Page 129 of Chasing Shelter

Trace leaned in, his head dipping so his lips brushed my ear. “Take your time. There’s no rush.”

With his encouragement, I did, but I still came up empty. “There’s nothing. I’ve had a few unpleasant run-ins with people unhappy about the things my father did?—”

“You what?” Linc barked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Arden took his hand, squeezing. “Easy, Cowboy. She doesn’t need your anger, too.”

Linc took a steadying breath and seemed to try to rein himself in. But there was a hint of hurt in his eyes now. “Why didn’t you say anything, El Bell?”

The use of my nickname nearly did me in. And it was so much worse knowing how much I still had to get through. “I needed to deal with it on my own. You would’ve had me moving back into Cope’s compound and tried to go with me everywhere I went. But that’s not a solution. People are mad about what Philip did. They have a right to be. And I’m figuring out a way to deal with it.”

A muscle fluttered in his jaw. “If you were living at Cope’s, this wouldn’t have happened.”

I sighed. “Maybe, maybe not. But that was my choice to make.”

Gabriel cleared his throat. “Can we talk a little about your father?”

A nauseating sensation swept through me. “Sure.”

“Are you two in contact?”

I knew Trace had likely already shared the pieces he knew, but I still went over them. “Not really. He tried right after his arrest, and I never accepted his calls. I changed my number recently, and he tried again. That time, I answered.”

My gaze flicked to Linc. His hazel eyes flashed more gold than green as that muscle in his jaw danced. But he held his tongue.

“What did he want?” Gabriel asked, bringing my attention back to him.

My mouth went dry, like all the moisture had evaporated in a single second, leaving me unable to speak. I reached for Lolli’s tea, taking a sip and fighting a wince at the bite of whiskey.

“It’ll put hair on your chest,” Lolli said with a grin, but I saw the uneasiness in her gaze.

“Not sure that’s a goal of mine, but thanks.”

Shep’s lips twitched as he wrapped an arm around Thea, pulling her closer. A few other people chuckled.

I set the cup back on the side table and pulled up my courage. “He wanted me to go back to New York, to Bradley, to that life. I think he still has some unhinged idea that he’ll get out of the mess he’s in and wants me there when he does.”

Images danced in my head, memories of what that life had been like. Michelin-star dinners with Bradley at restaurants I never liked. Charity functions with Helen, where I felt like I was constantly judged and found lacking. Lobster boils at our house in the Hamptons, where my father watched my every move. Wimbledon with Bradley’s family and my father, where Henrick would bemoan my lack of tennis knowledge.

I was always dancing on a tightrope, trying to keep them all happy. Everyone but me.

Gabriel focused on the notepad as if to give me privacy for his next question. “And how do you feel about that request?”

“That he can shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. And I told him as much. Just like I told him what a crappy father he was. He couldn’t hear it, but that wasn’t why I told him. I told him for me.”

“That’s my girl,” Lolli cheered. “Stick it to the assholes.”

“Lolli,” Nora hissed.

“Good luck,” Rhodes murmured. “She dipped into the spiked tea.”

“Jesus,” Trace muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

Gabriel looked up from his notes as he fought a grin. “Can be freeing, letting loose all those feelings.”

“It was.”

“And have you heard from him since?”

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