Page 65 of Mine to Love
But her father never once got upset when Sandra would stop to play a game or spend time with his son when she was supposed to be working on some deal.
“She’s the only person I trust and she and I have way more in common than we knew,” her dad said. “Anyway, when Charlie asked to open the office in Lighthouse Cove and I knew that you had moved here?—”
“I’m sorry, how did you know?” Miles asked.
Her father let out a short breath. “I’ve always known where and what my children were doing. I might not have had the correct information because I was too foolish and hurt to examine everything closely, but I kept tabs on them.”
“So, you knew I was pregnant and that I lost my baby?” Tears stung her eyes, but she wasn’t going to cry. Not now. Not in front of her father.
Miles held her closer.
Her dad nodded.
“The anonymous flowers? The basket of my favorite cookies?”
“Yes. That was me,” her dad said softly.
“I want to call you a coward.” Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. She should have known it wasn’t an old friend, or even maybe Charlie.
“I’m sure you want to call me all sorts of names.” Her father held her stare. “But let’s get to how to nail Charlie, and then you can let loose on me, okay?”
She nodded.
“Lighthouse Cove is a unique place. One that shouldn’t be overdeveloped, but there are a lot of older homes and lots that could use a light touch. Not to mention the old mall outside of town and the racetrack. All untapped real estate that, done right, would bring money without the headaches to this town. I’ve done similar things to small towns in South Carolina. It’s different than what I’ve done in other places and I certainly wasn’t opposed to an office here, but not like Charlie wantedto do. So, when he approached me with the idea, it was under specific guidelines. He’s already broken them.”
“I’m sorry, sir. That’s not criminal,” Miles said.
“First, cut the sir crap. My name is Harvey. You might be sleeping with my daughter, and I am a wealthy man, but that doesn’t mean my shit doesn’t stink like everyone else,” her dad said. “And you’re right. It’s not. But embezzling money is.” He lifted documents from the counter and strolled around the island, shoving them at his daughter. “Take a look. I sent this all to the emails that Miles gave me right when I landed. To be honest, because that last email stated that you and Charlie were working things out, I wasn’t going to do anything with this because it would have destroyed someone you cared about and I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“We have it now and that means it went to my father,” Miles said. “He used to be the district attorney, so he’ll know what to do with them and that means we got Charlie no matter what.”
“Only, he should be going away for murder for what he did to my grandchild.” Her father slammed his fist on the counter. “I also blame myself.”
“I blame you for a lot of things, Dad. But you didn’t push me into Charlie’s arms.”
“Maybe not,” her dad said. “But once he found out that you and Gabriel got everything, he went after you and I left you vulnerable. Even after I knew you married him, I did nothing, except try to catch them at something illegal and even then, I sat on it.”
“Because of Charlie’s manipulation,” Miles said. “He played everyone.”
“If it wasn’t for Sandra, not only would I not have found half this shit, but I would have never gotten through these last few years.”
“Weird random question, Dad. But how did Sandra end up back at Livingston Development? I remember her storming out of the house, screaming at someone and saying she hoped she’d never see you again. Which also begs the question, why did you change the name if you owned controlling interest?”
“Now that’s the real shitkicker and some of it I’m not sure you’re ready for.” He leaned across the counter and grabbed his drink but didn’t bring it to his lips. “But secrets are what got us into this mess. It’s what caused you to lose your baby and why Gabriel got kidnapped. No more lies.” He set the tumbler down and looked directly into her eyes with a tear rolling down his cheek. “I changed the name because I wanted your mother to believe I’d sold out. I wanted her to believe it was us who was in financial ruin. Sandra storming out was part of that game. She helped me hid true ownership of the company, and money from your mother, but because she was going through a divorce herself, she needed to leave my employment.”
“Is that why you and mom divorced?” Liberty asked.
“One of many reasons, but mostly I couldn’t stand to look at her anymore. However, in the end, she left me before I had the chance to throw her out. Good thing too, because she was sleeping with some guy she met on a ski trip, which kicked in the prenup and she left with nothing.” He sighed.
“And Sandra? Why couldn’t she work with you through her divorce?” Liberty asked. She had no idea why she was so fixated on her, but the hammering in her chest told her it was important.
“You might want to sit down for this one,” her dad said. “But understand her divorce isn’t about you.”
“No, I’ll stand.” She took Miles’ hand and gripped it, hard.
“Do you remember Sandra’s husband, Kirk?” her dad asked.
Liberty nodded.
