Page 66 of Savage Little Secret

After a moment, I nod. “I don’t think they’re behind this. They do have some motive but not as much as the other suspects.”

Sean crosses his arms over his chest, fixing me with a stony look. “Oh, yeah? Who do you think has the most motive?”

My jaw tightens. “I still don’t know how much of this ‘concern’ is about Cara and how much is about saving face.”

Sean lets out a loud scoff and shakes his head at me. “Are you serious? We’re back to this?”

“What she told me about you? It’s sick. I couldn’t imagine a father treating his daughter like that,” I say, disgust flooding my voice.

Sean glares at me. “Cara and I don’t have a close relationship. That’s true. But she’s still family.”

I step closer to him. “Family doesn’t mean a damn thing if you treat her like property!”

“I pushed her to be better, tougher, just like my father taught me! In our world, ‘soft’ gets you killed,” Sean argues, redness starting to spread across his face.

I let out a dry laugh. “You treated her like shit! She’s your only child. How could you beat her down like that?”

Sean sighs sharply. “Maybe I was harsh. Maybe I pushed her too much at certain points. But it’s better than coddling her.”

“How about you try being a father instead of a handler?” I snap at him, anger boiling deep within me as Cara’s words echo in my head. “You practically disowned her! And she completed her mission. She literally did as she was told, and you still didn’t think that she was good enough.”

Sean lowers his eyes. “I accept her as my daughter, and I know that she did as she was told.”

“And you told her to kill me knowing that she refused to kill anyone,” I bite out, still pissed about that little assassination plot that he dropped on her shoulders.

“She needed to grow up!”

My anger flares out of control. In a blink, I lunge at Sean and grab the front of his blue jacket, shoving him up against the nearest wall. I grab his throat as I lean closer to him. “You used her as a weapon! You never treated her like family!”

“That’s bullshit!” Sean shouts in my face.

I tighten my grip on his throat before pulling him forward and then slamming him back against the brick wall. “You put her in danger! Called her a whore! Demeaned her!”

“As long as she did her job and kept her identity hidden, she was safe,” Sean argues.

“So, you didn’t try to kill me at the Wynn? Because if you were behind it, you gambled with your own daughter’s life,” I say, remembering the concern that pierced me when those shots rang out that night.

The first thing on my mind was making sure that Cara got somewhere safe.

“I wasn’t behind that shooting! How many times do I have to tell you that?” Sean spits out, trying to wrench himself away from me. “I wouldn’t have staged any sort of attack if I knew that she was with you!”

“You’ve treated her so damn bad that it’s still hard to believe you. How can I trust you when you claim that you want to find her?”

“Because she’s fucking family!” Sean growls breathlessly as he tries to pry my hand off his throat.

“You should’ve treated her like family.” Blood rushes in my ears as we glare at each other, years of fury building up in the small amount of space between us. “When she’s safe, you’re going to stand down. No more orders. No more threats. You don’t get to touch her life again. I will take care of her from now on.”

Sean grits his teeth. “Such a good job you’ve been doing so far, yeah?”

“Shut your mouth,” I grit out before shoving myself away from him, my skin burning hot. My fingers flex as the itch to strike him tremors through my entire body. “You act like you’re so damn innocent. Like you do nothing wrong. You’re a goddamn liar.”

A cold laugh breaks from him. “It’s not my fault you want to blame everything on me. Yes, I was cruel to her, but that’s not going to happen again. I’ve been doing everything that I can to help you find her!”

My eyes pierce his, my hands forming fists. “And we’re nowhere.”

Sean sighs heavily. “That’s not because I’m not trying hard enough.”

“I know what you can accomplish when you’re trying hard,” I say with a sneer.