I take a breath and force myself to keep looking at him even though it hurts. Even though seeing the devastation on his face is killing me.
I look at my father. Connor Brennan. The man who built an empire from nothing and expected me to fit into it perfectly. Who was always too busy for school events, too busy for bedtime stories, too busy for anything that wasn’t business.
But he taught me other things. How to read people. How to negotiate. How to be strong even when I wanted to be soft and never show weakness, never back down, never let anyone think they could control me, other than him or the husband he chose for me.
But I let no one control me.
And I’m about to break his heart. I’m going to shatter it into a million fucking pieces and there’s no way to make it hurt less or soften the blow. There’s no way to make this easier for either of us.
But I can’t lie to him and let him think there’s still a chance I’ll come home with him. Giving him false hope would be crueler than the truth.
“I’m staying with Leo, Dad.” The words feel like they’re being ripped out of my chest, taking pieces of me with them. “I love him.”
The silence that follows is worse than any shouting could be. It’s complete, absolute, deafening silence.
Then my father explodes.
“Lovehim?” His voice is a roar, echoing off the destroyed walls, vibrating through the floor beneath my feet. “Hekidnappedyou! He took you from your wedding! He kept you here against your will!” His face is now nearly purple and for a moment, I’m genuinely afraid he’s going to have a heart attack. “He—hebrainwashedyou, Emma! He manipulated you and made you think?—”
“He gave me a choice!” I shout back, and I’m not calm anymore. The dam has broken and everything is pouring out. I’m so fucking tired of everyone trying to decide what’s best for me without asking what I want. “Yes, he took my choice away at first! Yes, he kidnapped me and kept me here and Ihatedhim for it! I was terrified and angry and I wanted to kill him! But things havechanged. I’m choosing to stay.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” my father says angrily. “You’re confused and scared. Emma, he’s done something to you psychologically to make you think you want this when really?—”
“I knowexactlywhat I’m saying!” My hands are shaking so badly the gun is wobbling and I have to lower it before I drop it. “I’m not confused or scared! And I’m not brainwashed or whatever else you want to call it to make yourself feel better about losing control of me!”
The words are harsh and cruel, but they’re true and we both know it.
My father flinches like I’ve slapped him.
“Losing control—” he starts, but his voice breaks. “Emma, I-I never wanted to control you. I wanted to protect you. To keep you safe from people like—likehim.”
He points beyond me at Leo without looking at him. “People who would use you. Hurt you. Take advantage of you.”
“He’s not using me,” I say, softer now because it’s killing me to see my father struggle. “He’s not hurting me. Dad, I know you can’t see it. I know all you see is the man who took me.” I glance back at Leo, whose face is impassive. “But that’s not who he is anymore. That’s not—he changed.Wechanged. Together.”
“He’s a criminal,” my father says flatly. “A killer. A monster who runs an empire built on blood and violence. And you want me to…to just accept that you’re in love with him? That you’re choosing him over your own family?” He shakes his head in disbelief.
The hypocrisy is so thick I could choke on it.
“And you’re what, Dad?” I shoot back, irritated with him. “A saint? You run the same kind of empire. You’ve killed people. You killed his brother, which is why this whole thing started! So don’t stand there and act like Leo’s some kind of monster when you’re exactly the same!”
My father’s face goes red. “That was business?—”
“And this is my life!” I interrupt. “You don’t get to judge him for being exactly what you are. You don’t get to pretend you’rebetter than him when you’ve done the same things, if notworse.”
“Because he’s—” My father takes a deep breath, clearly at war with himself. “Because he took you from me, Emma. Hestoleyou. And now you’re telling me you’re glad he did?” Dad shakes his head, in disbelief. “You’re telling me you want to stay with the man who destroyed your life.”
“He didn’t destroy my life,” I say, willing my father to understand me for once. “He gave me a different one. And I like this life, Dad. I like who I am here.”
“No,” my father says firmly. “No, I won’t accept that. I won’t let him keep you.”
His face goes from devastated to determined in a heartbeat. The Connor Brennan I know—the man who never accepts defeat—resurfaces.
He snaps his fingers.
Instantly one of my father’s men quickly moves toward me. He reaches for me and I can already see what he wants to do. He’s going to grab me and drag me away from Leo, back to my father’s home.
At the same time, my father raises his gun and points it directly at Leo’s head.