Page 66 of Stopping Short

“Yes.”

“At least the creep wasn’t watching you sleep then.” Mason sighs, stretching out his back.

“So reassuring.” I roll my eyes. “Why’d you come to the bakery?”

“Well, Dennis wanted proof we were engaged. I had twenty-four hours to send a photo of us together with you showing off your ring. I ran out of time. I couldn’t convince you to do it, I just had to take charge.”

“You shot my dad,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes.

“Yeah… that probably wasn’t the best idea. Even if you didn’t already hate me, you definitely would now.”

“You tried to kidnap me.”

“I did.” He nods his head and I'm not sure he feels a bit of regret over it.

I glance up to find the cop jotting down everything on a notepad. I’m sure since he’s in custody, he can use anything Evan says as evidence.

“How does Dennis have enough money to fund all of this anyway?”

“He has his hands in tons of illegal things. Drug trafficking, money laundering, moving guns, and probably more that I don’t know about. He’s the one who gave me the gun. He gave it to me a few months ago and said if I needed to use it for any reason, it isn’t registered to anyone.”

“Is he into human trafficking?” I swallow hard as the weight of the words sits heavily on my chest.

“I don’t know for sure, but I think so. I’ve been to a few of his warehouses and there were women tied up there.”

“Where are they?” I glance over at Mason and see his jaw clench.

Evan rattles off where the warehouses are and I know within the next hour, Mason will have an entire police force ready to move in. He won't stop until Dennis is behind bars where he belongs.

“How did you know he wouldn’t sell me to someone else?”

“I guess I didn’t really. He said I could have you; he just didn’t want your mom or Maddox to have contact with you anymore.”

I shake my head as my stomach rolls with the thought of what my biological father is capable of. I have no clue how a man like him could ever convince someone like Mom to marry him.

“I’m done,” I whisper. “I can’t listen to any of this anymore.”

I stand from my chair and turn my back on Evan. I never want to see him again.

Chapter 42

Jackson

“I love you,” I whisper, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

She’s been pretty closed off since we got home. I don’t blame her, I think so many things are going through her head and she’s trying to figure out how to process it. She basically found out the last four years of her life was all a lie. I’m sure she’s questioning every relationship she’s ever had in Pittsburgh and wondering which are real and which are fake.

“I love you too,” she murmurs, absentmindedly playing with the hair on my arms.

She goes quiet again and my heart aches. I want to help her through all of this, but I honestly don’t know how to. This isn’t something I can fix. There’s no magical cure to finding out your biological father is a monster and was willing to do almost anything to take you away from your mom.

“I want to get married,” Harper says so quietly that I almost don’t hear her.

“To who?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, Harper whips her head around to face me.

“Did you seriously just ask me that?”

“I just needed to be sure before I agreed or disagreed with your idea. It’s called doing research before making a decision.” I shrug.