Page 42 of Deserving Ryleigh
“Your father tried to make you like him—but he failed, Ryleigh. Spectacularly. Because you’re nothing like him.Nothing.”
“I’m not sure the courts would agree,” she said sadly.
To her surprise, Tiny laughed. “Tell me this, you’vebeen away from your father for ten years. Have you stolen any money from anyone in that time?”
Ry’s eyes widened. “No. No way.”
“Exactly. And is there anyproofof you taking that money before you left?”
Ry thought about that for a moment. Then shook her head. “No. I was good at what I did. I didn’t leave any trace.”
“So why do you think anyone will be able to come up with enough proof to charge you with anything? You’ve paid your dues, Ryleigh. Just as we all have. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Things I wish I could take back. But you know how I’m atoning for those sins? With this place. By giving people a place to come to justbefor a few days. The Refuge is my way of giving back. Yours is the money you donate. You could’ve given away the money you took from your father and then stopped. Lived off the millions in interest you made off of it.”
“That money’s tainted too,” Ry protested. “No, it wasn’t stolen, but it only accumulated because of the original money my father and I took. And I can’t give away too much at one time or there will be questions asked, so it keeps accruing. I can’t give it away fast enough.”
Tiny chuckled again. “And that frustrates you.”
“Yeah,” Ry agreed.
“We’ll figure it out. Give away every penny if that’s what you want. So you can live free and clear.”
Ry stared at him…and she suddenly realized how intimate their position was. Her legs were straddling his lap and he’d pulled her tight against him, so they were touching from their groins to their chests. She could actually feel his dick between her legs. But she wasn’t embarrassed. Not in the least.
The truth was, she was still a virgin because of that terrifying man from so long ago, and her dad’s threats. They’d turned her off wanting to be intimate with a man—ever.
But being with Tiny like this? She felt safe. She’d bared her deepest secrets to him, and he hadn’t recoiled. Hadn’t told her she was a criminal. He’ddefendedher. It was overwhelming. Deep down, she wasn’t sure she was the kind of person he’d described, but for the first time ever, she felt a spark of hope well up deep inside. Maybe she wasn’t such a horrible person after all. She’d done all she could to atone for her past sins, and her father’s too. She wasn’t sure she was anywhere close to wiping her slate clean, but maybe, just maybe, she was being too hard on herself.
“Ry? What are you thinking?” Tiny asked.
“I feel horrible that because of me, I’ve brought so much hardship to The Refuge.”
“No,” Tiny said. “It’s not your fault. It’s his. Your asshole father’s.”
She smiled a little at that. “Yeah. I don’t know when or how this is going to end, but I want to be done with him. For good. And he never would’ve stopped looking for me. So in some ways, I’m glad he’s found me. I want to live, Tiny. I want to have friends. To be normal. Well, as normal as a nerdy hacker can be. And that can’t happen with him out there, roaming free.”
“What are you saying?” Tiny asked with narrowed eyes.
Ry knew he was smart. “This isn’t going to end without a confrontation.”
“No,” he said again, shaking his head.
“Yes.”
“No,” he said more firmly. “If you’re telling me you want to invite him to The Refuge for a chat, that’s not going to happen.”
“I didn’t ever want to see him again. But opening a line of communication, like Brick suggested, won’t be enough. It’s not enough to know what he wants. I have to know what it will take to get him to go away. To leave me alone. Leave The Refuge alone. And if that means seeing him in person, I’m not going to say no if he asks.”
“AndI’mnot going to let you sacrifice yourself. We’re in this together, Ryleigh. You, me, and everyone else at The Refuge. We aren’t going to hang you out to dry. You’re one of us.”
Those words felt so damn good. Ry closed her eyes and let the warmth of them blossom inside her.
“Look at me, Ryleigh.”
She opened her eyes and met his gaze.
“You’re the expert in this situation. I wish like hell I could help, but no one is as good as you are at what you do. Your father already knows where you are, so I don’t think it could hurt to see what the hell he wants. What his end game is. But whatever line of communication you open with him, I want it to funnel through me.”
“What do you mean?”
