I stare at the man who's become a stranger to me. My father. He never cared about me. Only what I could provide him. Legacy. Stability. Money.
“Keep her out of this.”
He raises his hands and looks at Honey's father before blowing out an obnoxious breath. “Wish I could, but I can’t. She’s keeping you away from yourlegacy.”
Legacy?
“Pfft. You meanyourlegacy, right?” I shake my head. “Grandfather won’t give you your share of the business if I don’t sign my life away to this place. Does he still think I’m your real son?”
“Youareandalwayswill be my son, Jamie.”
“So does that mean you’ve told Grandfather that I’m not a blood Nicks?”
He visibly swallows, telling me everything I need to know.
“Thought so. Stay away from Tiff and my daughter, or I’ll expose everything.”
My father takes a deep breath, leaning back in his chair. “Sorry, son. That’s not going to work. See, when you stopped answering your phone, I did a little more digging around Tiffany Bright.”
I hate the way he says her name, like he has some kind of control over her.
“Her drunk father is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to that girl. Did you know, I found a CPS report from a neighbor, financial statements that show she accepted hush money andthen decided to go against the terms. Do you really think a girl like her is fit to raise your daughter?”
Hush money? CPS report?
It's all fabricated. I know that for a fact because I know how my father operates.
I shake my head. “No. It’s all lies. None of this is true.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Doesn't mean it can’t be used against her.”
Fuck me.
That’s when I realize it. The DNA secret was never the leverage I thought it was. He’s always had something worse to hold over me.
My real family.
Tiff and Ella. The two people who deserve the most from me will be dragged through court and drained of any life I could have offered them. All because of me.
My fists clench and unclench. I want to be there for them, and I want to bewiththem, but if being with them means putting them in danger, am I really any better than my father?
“This can all go away…” my father drawls out.
“Jamie—” Honey touches my arm, but I shake her off and step forward, ready to do whatever it takes to keep them safe.
“What do you want?” I ask, already knowing the answer, but hoping there will be some way to negotiate.
“You.” It’s simple and short. “Come back to the firm, fulfill your legacy as my heir, and I will leave that girl and her daughter alone. She seems immune to my cash offers, but that might change when you’re here, especially when she has signed documentation that I waive any rights to sue her again.”
Me. He wants me to give up everything for him.
“Don't listen to it, Jamie. That's what my father said when I joined the firm. He went back on it.”
Honey's father raises a hand. “Woah, wait. That's not fair, Hunniford. I said I'd get him to drop the current legal proceedings. There was no arrangement about future ones.”
“Are you serious, Father?” She glares at him.
“Sorry, Hunniford. You should have read the fine print. That's what a good lawyer would have done anyway.”