Kara heard the knock again.
Fuck
. She stiffly got up, her body shot from the emotional toll the afternoon had taken. She walked from the office and into the bar area just in time to see her father throw a rock through the large glass front window, shattering it.
“Dad!” Kara screamed, shocked by what was happening. “What are you doing?”
“Where is it?” he bellowed as he used another rock to break the door handle. He let himself in, then went directly behind the bar. “Where’s my liquor? Did you bring it here to give to your customers?” he demanded, spit dribbling down his chin.
“Dad, you just broke the door. Have you lost your mind?”
“No! I most certainly have not lost my mind!” her dad yelled as he began to pick up the glasses behind the bar and throw them on the floor. Kara quickly grabbed her phone from her pocket and tried to dial 911, but her father was on her before she knew it and grabbed her phone from her hand. “Who are you trying to call? I won’t hurt you, girl. I just need my damn liquor! Where did you put it?”
Kara couldn’t tell him she’d tossed it; he was clearly delusional and shaking from withdrawal. She took a breath and tried to speak as calmly as she could, praying someone had heard the glass break and had called the cops. “Dad, I didn’t take your liquor. It’s not here. But if you want, I can drive you home and help you find it. I’ll—”
Her father charged her so quickly she fell to the ground as she tried to scamper backward. She remembered the man in front of her, but not like this—this man was dangerous. Not in an evil way, but in a desperate way, which was worse.
“I know you took it, girl!” her father snarled above her, then reached down and grabbed on to her shirt and yanked her against him. “You better tell me where it is, or so help me—”
William suddenly appeared behind her father and wrapped his arm around his neck. Kara fell to the ground as he threw her dad against the bar, holding both his hands behind his back. “Kara, call the cops. Now!”
Kara quickly picked up her phone off the floor where it had fallen and dialed the police. Adrenaline spiked through her body as she looked around the bar, the broken door, the shattered glasses, and then at William, holding her father in place.
“I’m sorry,” her father wailed, spit and snot falling from his face. “I wouldn’t have hurt her. I’m sorry…”
* * * *
Kara had finally finished sweeping up the glass from the floor. She stood on shaky legs and watched as William hammered a large piece of plywood over the hole in the front door. The police had taken her father in for the night, and in the morning, she would go see the judge about getting him into an in-patient facility in lieu of jail time. She shivered as she replayed the night’s events in her head. If she was being honest with herself, she’d been damn scared. Lately, when her father got that way, there was no telling what he was capable of, and she damn sure didn’t want to find out. As thankful as she was that William had been there, they still needed to have a conversation, and she prayed to God it went her way.
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. “I’m so sorry that happened, baby. But you know, maybe this is what your dad needed. They have some really great in-patient facilities in the area…” He must have noticed the tension in her body because he pulled away and turned her to face him. “What’s wrong?”
Kara took a deep breath, trying to ground herself for the conversation. “I have to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me.”
“Of course, baby. What’s going on?”
Kara looked him dead in the eye, needing to see every bit of his reaction. “Is your father Carl Jones?”
WILLIAM’S FACE FELL, and he knew his expression told her everything she needed to know.
“You son of a bitch.” She spat as she turned away from him.
“Wait!” William grabbed her shoulders and then began running his hands frantically along her arms. “I can explain everything. Yes, he’s my father. I go by my mother’s maiden name. I wanted to distance myself from all the bullshit being a Jones meant. And it really is just complete and total bullshit. I don’t want any part of it. I still work for his company, on the project management side. I deal with the contractors and oversee the progress. It allows me to stay part of the company without having to deal too much with my dad. He called me into his office last week and told me he wanted to buy your bar. That’s why I came in that night, to discuss the option of you selling. But after talking to you, after knowing what this bar means to you, what it meant to your grandfather, I’d never try to convince you to sell it. I’ll do anything to help you keep it. I swear, baby.”
Kara looked up into his eyes, and the pain he saw on her face broke his heart in two. Pain
he
had caused. “That’s why you mentioned the fundraiser.”
“Yes. I think it’s a great idea, and there’s no doubt in my mind it’ll work. I’ll help you set it up and everything.”
“Right. And you’ll keep fucking me in the process, correct?”
“What?” William asked, confused as to what she was getting at.
“You’ll keep screwing me. You know, get your jollies off for a while longer. Then when the fundraiser fails, you can convince me to sell, and you’ll have gotten everything you want.” The bitterness in her voice cut through him as if it were a blade.
“Is that what you think of me?”
“I don’t know you, William. I don’t know what to think of you.” Kara pulled away from his embrace, crossing her hands over her chest as she shook her head. “Or hell, maybe I do know you. Maybe I had it right the first time. You said I like to play games, but maybe the real game player here is you.”
William stared at Kara, not believing what he was hearing. “I know you’re upset but don’t throw everything from this past week away. That night, after Crossroads, we connected. Well before I knew my dad had any interest in your bar.” William ran his fingers through his hair, trying to keep his anger at bay. She had a right to be upset with him; he hadn’t been truthful, but he wasn’t going to let her dismiss everything they’d shared. “How did you find out?”
“Does it matter?” she asked, her expression never wavering.
“Just curious.” William had a feeling he knew exactly who had delivered the news, and if he saw him, he wouldn’t hesitate to break his fucking jaw.
“I don’t see the relevance, but if you insist on knowing, it was Trevor.”
William cursed under his breath, his anger getting the better of him. “Of course that little motherfucker told you. Did he also mention he was the one who went to my dad in the first place to let him know this place was in trouble?” He watched as the thoughts raced through Kara’s head. He’d give anything to know what they were.
“So I’d marry him,” she finally said.
“Wait, what? Marry Trevor? Why the fuck would you do that?”
Kara laughed bitterly, her eyes welling with tears. “He had a brilliant idea that since we were both single and busy with our work, we could get married. You know, satisfy our needs and whatnot. It’d be a trade-off, just like any other marriage. I’d satisfy him physically, and he’d have the funds to make sure I could keep the bar. I knew it was a messed-up situation, but I never thought he’d sell me out. Looks like both the men I trusted were just looking to fuck me over.”
“Kara, that’s not true. I—”
“Save it, William. I’m not interested.”
William stalked toward her, backing her into the wall, and she couldn’t help but moan when his hands found their way up her back and into her hair. He pushed his large, strong body against hers; the feel of her softness made his dick pulse. He ran his lips up her neck, pleading in her ear. “Please, baby, don’t do this. I wasn’t truthful, and I was wrong for that. But I never meant for this to happen. Us…you know what we have is special. We connect, fuck like nothing I’ve ever seen. We can start over from here, our fresh start, remember? You said you wanted that. This is our chance to start over. Come on, baby, don’t give up on us.”
He knew she was tempted to give in, to wrap her arms around his neck and let him take her right then and there. Against the wall, on the floor, wherever the hell he wanted—her body rubbing against his told him so. But what if she didn’t? What if it had gone too far and there was no going back to how it was? She had so much shit on her plate with her father and the bar, what if she decided she didn’t have time to fit in liars too? She deserved better than that.
She shook her head and tried to push him away, but he resisted.
“William, no. Get off me, now.”
He stopped moving against her but stayed in place. “Baby? Please?”
“I said…no.” He heard the break in her voice, but when he looked up, she had closed her eyes, as if she was trying to guard herself from him. William tensed; then he slowly backed away. One look at her face and he could see she was crushed, but he also knew she wouldn’t give in to the emotion. “Get the hell out of my bar.”
The next few weeks dragged by for William. Try as he might, he couldn’t get a certain strawberry-blonde-haired vixen out of his head. Work was slow, the nights long.
He’d tried calling Kara over and over, but each time he was quickly sent to voice mail. He’d left plenty of those too. Begging, groveling, but to no avail. He didn’t know what else he could do, so he’d decided he needed to accept the cards he’d been dealt. And truthfully, he’d dealt his own fucked-up cards when he hadn’t come clean with her sooner.
He went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, his gaze pausing when he saw the red-circled date on the calendar—June 11. Tonight was Kara’s fundraiser. What a difference a few weeks made. He was supposed to be there with her, helping her get things set up, enjoying her success, stepping back when needed so he could make sure she shined her brightest. And yet, here he was, at home by himself and drinking a beer. Pathetic.
He slowly went to his front porch and sat on the large swing, rocking back and forth as he watched the sun begin to set. The fundraiser was supposed to start earlier that day, so by now people would be done with the food and hanging out, hopefully making donations to keep Kara’s up and running.
William couldn’t help but think back to when he’d gone down on her at the bar. The way she’d been spread open for him, how she’d shivered above him as he’d lapped up her juices. William cursed under his breath. He used to have his easy pick of women, and now he couldn’t stop thinking of the one woman who didn’t want him, while he sat on his swing with a fucking hard-on.
How the mighty have fallen.
The sound of tires crunching down his driveway caught his attention. He was surprised to find Ben and Crissy pulling up. He’d guessed they would have been at Kara’s.
“He lives!” Ben yelled as he got out of the car, then quickly walked over to open the door for Crissy.
“Hey, sweetheart,” she said as she walked toward him, a big plate of BBQ in her hands. “We figured you might be hungry, Lord knows you don’t leave the house anymore, so we brought you a plate.”
William smiled at Crissy. “Thanks. That’s nice of you.” He took the plate from her and set it beside him on the swing, Crissy and Ben taking seats across from him in the lawn chairs. “So how’s the turnout?”
“It’s good. It’s fantastic, actually,” Ben said, placing his hand on Crissy’s knee. “Tons of people showed up; that contact you gave Kara for the food turned out great. She cooked the hell out of that BBQ, that’s for sure.” Ben and Crissy exchanged an odd glance, then turned back to William.
“What?” he asked, sensing their discomfort. At their silence, he persisted. “Okay, what the hell is going on? You two didn’t just come here to bring me food, did you?”
Crissy let out a large sigh. “Truthfully, we needed to get out of there. At least just for a little bit. If I had to hang around Trevor for five more minutes, I’m pretty positive I’d have thrown up.”
Just hearing Trevor’s name was like someone pouring acid into William’s veins.
Preppy little fuck.
“Trevor was there? Why?”
Ben looked blankly at him for a moment, then carefully asked, “You’re kidding, right? Surely you’ve heard, haven’t you?”
William looked back and forth from Ben to Crissy, his anger starting to seep through. He didn’t know what was going on, but he could tell he wasn’t going to like it one fucking bit. “What haven’t I heard?”
“Oh, wow,” Crissy started, embarrassment plastered on her face. “We assumed you’d heard. Trevor asked Kara to marry him, and she said yes.”
William shot off the swing as soon as the words came out of her mouth. “What? She said yes? You’re kidding me, right? This is some kind of joke?”
Ben stood and shook his head. “No, man. We’re serious. They’re supposed to get married next month. They didn’t want anything big, so they’re just going to go down to the courthouse. We tried to talk her out of it, but she said it was for the best.”
William paced on the porch. No way. No fucking way was
his
Kara marrying that good for nothing, piece of shit Trevor. What was she thinking? He’d sold her out, for fuck’s sake! “No, not happening. I have to stop this.”
Crissy gave him a sympathetic look. “William, I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can. They’re supposed to announce it tonight after she counts the money that was raised. She seems really excited about it. She keeps talking about all the new renovations they have planned for the bar.”
“This is bullshit!” William swore. “Did she tell you about his proposition? How they should get married as some sort of fucked-up business arrangement? She’d satisfy his needs since he can’t go out and get a woman on his own, and he’d fund her bar?” Crissy and Ben nodded.
“I know, man. It’s terrible. I wish there was something we could do. Kara definitely deserves better than that piece of shit. Hell, if we weren’t so tapped out with just buying the new house and thinking about getting pregnant, we’d invest in the place ourselves.”
William stopped pacing, then turned and looked at Ben. “What did you just say?”
“We’d invest; that way she wouldn’t need Trevor. But we just don’t have that kind of extra money lying around right now.”