Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Daisy ignored him. “What meal ticket do you think I am, Da? Minigh seo dom.”
“I don’t have to explain anything to you, iníon,” her father replied. “I have obviously been too lenient, and that stops now.”
“Liam, please,” Avery begged.
He shook his head. “No. Avery, you know I love you. You’re my world. But she’s my responsibility, and I’ve failed.”
He watched Daisy’s skin go pale as her father’s words hit her.
“I’m a failure?” Daisy asked.
Damn it. “He doesn’t mean it.”
“I didn’t say you failed,” Liam replied, a shocked expression hitting his face. Like he hadn’t thought those words through. “I said I did. I should never have let you go off to college. I should have known you would run wild.”
“Oh, Da.” She shook her head. “I started running wild so long before college.” She’d gone a bit cold. “You want to know all the reasons why I’m a failure? Let’s talk about who stole your whiskey when I was fifteen. You were so sure it was Aidan. It was me. And then when you locked it up, I still got into it. I replaced it with the big jug of iced tea I always made Mom get from the store. The one I kept in my room and everyone wondered how I could drink it without ice. You told me a proper Irish girl wouldn’t drink it at all. Well, that’s because this proper Irish girl was drinking your whiskey.”
Devi held up a hand. “Okay, could we maybe not mention this particular part to my parents?”
Liam pointed a finger his daughter’s way. “I knew it wasn’t whiskey. I convinced myself it had gone bad.”
“It was delicious,” Daisy replied, a dark gleam in her eyes. “And the time the school let out because the fire alarms went off? I made good use of the free time, Da.”
“Yes, you went to the library.”
“I went to the lake with Leo Hall, and you do not want to know what we did in the back of his truck,” Daisy taunted.
Liam went pale. “No. You wouldn’t.”
Avery threw up her hands. “Of course, she would. She is your daughter, Liam. You know I love you, but you have blinders on when it comes to her, and it’s not doing either of you any good. She feels like she’s forced to lie because you won’t love her if you see the truth, and you’re trying so hard to not notice she’s your mirror image except she’s got boobs, and that makes her even better at getting what she wants than you were. And I swear if you wreck her shot at happiness with Nate, we’re going to have serious problems.”
“I did a spot of underaged drinking myself,” Nate admitted. “And there’s this billabong on the station. I actually lost my virginity in it. Damn lucky it wasn’t full of crocs.”
“Oh, I can do so much worse, Nate,” Daisy promised.
“She can,” Bri agreed. “She probably shouldn’t, though. Hey, bestie, remember all those ‘we’re never telling anyone about this’ vows we made?”
“I don’t need to hear it.” Liam stepped back. “I’ve got work to do.” He pointed Nate’s way. “If you get my daughter killed, I swear on my soul I’ll take yours. And I’m leaving my wife here, too. I’m going to go fix this for Daisy. Avery…”
Avery’s eyes narrowed. “If this is anything beyond a polite ‘will you please stay here while I run off to do something dangerous that will save our beloved daughter,’ you should rethink.”
Liam sighed. “Avery, would you please stay here for a few days while I take care of this situation for our beloved daughter?”
“I will,” Avery promised.
“Daisy?” Liam’s voice had gone soft.
Daisy was stubbornly silent.
“I love you, girl. No matter what.” He glanced down at his phone. “They’re here.”
“Who’s here?” Nate’s morning had gone to complete crap, and now he was probably going to have to deal with more bodyguards. Bodyguards who would question him.
The door opened, and Nate realized it was much worse because Erin Taggart walked in, and she wasn’t alone.
“Nate?” His mother rushed into the room. “Are you okay? Sweetie? What happened to your pants.”
“Well, hell,” his father said, looking at him first and then Daisy. “I suppose that was inevitable.”
“Ain’t nothing inevitable about it. Come on, Brody,” Liam said. “We’re going to El Salvador.”
“We’re what?” His father looked deeply confused.
“You’re not taking my jet.” Ian was suddenly at the railing of the lounge, a glass in his hand.
“Already pinched it, mate,” Liam said, walking out.
His father looked to his mother.
“You should follow him.” His mom had her worried mask on. “It’s obvious something’s going on, and we don’t understand. Avery, is everything okay? Li called and said Nate was in trouble and we had to get here as soon as possible.”
Avery pulled his mom in for a hug. “I’m so happy to see you, old friend. Come on. Let’s join Ian and Alex, and I’ll fill you in. By the way, the kids are together now. In a biblical sense.”