Page 63 of Knot a Tie
“Try it,” I snarl. “You always said you admired my loyalty, well, admire this. You go after Richard, and you go after me. If you never want to see me again, then be my guest and make good on your little contract, but know that I will fight to the death for him. For all of them. They have given me something so special in the little time I’ve known them, and I’m not giving up on any of them. They need me as much as I need them. You can take what I’ve given you about Mick. I will sit here and discuss the ins and outs of it with you like adults, so you have everything you need to send him down. But you leave Richard alone. I’m not saying it again, so nod your head if you understand me.”
My heart is pounding as I talk to my father in a way that I would never have dreamed of before this moment.
“You’re choosing him over your own family?” he scoffs.
“Heismy family,” I counter.
“I will see them all burned to the ground,” he hisses, beyond furious with me.
“Why?” I ask, confounding him into stepping back. “What is the point of this?”
“To protect you,” he replies calmly, even though his eyes are still stormy. “You are my daughter, Rayne and you deserve better than a low life criminal.”
“Even if he wants to change? Even if he knows he has done wrong and wants to make amends for that? Who are you to judge a person so harshly?”
He doesn’t answer me.
He can’t.
There is nothing he can say that will convince me otherwise, and I think he realises that now.
“If you walk out of that door and go to them, you won’t be welcome in my house anymore,” he says eventually.
His words stab me in the heart, but they don’t change my mind. “I’m sorry you’ve said that, Daddy. I thought this was about justice and getting the bad guys, but really, it’s just a vendetta against a man who is lost. I hope you change your mind. You know where to find me if you do.”
I stalk past him, clutching my bag strap tight enough to turn my knuckles white.
“Rayne, I’m warning you…”
“Don’t,” I say, holding my hand up. “You want to disown me, then you don’t get to warn me about anything. Richard saved my life. James, Spencer, William and Cameron, took me into their home to keep me safe, to keepyousafe, and this is how you repay them? Shame on you, Daddy. Shame on you.”
Eyes straight forward, I walk out of the small room, feeling light-headed and sick. I didn’t want this to happen. I didn’t even think itcouldhappen. What actually just happened? Did I fight for the men I’ve chosen and lose my dad? Is that what just happened? How? Why? What fucked up shit is this?
This is all Mick’s fault, and I will make sure he pays, one way or another.
“Rayne,” Daddy’s voice rings out, but I ignore him. “Don’t do this.”
“Same to you,” I call back, but don’t stop walking.
When I approach the lift, the doors slide open and there are the men I’ve just fought valiantly for. Well, most of them.
They take one look at the tears in my eyes, and they gather around me, giving me the reassurance and love that I need right now.
It gives me the strength I need to say the next words. “We’re going back to that house to find Richard, and we are bringing him home.”
ChapterThirty-Four
Rayne
James gathers me to him, embracing me and giving me the comfort I so desperately need. I try not to sob into his chest. Drawing in his pinecone scent, it immediately soothes my ravaged soul. I turn my face and press my cheek over his heart. Listening to it beating steadily, I pull myself together as the lift dings to open.
“Let’s go,” Spencer murmurs, placing his hand on my back.
“Rayne, wait!” my dad’s voice rings out over the bullpen.
James lets go of me and steps in front, barricading me from my dad. “I think we’re done here,” he says, folding his arms over his chest and planting his feet.
“Move,” Daddy says in a tone that can only be described as frightening.
