Page 132 of The Last Goodbye

“Denton found three letters that she wrote to him, and he’d hidden them. They’d corresponded about it. About me. Starting from when she was pregnant to after I was born. He knew about me, and he didn’t want anything to do with me. It’s all there in the letters.”

The sob that came from her nearly broke me. I hugged her, rocking her back and forth and just letting her fall apart. Because that’s what she needed right now. Anger coursed through my veins. This fucking man, her own father, had known about her all this time, and then blamed her mother for not telling him about her so he could look like the victim.

“I’m right here, baby. I’ve got you,” I whispered over and over again.

She took in a few deep breaths and then exhaled. “I want you to read the letters, because when I read them, it made me feel like she was right here in this room with me. And I want you to know her in any way possible.”

“I’d like that,” I said as she reached for the manila envelope on the coffee table and handed it to me.

“I haven’t left the apartment since I read these. I’ve just felt almost paralyzed in a way. I don’t know what to do with this information. I don’t know how to leverage anything with my father, when he clearly never wanted to know me.”

I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Well, I’m here now. And we’ll figure it out together after I read these. I’ve got a much more devious mind than you do, Magpie.”

“I don’t know about that.” She smiled, her eyes rimmed in red, and she looked fucking gorgeous. “And Bass, there’s something else.”

“There’s nothing you can’t say to me,” I reminded her.

“I hate living in the city. I don’t want to be here. I’m more of a small-town girl,” she said, and her smile was cute as hell.

“Thank Christ. I fucking hate the city. We can go home whenever you’re ready.”

She nodded and curled up against me as I read all three letters.

I felt a weird mix of anger and disappointment toward her father, but also a lot of respect and admiration for the way her mother had handled the situation.

She’d done the right thing, while also letting him know her boundaries.

And it was all because she loved her baby girl.

I would be forever grateful that Briar’s mother had protected her so fiercely.

And I intended to do the same damn thing for the rest of my life.

thirty-two

​. . .​

Briar

“You’ve been unreachable for days. That’s certainly not a way to impress your boss, Briar.” My father’s face was hard, his disappointment evident.

Normally this would bother me, but so much had happened over the last week that disappointing William Winchester was no longer a devastating concept to me.

Denton sat in the chair beside me. He’d agreed to come with me to this meeting, though he didn’t know what I had planned.

Bass and I had stayed up all night coming up with a plan. One that I felt really good about.

“Maybe I’m not trying to impress my boss,” I said, holding his stare, one that I’d typically find intimidating, but it did nothing to me today. “Today I’m here as your daughter first, employee second. I’d like to discuss some things with you.”

“The hotel deal is being signed tomorrow, Briar, so save your breath. I’ve made my decision.”

“You might want to hear me out first, because I think what I have to say might change your mind.” My heart was pounding in my chest, though I made a conscious effort to keep my expression calm and even.

“Doubtful, but if you want to give it a go, you have five minutes.”

You have five minutes.

His lack of respect, lack of empathy, lack of human decency were really showing now. Somehow I’d made excuses for his behavior over the years, but I wasn’t going to do that any longer.