Page 117 of The Woman with the Handcuffs

The car fell into silence then. The air in the backseat was thick enough to slice until my father finally spoke.

“I want you to be able to forgive her.”

“He could have killed me, Dad. Twice. And she could have stopped it both times. I don’t know if I can forgive her for that. I don’t know how you can.”

“You don’t know what we’ve shared.”

“You’re right. You kept it from me. Maybe if I’d been given a chance to know her, I would understand this better. But I wasn’t. So I don’t.”

I glanced up, catching Gav’s gaze in the rearview and watching him mouth, “Good for you.”

My father and I fell back into silence for the rest of the drive. The only sounds we heard were the rush of the air around the car and the low thrum of classical music on the radio.

It wasn’t until my father and Zaro were led into the clinic that I spoke again.

“Do you think I was too harsh with my father?” I asked as Gav led me into the waiting room of the clinic.

“That’s not really my place to say. But if I were beaten as a woman stood by, then watched that same woman shoot my father, I think I’d be pretty unforgiving. But I’m a dick. You’re not.”

“I don’t know if it is even all about Mona. I’m just… angry in general.”

“Fucking look at you, babe. You have a right to be angry. You’ve been through the wringer these past few weeks.”

“Was it just Ira?” I asked. “Or was he involved with other people?”

“From what I heard so far, it was just Ira. Ira found out your father was working with us. He made your father start skimming merchandise so he could sell it.”

“For how long?”

“Seems like a couple of years.”

“Why did it go sideways now then?”

“Because your father was getting squirrelly about us finding out he was stiffing us. So he did the last four hauls without cutting Ira in.”

“Is that why the money was stashed?”

“Yeah. I think your father was going to try to pay us back out of his cut for what Ira forced him into skimming. But when Ira found out, he threatened your father.”

“So he disappeared.”

“Yeah.”

“But he… he didn’t warn me.”

Gav’s jaw ticked. “Yeah, that was fucked up. Of course, Ira would come for you eventually. I wish I could have satisfying answers for you, babe. But people just do stupid shit. They don’t think straight when they’re scared. And that lizard brain kicks in and all some people can think about is protecting themselves.”

I guess that was fair.

Even if it didn’t sit right with me that he would value his life more than mine. When I was the one who was innocent in all this.

“What happens now?”

“We wait until your father gets treated. Then you decide if you want to talk to him more or not.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then we go home. He’s a grown-ass man. He can figure out where he’s going.” He wrapped an arm around my hips and pulled me closer. “You don’t have to try to repair your relationship tonight. Your father is out of danger now. You can take some time to heal and sort through everything. Then you can deal with the aftermath of all this shit.”