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What if I wasn’t as lucky the next time? Or I didn’t have one of my brothers with me? I couldn’t put her through that.
I’d disregarded the reason I didn’t allow relationships in my life, and fate had almost taught me the cost of forgetting that lesson.
Serena deserved better. For her sake, I couldn’t repeat the mistake.
CHAPTER 40
Serena
“Munchkin, I’ve got good news,”Dad said. His face turned perplexed as he took in the crowd.
Lucas’s phone received a message. I turned, and Dad opened his arms to me. Nobody said a thing until our hug was complete.
“Or…” Sanchez murmured as I looked at the screen Lucas angled my way.
JORDY: Out of surgery - successful
I didn’t know exactly whatsuccessfulmeant, but I’d take it as a win. The ordeal was over, and Duke was alive. After a deep breath, I faced Sanchez again. “Or what?”
The agent pointed a finger at me. “Rossi offered you the blackmail scam for a piece of the action.”
“That’s uncalled for,” Constance insisted.
“What’s going on here?” Dad bellowed.
“Who is this?” Sanchez demanded.
Newson backed up a step. Recognition shone in his eyes. He could see the storm brewing.
Lucas made the introduction. “This is Serena’s father, Lloyd Benson, and it sounds to me like you’re accusing his daughter of something criminal.”
Sanchez went pale. He hadn’t recognized Dad’s face, but it seemed he knew the name and reputation. “Not at all. Just verbalizing all the harebrained possibilities so we can discard them.”
Dad’s jaw clenched. “What’s your name, son?”
“Uh…Special Agent Luis Sanchez.” He puffed out his chest. “FBI.”
I wanted this to be over. “If you don’t have any more questions for me,” I said firmly, “I think we’re done. You have all the material that was in the locker, and that should be more than enough.” I couldn’t let Dad run roughshod over everybody. It would never end.
“I’d like to see that,” Dad said, moving forward and stretching out his hand.
I blocked him. “No, Dad. Let them do their job now.”
“But, Munchkin?—”
The Munchkin comment was the last straw. “No.”
“We still have some questions about the kidnapping,” Sanchez said.
I could see the steam coming out of Dad’s ears. “Kidnapping?”
“I’m okay,” I assured him. “It was no big deal.”
“We could threaten false imprisonment instead,” Newson suggested.
Sanchez didn’t sense the danger. “She was abducted and moved. That falls under felony kidnapping, and I want to be in a position to file charges first thing in the morning.”
Dad seethed. “No. You’ll do no such thing.”
