everything I’d done to protect you…” He shook his head. “He gave me his word that if I brought you home with me, he’d go away and leave my family alone for good.”
The mention of Jax had me sucking in a razor-sharp breath. I knew Jax had been behind my father showing up, but to know he promised to disappear forever—he had no right to promise that for Trent.
“I understand why you did what you did, but I can’t…” I hiccupped. “I’m not staying here with you. I’m going back to Keene Valley.”
“I don’t think so.” His face twisted with anger and disbelief. “I’m your father, and—”
“No! You do not get to call yourself my father,” I said through gritted teeth. I pointed at him, my hand trembling with a mixture of rage and fear. “You have never been there for me, not when I was growing up. Not when Mom died. Never when I needed you the most, and you don’t get to suddenly decide to be in my life now.”
“Chloe,” he said, a clear warning in his tone.
“I’m leaving,” I said. “And you’re going to let me go, or I’ll tell Larissa and everyone else what you did.”
He faltered, and the vein in his neck visibly ticked. “Are you threatening me?”
“No.” I shook my head. “But I don’t want to be here. I never did, and I’m going home to stay with Aunt Beth and Uncle Dean.”
“So, that’s it? You’re just going to leave? What am I supposed to tell Larissa?”
I shrugged. “Tell her I’m visiting home for the summer, and then when summer is over, I just won’t come back. I don’t care what you tell her, but I’ve packed my things, and I’m going. Today.” My heart hammered, and my palms were sweaty, but a new energy surged through me.
“Please don’t do this, Chloe.” His voice cracked, and I momentarily questioned my decision. “If you go back there, you’ll die. Jaxon gave me his word, and I gave him mine that you’d never step foot in Keene Valley again.”
I was going to kill Jax the next time I saw him, for more than one reason. “You had no right to make that promise,” I said.
I’d spare my father the heartache of knowing I was in love with the very thing he’d spent his life trying to protect me from, but that was the only thing he was getting from me.
“I never wanted any of this,” he said, his tone defeated.
My throat ached. “Just… do better with Little Frank, okay?” I gave him a sad smile, wiped my tears again, and then walked out of the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
Wanted
MY PALMS WERE SWEATY, AND I thought for sure my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I glanced around nervously, worried who might catch me here. Not that it mattered.
Still, leaving my father’s house like I had, without saying goodbye to Larissa or Little Frank, didn’t sit well with me. But saying goodbye would have meant questions, and I couldn’t handle any of those right now. I could barely handle everything I’d learned over the last twenty-four hours.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked, and the door swung open almost instantly.
“Chloe?” Shock and relief warred
