Page 70 of Unstable

The way she said it sent a little chill down Irina's spine. “What do you mean?”

A vicious smile lifted one corner of Aster's mouth. “Does Dale look familiar to you?”

Irina hadn't paid much attention before, but now she drew his face into focus, paying attention to each detail of his face. Aster was right; there was something familiar about his blue eyes. What was it? “I know him,” Irina whispered. She could feel it in her bones.

Aster made a little sound in the back of her throat. “You don't know him, exactly. But he knows you—rather, he knew of you. Ever hear of the six degrees of separation?”

Irina nodded slowly, warily, and Aster continued. “After that whole ordeal with Jackson, I found myself at a bar one night, debating what to do. I was so furious with you, and I couldn’t help but vent to the man next to me. Turns out Dale”—a huge smile stretched over Aster's face—“spent some time in Kentucky a couple decades ago.”

Irina felt like she was floundering. She would have been a kid; how would she have known him back then? Cold suddenly settled over her as memories of Mama’s men came flashing back in rapid succession. Dozens of nameless faces that she rarely paid attention to.

“Shame that your mom was such a slut.” Aster tsked. “She really should've made sure you knew who your daddy was.”

The implication slammed into Irina like a lightning bolt, throwing her back in the chair and temporarily stealing her breath. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Aster spoke slowly, “it was incredibly fortunate that you never changed your will. With your mother in jail, guess who has access to your life insurance payout?”

Irina blinked several times, her mind working furiously. The last time she and Mama had spoken, Mama had told her she was no longer seeing Burt. Instead, she was back with Irina's father. Dale. “Did he…?”

“Set her up? Like it was hard to have her arrested.” Aster rolled her eyes. “Why would the cops believe her, given her history?”

Anger burned through Irina. “And my car? That was you, too?”

“You made it so easy.” Aster shook her head almost bemusedly. “You were too lazy to use actual keys for your house, so they just sat in the drawer. You know”—she sat forward, her intense stare pinning Irina in place—“I kept them for almost a week, just to see if you’d notice. You never did.” She shook her head as she stared at Irina. “I mean, really. How stupid are you?”

A combination of rage and humiliation curled in Irina's gut, turning her body hot. “You know Roman won't let it go until justice has been served. They’ll find you.”

“They’ll find someone.” Aster shrugged again, completely unconcerned. “With that idiot sending the stupid love notes, I figured that was as good a way as any to get rid of you for once and for all.” She let out a little laugh. “I thought those recipes were a nice touch, didn’t you?”

Irina's stomach twisted in disgust. It only proved how absolutely insane Aster was. “You hate me this much—to kill me and risk going to jail?”

“Yes—and we won’t be going to jail.” Aster waved a hand in the air. “They’ll look at the man who sent you notes, just like we intended. They’ll arrest him, and that will be that.”

They would send an innocent man to jail? Of course they would, Irina thought bitterly. They planned to kill her for money; they wouldn’t hesitate to take down anyone in their way. “How will you explain being here?” Something else occurred to Irina at that moment, too. “And how did you know where I was?”

“Well, that’s an easy one. You called me.”

“So?” What did that matter?

“So…” Aster dragged out the word. “I’ve had one of those tracker apps on your phone for months now. When you finally turned your phone back on…”

She trailed off, and angry tears stung Irina's eyes. In turning to Aster for advice, she had unwittingly led her straight to them. “I hope you enjoy it while it lasts,” Irina snapped. “Money isn’t everything.”

“No, it’s not.” Aster tipped her head to one side. “But it makes life a little better.”

“You’re—” Fear ricocheted through Irina as she heard the scrape of heavy feet against the pavement outside. Aster slapped the tape over Irina's mouth once more, then moved toward the kitchen just as the door swung open.

Dale stepped inside, and Irina couldn’t tear her eyes away as he closed the door behind him and met her gaze. She still couldn’t believe this man was her father. Now that she looked at him—really looked at him—she saw the similarities. The same blue eyes, the same basic facial structure. She’d never before realized how little she resembled Mama. Maybe that was why Mama had despised her so much. It had to be horrible for her to have a little girl who looked exactly like the man who’d skipped out on her.

Tears clouded Irina's vision. It was ironic, almost. She’d spent a good portion of her life wondering about her father; this was the first and last time she would ever see him. She knew he had absolutely no emotional connection to her whatsoever, but how could any parent do this to their child—and for money?

She’d cut Mama off because of her greed and self-sabotaging ways. But Dale—the father she’d never known—felt zero compunction killing her for a hundred thousand dollars. She wanted to demand answers, but the tape over her mouth prevented her from doing so.

His cold eyes jumped between Aster and Irina, then back to Aster. “Everything good here?”

Irina twisted her head to look at Aster as she held up a bottle of cleaning fluid. “Yep. Just getting rid of the fingerprints.”

Fury streamed through Irina's veins at the injustice of it all. She’d finally found a man who truly cared about her. She’d found something with him she’d been searching for her whole life—acceptance, understanding. Love. She’d wasted so much time in the beginning trying to seal him out of her heart for fear of being hurt. Now she would never have the opportunity to tell him how much he meant to her.