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Peter turned to his daughter. “I tried, but I didn’t have the right papers—”
“You never wrote to me. Never called,” she continued as though he hadn’t spoken.
Peter lowered his head. “It was too hard.”
“I’m sure it was. I’m sure it was too hard for you to see your little girl in a jail cell when you knew it should have been you in there instead of me.” Her voice rose and my chest puffed with pride, my heart thumping.
“But I’m done. Do you hear me?” Her voice didn’t shake. It was steady and majestic. “I’m finished taking responsibility for your actions and your mistakes. I’m not going down for this, Dad. Not again. Not even for you.” Then she pierced him with a look I’d never seen from her before. “I’m choosing me this time,” she said, and stabbed three fingers against her chest. Then leaning toward her father, she added in a trembling voice, “And I need you to choose me, too.”
Her father dropped his hands into his arms and sobbed. His entire body shook, and I felt no pity for the man.
“Oh, god,” Peter cried and banged his fist onto the table. “I’m so sorry… I can’t… I can’t…”
Laura put her hand on his knee. “Don’t cry, Dad.”
“I can’t be strong like you, Laura,” he finally blurted. “Your mother left me because I wasn’t strong enough for her. I couldn’t deal with the pain, so I did drugs. But I wanted to be more for you. I thought maybe I could make some extra money and be the father I wasn’t. But that always seems to backfire.”
Laura took his face between her hands and stared at him.
“I never wanted anything more than you could give me. And that was your love. That’s all I ever wanted. But I need more now. I need you to be strong and tell them the truth. You have to be honest. It’s the only way forward for us.”
He nodded. “Okay… Okay, I’ll do it.” He wiped his face with his hands. “I’ll tell the truth this time.”
Turning toward me, he straightened his spine. “Laura wasn’t holding a gun. She didn’t come there to rob him. She came to save me. I’m the one working for the mob. I stole your brother’s baseball and sold it to Mr. Rossi.”
Laura squeezed his hand, seemingly to reassure him. The only trouble was Peter’s words had wrung the breath from my lungs.
It was true. Rossi was what I’d suspected, and Peter Stevens had sold my brother’s ball to the mob.
21
Ryan
I left Laura with her father so they could speak privately. Selfishly, I also needed to speak to my family.
The next morning, I texted Luke and Colton to meet me at my place in thirty minutes, explaining I had some news to share with them. We rarely called these emergency family meetings, so I knew they’d come.
I’d just poured myself a glass of scotch when the doorbell rang.
Colton stood at my door wearing a pair of black jeans and a black sweater. Behind him, Luke pulled into the driveway with his sporty red car. Dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt, he jogged up my front steps.
“Good to see you, brother,” Luke said, patting my back as we all walked into my home. “You haven’t been at work for a couple of days.”
“I know. It’s part of the reason I called you both here. A lot’s happened that I need to catch you up on.”
I walked to my bar and poured them both a drink. The amber liquid swished in the glass as I made my way to the sofas.
“What’s going on, Ryan?” Colton asked when I sat down in front of them.
I inhaled deeply and leaned forward, my arms resting on my knees. “I know who stole Luke’s baseball.”
Luke’s face beamed. “You do? That’s great.”
I shook my head. “It’s not great. It was Peter Stevens.”
Colton rubbed the scruff over his jaw. “Isn’t he one of our employees?”
I wasn’t sure how Colton knew so much about our employees. Maybe after his wife had pulled a fast one on him, he made it a point to stay on top of their names.
