Page 67 of Wicked & Wildflower

“Dahlia.” My father’s tone is clipped and stern. “Do not victimize yourself here. You had no problem passing her off to us when you wanted your free time.”

My stomach drops at that.He’s so full of shit. I never passed her off to anyone. He’d demand time with her and have my mother coax me into it by telling me I deserved a day off.

“Not to mention all the financial support we provided you over the years.”

Angry tears sting behind my eyes. Never have I encountered a person with quite the knack for manipulating the truth. The fucking king of gaslighting.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I ask.

“You know why, Dahlia.”

I bite my lip, furiously wiping at my eyes and willing the emotion from my voice. Anything to appear unaffected by him. “Are you telling me that if I gave you back those files right now, if I burned that thumb drive, destroyed it, you’d leave us alone?”

“Despite what you may think of me, the gift for Lucille was genuine. I’ll never not want a relationship with my grandchild.”Liar.“But once we put this blackmail nonsense behind us, if you prefer I cease contact with you and your daughter, I’ll respect that.” He pauses before adding, “I could get Jason off your back too. You know, he’s quite upset with your decision to move his child out of state without informing him.”

“So you admit you told him in order to fuck with me?”

He clicks his tongue. “Don’t cuss, Dahlia. It’s unbecoming.”

My hand tightens around the phone against my ear, yearning to crack it in half. He’s impossible to talk to, impossible to battle with. It makes me want to scream. Despair and fear and dread war inside my bones, fighting for their place on top as I realize I’ll never win with him. I’ll never escape him. He’ll never stop having this control over me, this ability to put me in my place and make me want to cower.

My phone vibrates, and I pull it away momentarily to check the notification. A message from Everett pops up across the screen, letting me know he’s on his way over to Heathen’s from the garage. I breathe a bit easier knowing he’ll be here soon and this conversation with my father will be over; it brings me some ounce of comfort.

“You know who loves my unbecoming mouth, Dad?” I smile, feeling a wave of bravery wash through me. “Everett. You remember him, don’t you? The man who had you pushed up against the wall, his elbow against your throat as you gasped for air?”

My father scoffs. “Whatever game you’re playing doesn’t phase me, Dahlia. I’m not interested in your flavor of the week.”

“I’ve been enjoying him for many weeks now, actually.”

“Save yourself the slightest amount of dignity, will you?” His tone drips with pure disgust. “I mean, I gave up hope for you some time ago, but you speak of being the village whore like it’s something to beproudof.” He sighs. “I don’t know where we went wrong.”

His voice is a razor blade along my skin, all of the bravery and courage and comfort dripping from my body, like blood seeping out of the wounds he leaves behind. I’ve lost another battle.

“I’m hanging up,” I choke out, shaking with the tears I can no longer keep at bay.

As I pull my phone from my ear, I hear him say, “Don’t act like that, and I won’t have to respond so harshly. Have a civilized conversation for once and see how far we might get.”

“Okay, fine.” I will the trembling out of my voice as I say, “What do I have to do to never speak to you again? To get Jason off my back? To get you to leave us alone?”

“Give me back the thumb drive,” he says immediately. “Ensure there are no duplicates of the information you obtained andprove that to me. I’ll happily fly back out there to collect it myself.”

“Really? That’s it?”

“I want a conversation with your sister. I want to see her—withouthimaround.”

Of course, he does. Of course, he wants to see his golden child. His true daughter. He’s all too happy to throw me away for good, but he’ll fight for Darby.

“That’s not up to me. That’s up to her.”

He lets out an incredulous laugh. “Is it? Because she seems to make every decision based on your guidance. If you told her to sit down and give me a chance, you know she would.”

“You are terrified,” I scoff. “You’re getting desperate. You know the moment she’s married, you’ll have well and truly lost her. Once her last name is Graham, you’ll lose any chance you think you still have of getting your perfect child back. That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? We both know I’m only really blackmailing you to keep you away from her.” I can't stop the hot tears from running down my cheeks now. I want him to hear the emotion in my voice, hear how much he has broken me. “And from Leo. Because I know you better than you think I do. I know there are no lengths you won’t reach to get that control back. I mean, fuck.” A wretched laugh escapes me. “You’re using your own grandchild as a weapon. Bringing Jason back into the picture? Threatening my custody? That’s all a ploy, right? Hoping to get her and me back in Kansas with the assumption Darby will follow? Youknowhow awful Jason is, and you’d actually put Lou at risk if it meant the slightest possibility of Darby coming home.”

My voice cracks, nearly three decades of heartbreak flooding out of me.

The black sheep.

The lost cause.

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