Page 70 of Reckless Seduction
“You’re safe?” he asks. “You’re okay?”
I nod and then, remembering he cannot see me, I tell him I am.
“I haven’t been able to get the information yet,” I admit. Liam chuckles.
“You’ve only been there a few hours, Bailey. Even I don’t have that high of standards.”
I let out a breathy laugh, but it is tinged with unease.
“What’s wrong?” Concern bleeds into his voice.
“Everything,” I whisper, sliding onto the bathroom floor.
“Have you been hurt?” he demands.
“No,” I assure him. “Not… my father…”
“Ah,” he lets out a long, worn-out sigh. “I’m assuming you are beginning to see things you might not have before.”
“He’s always been strict,” I admit. “He’d have his men keep me in line when I stepped out of it, but today…”
“What do his men do, Bailey?” The sudden anger in his tone shocks me. Is he angry on my behalf? He shouldn’t be. My father always simply meted out the discipline I earned.
“They’d beat me,” I tell him candidly. “Starve me. Sometimes he would lock me in the cellar for a few days until I repented. It was my fault for not following the rules, but today he said some things and…”
“Let me make one thing clear, Bailey Jameson,” Liam growls. “What your father did is never okay, whether you did something wrong or not. Do you understand me?”
“But—” I go to argue.
“No buts,” he argues fiercely. “It is never okay to beat an innocent child or woman. Do you understand me?”
I swallow back the lump of emotion in my throat. “Yes,” I whisper.
“Good.”
“Where are the twins?” I ask before I dig further into what has already transpired today.
“Seamus went to meet with one of the bikers from the Iron Horsemen, and Kiernan is getting everything set up for the gala.”
The gala.
“I managed to convince my father to let me go to the gala,” I tell him. “Drew apparently wants to show me off since he’d never had the chance before.”
“That’s one less thing we have to worry about.”
I agree.
“I am hoping to be able to get into my father’s office tonight once everyone is asleep.”
“That’s good,” he says. “Just remember not to take any unnecessary risks.”
“I won’t,” I assure him. A pause hangs in the air between us. “Umm… can I ask you a favor?”
“Of course.” He sounds surprised that I asked.
“Could you track down a resignation letter for me?” I ask him.
“Whose?”
