Page 18 of Twilight Tides
She quirked a drawn-on eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“How much do you want in exchange for giving me sole custody of Kelly? We both know you don’t care about our daughter, Jill. So how much?”
Something like hurt flickered in her gaze before her expression hardened. “Twenty million.”
My disgust and shock were hard to hide. “I don’t have £20 million lying around.”
“Then sell the company. Because I’ll take nothing less.”
That temper I’d been reining in threatened to explode, but as always, I fisted my hands around the reins and tugged. Still, Iseethed as I warned her, “I meant what I said to that scum you’re sleeping with. If anything happens to my daughter, I will make sure the rest of your life is not worth living. Doyouunderstand me?”
For the first time, Jill appeared afraid of me, and I hated that it had come to this.
She nodded, pushing off the doorjamb. “I get it.”
With anguish roiling in my gut, I stormed out of the house and jumped into my SUV.
The guilt was crushing as I maneuvered out of the driveway, so I hit a button on the steering wheel. “Call Kelly.”
The car’s AI voice replied, “Calling Kelly.” And it began to ring.
She picked up on the third. “Did I forget something?”
My hands clenched around the wheel. “No, m’eudail. I just … will you keep me company while I drive for a while?”
My daughter sighed like a forty-year-old. “Dad, don’t feel bad. I told you I understand why things are the way they are right now.”
Her understanding only cut more. It might have been easier to deal with her anger. “I spoke with your mum and Dorian, and they promised to be on their best behavior.”
“Right. Well, in case they break that promise, I’ve pushed my dresser in front of my door as a barricade.”
My stomach plummeted, and I hit my indicator to go right round on the next roundabout. “Okay, I’m coming back to get you.”
“No!” Kelly hissed. “Dad, you were right. We have to be smart about this or I’m going to be stuck with her for the next four years.”
I took a few calming breaths and canceled my indicator. “Okay … So … school tomorrow. What’s on the agenda?”
“I have to turn in my history project, so I’m really hoping Michaela has done her half …”
I listened to my daughter, giving me deep insight into her life as a fourteen-year-old student with friends who annoyed her one day and kept her sane the next. How they were nice, but they weren’t Anna and Lucas, her best friends on Glenvulin. Listening to her calmed me enough to keep driving north, to stay on the path toward getting her back for good.
6.London
The house was a stunning example of modern coastal design. It stood on four acres of land with a view over the Sea of the Hebrides. Three gabled roofs sat side by side atop the rectangular bottom half of the home. The three gabled sections were mostly made of glass on the side facing the water, and a deck with a glass balustrade was perched between the gables and the bottom of the house. The lower half had plenty of windows too, so I assumed it was flooded with light inside.
It was clad in white composite shiplap and all the windows were black framed.
It was big for just one man and his teenage daughter and incongruous to everything I thought I’d gleaned about who Murray Shaw was. But clearly, he liked space.
The sun had already started its ascent as I pulled my black Suzuki to a stop. Seeing how much Nee loved her Ignis for navigating the narrow B-roads, I’d bought a used one.
Murray’s Discovery was still parked outside, so I knew he was home.
I’d lived on Glenvulin for eighteen months, and this was the first time I’d seen his house. It was situated outside of Leth Sholas in a tiny little place on the northwest coast of Glenvulincalled Sealladh Mara. It was only a fifteen-minute drive but wasn’t a part of the island I’d ventured over to yet.
I exhaled shakily as I switched off my engine and unbuckled my seat belt.
Part of me still couldn’t believe I was about to do this while another part of me was eager to get it over with. Murray was off island yesterday, which forced me not to come after him impulsively. I’d spent the entire day going over the pros and cons, the consequences, the logistics, the parameters, and what it would mean for me romantically in the foreseeable future.
