Page 61 of Wilde Secrets

For all their faults—as nobody was perfect—his dad had loved every one of his children. Unconditionally. And they knew it.

But Harper’s father? Logan would eat his very worn and battered ball cap if that man didn’t try to manipulate Harper in some way.

He watched, lips pressed into a thin line, as she answered the call.

“Hello?”

He hated how small she sounded. There was an explosion of shouting at the other end of the line and tears welled in Harper’s eyes.

She squeezed his hand tighter and right then and there Logan swore he’d do anything he could to help this woman.

She didn’t deserve this.

All she had done was give and give to her family. And then when she made one tiny mistake—possibly the first such one in her life, knowing Harper—they tossed her away.

Logan ground his teeth together as he listened to the one-sided conversation.

“But dad?—”

More yelling from the other end of the line. Logan fought to keep his temper and not yank the phone out of Harper’s hand and tell the man how little he thought of him. Father or no, he was out of line. Nobody spoke to her like that.

Harper pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it, stunned. She shot a glance at Logan who pointed at the speaker button on the screen. Harper nodded and a second later angry shouting blasted through the previous calm of the lakeside house.

Harper swallowed and bit her lip as she listened to her father’s yelling.

“—are you going to apologize for all the trouble you’ve caused?”

“I’m sorry dad, I really am?—”

“You’d better be. And now your sister has gone and it’s your fault!”

Harper’s mouth fell open. “What?”

A humorless laugh came down the line. “That was your plan all along, wasn’t it? Turn her against me. Make her hate me.”

Tears rolled down Harper’s cheeks.

Watching this scene play out hurt more than anything Logan had ever felt. He rubbed at his sternum with his spare hand and then tugged Harper closer, slipping an arm around her shoulders and holding her tight.

“What do you mean Isla’s gone?” She pressed her hand against her mouth, eyes wide as she stared at the phone.

“She left with that bodyguard of hers. The day after you did. I bet she’s with you right now, the two of you laughing about what you’ve done to me!”

She sank against Logan, gripping his tee shirt in white-knuckled fingers.

“I didn’t do anything, dad! You sent me away?—”

“You wanted to go.”

“What? No, I didn’t.”

There was a snort from the other end of the line.

“You need to fix this, girl. Find your sister. Get that album written and get her to the studio to record it.” He mentioned a date barely two weeks away.

“That’s impossible! I don’t know where she is.”

“You had better figure?—”

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