The Wild Ones (The Wild Ones #1)(47)
Author: M. Leighton

“But that’s not all?”

He shakes his head.

“Cami, his business partner was Jack Hines.” He pauses, watching me closely, as if I’m supposed to have some reaction to that. When I say nothing, his eyebrows shoot up.

“Okay. What am I missing?” I ask.

“The person my dad was sleeping with was your mom.”

Yes, that would make sense with the way he explained things, but there’s no way that’s accurate.

“There has to be some kind of mistake. I mean, my parents have been happily married for, like, forever.”

“As far as you know.”

“No, they have been. You don’t think I’d have known if something like that happened? Stuff like that tears families apart. I’d have known. Trust me.”

“Is there any chance you could be wrong?”

He’s not accusing anybody of anything. He’s not shouting and telling me I’m wrong or calling anyone names. He’s just asking a question, a question that feels like it might have claws long enough to rip my heart out.

“Trick, what’s this all about? Are you trying to push me away, because there are easier ways of going about it than this.”

“Of course not! God, Cami, do you really think I could make something like this up?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know you all that well. I mean, it’s been, what? A few weeks?”

“Yes, you do. You know me well enough to know I could never do something like that.”

“No, I don’t know that. Twenty-four hours ago, I would have thought I knew you better than to think you could come to my house and tell me things like this. But guess what. I was wrong.”

Trick reaches for me. “Cami, you have to believe me. I—“

I step back. Away from him. Away from what he’s insinuating. Away from the pain of what he’s telling me.

“No! I don’t have to believe anything. And I don’t want to hear any more!”

In sadness, he watches me. I watch him back. The longer I think about it, the angrier I get.

I curl my fingers into tight fists. I want to lash out, to call him a liar, to tell him I never want to see him again. The fact that none of it is true only makes it hurt that much more. It burns like acid in my stomach.

“Stop looking at me like that. You’re wrong. You’re wrong and your dad was a liar. It looks like you are, too. Do you honestly think my father wouldn’t have recognized you? Wouldn’t have known you, if any of this were true? Do you think he would’ve hired you if any of this were true?”

A tiny voice speaks in the back of my mind. It’s the voice of reason, the voice of the devil’s advocate. A voice I don’t want to hear.

Maybe this is why he wants you to stay away from Trick.

“Cami, it’s why he hired me. He did it as a favor to my mother. He knew she needed help and he wanted to give it. They were both innocent in all this.”

“Innocent? You mean if you overlook the fact that your mother couldn’t keep her man at home?”

I know I finally landed a blow to his unshakable cool when I see his lips tighten.

“That’s not fair and you know it. Be careful, Cami. Be very careful.”

“Why? Does the truth hurt?”

Trick makes a noise, a split between frustration and exasperation. I don’t care that I’m being mean and unreasonable. I can’t believe what he’s telling me. I won’t.

“If you’re so sure none of this is true, why don’t you just ask your dad if he knew Brad Henley. See what he says. If, after that, you want to talk, give me a call.”

“You know you could get fired for something like this, right? Telling lies and spreading rumors about your employer.”

“You can’t fire someone who has already quit.”

With one final look that pierces some soft spot deep inside my soul, Trick turns and walks away. For the first time, I notice that his car is parked at the front of the stable rather than out back. Sooty is standing in the round pen that faces the house, watching us. He nods once and turns back the other way.

A toxic brew of emotions is churning in my chest as I watch Trick walk down the path, say something to Sooty then climb into his car and drive away. Of everything that I feel—anger, bitterness, disappointment, confusion, betrayal—the most painful part is seeing Trick leave. Not knowing whether or not I’ll ever see him again. Not knowing if I want to.

But I do. I know I do. Behind all my anger and resentment, I love him. Still. Always.

Almost an hour later, I’m still standing in the exact same spot when my father comes out to go to the stable.

“What are you doing out here?” he asks.

I don’t say anything at first. I just look up at the tall, handsome man that has dominated my world for so long, even if it’s from behind the scenes.

Do I really know him at all? Beyond that which he wants me to know?

“Daddy, can I ask you a question?”

He doesn’t look the least bit hesitant. Curious maybe, but not hesitant. Or guilty.

“Of course. What is it?”

“Do you know Brad Henley?”

There’s a pause, during which my heart stops as I wait. I don’t know whether to hope he does or hope he doesn’t. Before I can work it out, though, it becomes a moot point.

I see it. The telltale twitch of Daddy’s left eye. Although it’s the only outward sign, and only people who know him well realize what it means, I recognize his fury before he even opens his mouth.

I bury my face in my hands. “Ohmigod, it’s true.”

“Cami, let’s go inside. This isn’t the place for questions like that.”

Daddy holds the back door open for me and I walk numbly through the house to his office. It has all the solitude he might need to destroy my world.

During the short trip, I’m nauseous with knowledge that I never wanted, never needed and now can’t escape. And on top of it all, I’d said awful things to Trick and now he’s gone. The glow I woke up to is now nothing more than a dark, stormy cloud that’s threatening to never let me see sunshine again.

Daddy walks around to sit in the chair behind his desk, the ever in-control Jack Hines. I plop down in the chair across from him.

“Tell me what you’ve heard.”

“Tell me what you know.”

“No, I want to hear what you’ve heard. I’ll tell you whether or not it’s true.”

“How about you just tell me the truth, the whole story? That way you don’t have to worry about what anybody else said or knows.”