Page 126 of Fighting Mr. Knight

Dad’s hands clench into fists at his sides, and I think he’s considering physically overpowering me to get the ring.

“Can’t you just leave well alone?” he asks quietly.

“No,” I say in an unnaturally shrill voice. “If you don’t tell me the truth, I’m calling Jack and telling him. He’ll come and get it himself.”

I’ve never been scared of Dad. Even when he came home blind drunk and fell around the house, breaking things.

But I seemed to trigger something dark in him. His jaw clenches and unclenches and I feel the familiar tightness in my chest that I got the day I saw Olivia in the boardroom.

Finally, he exhales in an angry breath. “Call Jack Knight?” he barks. “You think he has time to answer the phone to you, lass?”

I don’t respond. I don’t want to lie to him.

When he speaks again, he is calm. “Look, thetruth isI found it. The night his old man got stabbed. I thought he had just dropped it. At the time I didn’t realise he’d been stabbed.”

I swallow hard. “Where did you find it?”

He pauses. “Near the alleyway.”

Shit.This ring is evidence.

And if Jack finds out my dad has had it all this time, well, I don’t know how he’ll react.

“Dad, why the hell didn’t you hand it in to the police?”

Silence. His face says everything.

“Is this aboutmoney? This ring could have DNA on it that would have convicted Wicks! It still could!”

He lets out a hard laugh. “Love, sometimes you’re naive. You leave home, go off to that fancy college and lose your wits. You think I’m going to hand in something that would convict Donnie Wicks? Do you know how it works around here?”

“You could’ve handed it in anonymously,” I protest. “You still can.”

“Nothing happens anonymously in these estates. Wicks has got police all over his payroll.” His mouth twists into a grimace. “I’m not going against the Wicks family, love. They have people killed for less.”

“But he’s already doing life. It doesn’t make a difference to him.”But it does to Jack.

“Doesn’t matter.” He grunts. “It’s a respect thing. You grass on a Wicks, and you won’t live too long to talk about it.”

“Why did you keep it for so long?” I ask, confused. “Why didn’t you dump it?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to. It’s worth quite a few bob.”

My mouth twists into a thin line. None of this makes sense. “So, it’s about money. It’s always about money.”

“Don’t be so harsh to judge, love,” he snaps. “All my cash went on you growing up.”

I wish I’d never found this bloody ring.

“I need to give this to Jack,” I say quietly.

“Jack fuckingKnight? Are you having a laugh, love? Are you trying to condemn your old dad to death?”

“What if it’s evidence?” I shake my head. “I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t hand this over.”

His eyes narrow as he calmly replies, “And could you live with yourself if your dad gets his head kicked in one night?”

He stares at me steadily, knowing he’s got me. I think he’s being overly dramatic but he’s right. I don’t live here anymore, and I don’t know what the Wicks family are capable off.

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