Page 63 of Deserving Ryleigh
Well…this was her chance to fix it. And she needed to focus. Standing alone in the sea of people, she desperately studied the face of every older man she saw, looking for her dad.
Despite his warning that no cops be involved, Brick had arranged to fly in officials from the FBI office in Albuquerque. It was a risk, as her dad could be watching, but it was anecessaryrisk. The FBI wanted to get their hands on Harold Lodge almost as badly as Tiny and the rest of his friends did.
There were also officers hidden amongst the tourists and locals milling about, and Stone was standing by with the chopper, in case he needed to track her dad if he got away.
But whatreallyallowed her to stand at the end of thelong street where vendors were set up and people were happily going about their evening, enjoying the weather and eating anything and everything that had to do with green chiles, was the knowledge that Tiny was also out there. Watching. Waiting. If her dad tried anything, she had no doubt Tiny would rush in to protect her. He wouldn’t let her dad drag her away. He’d talked to her about what to do if her father pulled out a weapon. She wasn’t to engage, wasn’t to doanythingbut drop to the ground.
Tiny swore he’d kill him before he allowed Harold to hurt her.
And Ry believed him.
Though, she still couldn’t quite believe she’d come right out and said she wanted to make love with him. It was bold, so unlike her. But the last few nights of sleeping next to him had her craving more. She wanted to know what she’d been missing. She wanted Tiny to be the one to show her.
The trip to the women’s clinic had been embarrassing. No one had ever seen her…down there…in her entire life. She knew the appointment was way overdue, but the doctor had been kind and friendly, expertly helping Ry relax. She’d talked to her about her sexual history, or lack of it, and had a discussion about the pros and cons of different kinds of birth control. Ry had decided on the implant because it seemed like the most fool-proof method of contraception. Not that anything was one-hundred percent reliable, but there were a lot of things that could go wrong with pills or condoms.
Shaking her head, knowing she’d let her attention wander as a way of easing the stress she was under, Rylicked her lips and shifted, wishing her dad would just show up already.
Looking at her watch, she saw it was getting late. Her father hadn’t given them a specific time to meet him, so they’d arrived shortly after sunset. They’d left as late as possible both to give themselves more time to prepare, and also to give Robert time to serve an early meal to the guests at The Refuge. It wasn’t uncommon for guests to retire to their cabins after dinner on evenings when there wasn’t a bonfire, which was a blessing tonight, given the circumstances. Otherwise, they hung out together in the lodge. Spike had been left behind to keep watch over the guests, and to help Robert guard the women, if necessary.
Now it was fully dark, and with every tick of the minute hand on her watch, her stress level increased.
It took another ten minutes of standing there, silently freaking out, before a man slowly approached. Ry would have recognized him anywhere. He was older, and his face was lined with deep wrinkles that hadn’t been there the last time she’d seen him, but he still had that look of superiority he always wore. A look that told her without words how little he thought of her.
Her heart began beating a mile a minute. She was terrified of screwing this up. Terrified her father would somehow be able to grab her and spirit her away before Tiny or anyone else could stop him. The absolute last thing she wanted was to be alone with him, but she was doing this for her friends. And herself. So she could stop running and constantly looking over her shoulder. She wanted a life. A real life. And she thought she could have that here. At The Refuge. With Tiny.
Her father stalked closer and closer to where shestood, taking his time, smiling at everyone he passed, even stopping to talk to a vendor for a moment. He probably wanted to intimidate her, but in reality he was giving her time to get her equilibrium back. Her nerves.
He finally came to a stop a few feet away, looking around carefully as he did. Ry held her breath, praying the officers and Tiny and his friends were well concealed in their hiding spots. Thankfully, her dad didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.
“Good to see you, daughter dear. It’s been a while,” he said.
Ry swallowed hard. “Yes, it has.”
“What? No hug? No happy reunion?” her dad sneered.
Ry didn’t respond to the taunt, simply stared at him. That seemed to piss him off.
“We could’ve been unstoppable. We could be living in a mansion on the beach in Central America by now. Untouchable. Instead, you decided you were too good for me. I have news for you—you’re just as bad as me, daughter dear. If you think you’re above the law, you’re wrong. You’repathetic. Nothing. You’re less than worthless. Look at you…you’re even uglier than you were when you left. I have no idea why anyone wants you, let alonetrustsyou. You’re going to turn on them just like you did me. You’ve got these people snowed, but I know the real you. The girl I raised. I taught you what’s important in life, and sooner or later you’re going to remember it and do what you were born to do.”
“And what’s that?” Ry couldn’t help but ask. She wasn’t supposed to engage him, simply give law enforcement time to take him down…but his words made her feel like she was a little girl all over again. Desperate for his approval. For even one kind word. Something she never got then, and figured she wouldn’t get now. She knew that with absolute certainty…but the scared little girl who still lived deep inside her needed to know if she waseveranything other than a burden. A way to make money.
“You’re a thief. A good-for-nothing, uneducated thief. All you’re good at istaking. You’re the most selfish person I’ve ever met in my life. You could’ve had the world at your fingertips, yet you double-crossed me. The man who raised you. Fed you. Put a roof over your head. When your mother left, I could’ve turned you over to the system. Let someone else deal with you. Instead, I taught you everything I knew. And what’d you do in return? Betrayed me.”
Anger burned deep within Ry. She’d betrayedhim? What a joke. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t intimidated by this man. Didn’t cower from his harsh words.
“I wish youhadgiven me to the state. At least then I would’ve had a chance at a normal childhood. I’m beginning to think youmadeMom leave. That she didn’t want to, but you forced her away. You probably wouldn’t let her take me either.”
The look on her father’s face told her everything she needed to know. She hadn’t been sure what happened with her mother, but his look of surprise made it clear her guess was correct.
“I hate you,” she growled. “I wish it had beenyouwho’d left, not Mom.”
To her surprise, her father laughed. Then his eyes narrowed, and Ry braced.
“She was weak!Just like you!”
Ry flinched. It had been so long since she’d been yelledat like this, she’d forgotten how much she hated it. How it made her want to curl up in a ball and hide. Her face flamed, and with a quick glance, she saw a few people nearby staring at her father.
“She wanted me to stop training you. Wasn’t going to happen, and I made that clear. Yeah, I kicked her out. Told her if she ever came back, she’d fucking regret it. That I’d take it out onyou.”
