Page 45 of Park Avenue Princess

Chapter 13

Lynne

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” I mutter to myself.

Splashing cold water on my face does little to remove the red blotches, but only manages to remove what little makeup I had remaining. Not that I care anymore. I don’t need to impress anyone.

Liar!

I take in a deep breath and slowly release. Fine. I hate that Guy will see me like this, breaking down, unable to hold it together.

Again.

More stupid tears threaten and I’m so tired of it! I’m not a whimpering female who can’t control her emotions. Usually. But the information my father told me about Hamilton. About Mom…

I startle as a light knock sounds on the door.

“Just a moment, I’ll—”

I don’t get the chance to say more as Guy enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him and locking it.

“What…” I lower my head, unable to face him or even let him see my reflection in the mirror. “Please go, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“No.”

I whip my head up, looking at him in the mirror. His face is neutral, same as his tone. I spin around, anger over-riding embarrassment.

“No?”

“No,” he simply states again. And before I can spew another word—because that’s exactly what I feel like doing—he steps to me, cupping my cheeks. “I’m here for you, Lynne, whatever you need. I asked you not to run. Let me help.”

“You can’t help. What are you going to do? Run to daddy and ask him to stop being a bad man?” I say snidely, unable to suppress the pettiness. “To stop stealing and conniving? To leave my parents alone?”

I see his jaw tighten. “If that’s what it takes. We confront him with this.” I’m poised to interrupt but Guy continues as he softly kneads my neck. “We go back, follow the money trail, find evidence if we can of when this all began. We certainly have the current information in our pockets. We get all the details from your father, see what records he’s kept all these years. We get names, dates, figures. We get it all.”

“We? You’re willing to take down your own father? And what about your mother? What will this do to her? And what if your father still decides to unleash the horrific information he has on my mo—” I pinch my lips to stop myself from saying more. I just wish I could make this nightmare go away.

“What does my father have on your parents? On your mother?” His tone is soft, imploring as he ignores my other concerns.

“I can’t,” I whisper. “There’s more, but… I, I can’t…”

“Yes, you can.” He pulls me in, circling those strong, protective arms around me, and I latch on. Once again I give in and take what he’s offering. Selfishly. “It goes no further than you and me if that’s what you want. But I don’t know how to fully help if I don’t have the entire story.” He pulls back to make me look him in the eye. “There’s no judgement,” he says, concern etched on his face.

“Why?” I whisper.

“Why, what?”

“Why are you so willing to help me? To possibly turn on your own father? For me?”

“Blood or not, if my father is behind this, it needs to stop.Heneeds to be stopped.” His face now softens. “And because if you haven’t figured it out, I care about you. I fell in love with you six years ago and I’ve never stopped thinking of you.”

I shake my head again, unbelieving. Daring not to hope.

“Yes, Lynne. Tell me you never thought about me.” His hands trail down my arms to link with my hands, lifting them. “Tell me wearing this bracelet means nothing to you.” He kisses my wrist where the gold chain rests, the sand dollar dangling. “You can’t.”

With another shake of my head, he stills me with his next words, said with such earnest.

“I love you.”

---