“If the doctor thought you could leave today, then he’d let you,” he says matter-of-factly.
“This is like prison,” I say, throwing my head into my pillow and making Ryat laugh. “What’s so funny?”
“Coming from someone who’s been in jail, this is nothing like it.”
I open my mouth to ask when the hell he was arrested, but my door opens, and our fathers step in. They’re like best fucking friends now, I guess. Always together. Always here. Maybe they always have been, and I just didn’t know it.
I haven’t spoken to my mother. I’m pretty sure my father told her to stay the hell away from me after Ryat informed him that she slapped me. It’s been nice, actually, and kind of sad that I haven’t even missed her.
“Okay, everything looks good at the cabin,” my father tells Ryat.
“What do you mean?” I wonder.
“I had all new cameras installed. Inside and out,” Ryat answers. “I sent them over there so I could watch them to make sure they were working properly.”
“Why would you doubt that they are?” I ask, stuffing a french fry in my mouth that Abbot brought me.
“I’ve been watching them for over a week now and haven’t seen any activity,” he states, sitting down on the couch.
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“You can never be too cautious,” he answers vaguely.
I stuff another fry into my mouth, close my eyes, and moan. So fucking good. Opening my eyes, I notice everyone is staring at me. “What?” I ask nervously.
My father runs his hand through his hair. “I think it’s time …”
“Phil…” Abbot clears his throat. “We agreed—”
“I changed my mind,” he interrupts him.
My eyes go to Ryat, and he shrugs like he has no clue what they’re talking about either. “Okay.” I sit up straighter in bed. “What’s going on?”
“Well …” My father swallows. “I need to tell you something.”
“Then tell me.” I’m so over all the secrets. Just get it all out right here in the open.
He sucks in a deep breath and reaches up, removing his tie. Oh, he’s serious. Unbuttoning his top button on his dress shirt, he says, “I dated a woman at Barrington—LeAnne Mayes. She was my chosen.”
It didn’t take much to realize my father is a Lord. The fact that he was at the house of Lords after Ryat dragged me back was my biggest clue. I do, however, find it odd that I never paid much attention to his life. Or that he never told me. All the trips he and my mom needed to take for his business. Every time he had to miss a birthday or holiday—was it because the Lords called him to work?
I frown at the name, not recognizing it and wondering why, all of a sudden, it matters. I glance at Ryat, and he’s staring down at the floor, face scrunched as if he’s trying to decide if he knows who that is or not.
“Should I know her?” I ask.
“No.” My father shakes his head, but his eyes shoot to Ryat before returning to mine.
“Why is she so important?” I ask, scanning the room, and my husband is still stuck on the name in deep concentration.
“Because I loved her,” he announces, and his broad shoulders sag as if that was a heavy weight he had been carrying.
Okay.I never expected my father not to have anyone before he met my mother. I’ve never heard either one of them talk about past relationships, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. So, I’m not sure why this is news. “Did mom know that?” I ask.
His face whitens a little bit, and he undoes another button. “She was already promised to someone else … LeAnne,” he states, ignoring my question. Again, as if this should mean something to me. Or any of us. “But your mom … you know how we got married shortly after dating?”
“Yeah,” I answer slowly.
“Well …” He scratches the back of his neck. “We had an arranged marriage.”
“No, you didn’t,” I argue as if I was there and laugh it off.
He sighs. “We did. We lied to you.”
“Why … wait?” I sit up even more. “Why would you lie about your marriage?” He drops his eyes to the floor, and I look over at Ryat on the couch. He’s already staring at me this time, and he has this look of pity in his eyes. “You knew they lied to me?”
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation.
My face scrunches in confusion. “Why would you make that up?”
My father shrugs. “Well, your mother told everyone that story, and as you grew older, it just became the norm.”
I look back over at Ryat, and he’s watching me intently. It makes me think about when we have kids. Will I tell them how we met? About the ritual? The vow ceremony? The house of Lords? Absolutely not. “I understand why you would hide that as a child, but you could have told me at some point over the past few years. Especially when you were trying to make me do the same thing.”
My father sighs. “I never wanted you to marry Matt. That was your mother’s doing.”
“You could have told her no,” I argue. “You know how I felt about an arranged marriage. And how much I didn’t want that.”
He undoes another button on his shirt. “I couldn’t. She threatened …” Trailing off, I look from him to my father-in-law, who turns his back to everyone and looks out my window with his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
“Threatened what?” I demand as the silence lingers. “What did the Lords have you do that was so bad that you couldn’t stand up for me?” My mother pretty much blackmailed him. I’m not surprised. She’s a vindictive bitch like that.
“Well …” He swallows nervously, and I see sweat bead along his forehead. “My chosen … it was so long ago. And …” I’ve never heard my father stumble over his words so much.
“Motherfucker!” Ryat hisses and gets to his feet.
“What?” I ask, watching him start to pace.
He ignores me and runs both of his hands through his hair aggressively.
What did I miss?
“I can’t fucking believe it,” Ryat mumbles to himself. “Mayes …”
“Now you understand why we wanted you to tell the Lords what happened,” my father snaps at him. Taking the opportunity to avoid my previous question, he obviously understands what Ryat gets and I’m missing. “But here’s your chance. Tell your father and me what happened right now.”
Ryat stops and turns to face him. He doesn’t actually speak, but his tense body says enough. He’s pissed.
“We know you didn’t do it,” Mr. Archer tells him, turning back to face his son. “We just need to know.”
“I’m not a fucking rat!” Ryat shouts.
Whoa!What the fuck am I missing? I feel like it’s several things now. “Dad,” I say, trying to calm them both down, but he ignores me.
“A rat?” My father scoffs at Ryat. “Are you serious? He’s no longer a Lord. He’s on the run, been stripped of his title. This is passed that. Matt has put your wife—my daughter—in the hospital. Why do you think I forced you to choose her in the first place? Huh?” he demands. “I didn’t want her near him.”
“And he will pay for that,” Ryat growls through gritted teeth.
“Or why I didn’t take the money when you offered to buy her hand in marriage.”
I narrow my eyes at Ryat for that one, still a little sour.
“I was honored to give Blakely over to you,” he adds, softening his tone.
Fuck, they act like I’m not even here.
“You knew this whole time.” Ryat shakes his head with disgust at his father, who doesn’t deny his words.
“Matt needs to be taken down. And you still have the opportunity to do that.” My father sighs. “All you have to do is tell us—”
“I didn’t work this damn hard, devote my life to the fucking Lords to lose my credibility because of Matt!” Ryat shouts, interrupting him.
“So, you will risk your wife?” My father shouts in his face.
Ryat’s chest rises as he sucks in a deep breath. “No.” He shakes his head, lowering his voice, and my father smiles, satisfied with his answer. “I won’t be like you.” His words make the smile fall from Dad’s face. “You were the one who chose to keep secrets from Blake. You were the one who chose to risk her life by allowing Valerie to continue with the arranged marriage.” He looks him up and down with his lips pulled back. “That woman treated her like shit! And you couldn’t be a damn man and stand up for your daughter!” Ryat snorts. “And you call yourself a Lord?”
“Listen here!” He gets in Ryat’s face, but my husband doesn’t back down. “You don’t know what I did for my family!”
“I don’t have to.” Ryat takes a step back and points at me, sitting up in bed. “I know what you didn’t do.” His green eyes find mine. “I’m sorry, Blake.” My pulse races at the sincerity of his voice. Ryat never apologizes. “But your father has been lying to you all your life. Valerie isn’t your mother.”
“What?” I ask, my eyes going back and forth between my husband and my father. “Ryat?” I whisper. “Why … why would you say that?” The room falls silent, and Mr. Archer runs a hand down his face. “Daddy?” My eyes shoot to his. “Tell him he’s wrong.” My chest tightens as the silence lingers. As much as I hate my mother on most days, they wouldn’t lie about that. Would they?
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
RYAT
ISHOULD HAVE fucking known! I should have demanded to know more. The fucking Lords kept me from getting all the information. You can’t question them.
I know you killed an important bitch!Is what Lincoln had yelled at Matt afterward before putting him on probation and throwing him out of his office. LeAnne was important because Phil Anderson made her important. Mr. Mayes wasn’t that high up on the Lords ladder. That’s why I never questioned why he needed to die. He betrayed his oath. It was simple.
“Why would you say that?” Blake asks me, her bottom lip quivering. “I … I don’t understand.”
I run a hand down my unshaven face. “When I threw Valerie out of your apartment, I ripped a piece of her hair out and had it tested with yours.” I received the results when I was sitting in her father’s office downtown Dallas after she ran from me. I haven’t had the time or concern to dig into who her biological mother is.
Her wide eyes stare up at me, unblinking. “No …” she whispers.
“I knew about the arranged marriage. It’s just par for the course of being a Lord,” I add quickly. “I had a hunch.” Surprise, surprise, they weren’t a match, but I had no idea her biological mother was LeAnne until now. After Phil said her name, it took me a couple of minutes for my mind to put it all together.
“Blake.” I walk over to her bed, and she pulls her knees up to her chest, her eyes now on her father, pleading with him to explain everything to her. I’ll fucking do it! “Blake?” I sit on the side of her bed and pull on her arms, unwrapping them from around her knees to take her hands in mine. Slowly, her watery eyes find mine. “Junior year, Matt and I were partners for an assignment. It was our initiation. We were handed a name and a location. To take out a Lord who had betrayed his oath.”
“I don’t …” she whispers, swallowing. “What does this have to do with … my mom—LeAnne?”
“Something …” I’m not going to give them the benefit to hear me tell them what exactly happened. “Went wrong and his wife was also killed.”
Her eyes go to her father, but he’s too big of a coward to face her. Instead, he’s staring at the floor, rubbing his neck. “When we got back from the assignment, Matt was put on probation. Then come the following year, two weeks before classes started, I had just taken my oath, your father called me to meet him and told me I had to choose you.”
“I was trying to save you from Matt.” Her father’s voice breaks as he speaks up. “We knew he killed LeAnne.” He pauses. “And needed time to prove it.”