“Yes, well, extenuating circumstances,” he says, still looking at me, still smiling. “Hello, Mia.”
“Do not talk to her,” Tess growls out, stepping between us. Justin doesn’t seem at all concerned by the move, looking up and into her face. I see something flash there that, oddly enough, reminds me of the way Chasm and Parrish look at me. And Maxx. Him, too. But I won’t think about that. “And get out my house before someone sees you here.”
The sound of footsteps on the stairs draws my attention around. Chasm, on the other hand, is just staring at Justin like he wants to kill him. He’s quick up on the uptake, that boy. He’s already figured out who this is: Justin Prior, my biological father, Tess’ ex-husband, the embezzler, the cheater, the … serial killer.
As nice as he looks, as handsome as he is, as pretty as his words are, I can feel it.
This is a very, very dangerous man in a very, very expensive dress shirt and slacks.
This is the man that’s keeping us both from Parrish Vanguard.
“Oh, Paul,” Justin calls out, smiling even prettier than he was before. He’s like, almost disturbingly handsome, but in the same way an artifact looks behind glass, like it isn’t meant to be touched, only observed. He doesn’t seem real to me. Just a figment of a perfect person. “I was hoping we’d get to see each other today.”
My stepfather is now the one staring at Justin Prior like he’s a ghost, a mystical monster come to life out of the pages of an epic fantasy novel, a multi-headed nightmare who grows more heads each time one is chopped off. That is Justin Prior.
“What is he doing here?” Paul chokes out, reaching up to adjust his glasses. If I’m not entirely mistaken, his hands are shaking. “He isn’t supposed to be here; we have a restraining order.”
Justin just laughs, this good-natured chuckling that gives me the chills.
Chasm and I exchange a look. What if we just, I don’t know, stabbed this guy right now? Would that save Parrish? Would we be able to send the FBI after him and get there before Mr. Volli did? Or, with this man dead, would Amin Volli abandon this endeavor altogether?
I have no idea.
But I do know one thing: this is the same man that I’ve been speaking to for two weeks. Via text. Through Parrish. Through Mr. Volli. This is him. Justin Prior. The Seattle Slayer. Parrish’s kidnapper. All one and the same.
“No, I don’t think you do have a restraining order anymore,” Justin suggests, looking Tess over while he waits for her to move out of his way. “I made some calls.”
“You son of a bitch!” Tess snaps, and then Paul’s right there and he’s physically pulling her back.
I kid you not.
My stepdad is physically restraining my bio mom right now.
Mind blown.
“Tess, don’t let him get to you,” Paul is murmuring, wrapping his arms around his wife in a way that reminds me of his son. My eyes flick back to Justin. He can see me now that Tess is out of the way, and he’s studying me all over again. He takes a step closer to me, and the smell of spicy aftershave tickles my nose.
It smells like cedar and wet earth mixed with pepper and spiced rum.
It makes me sway on my feet. I know instantly that I’ve smelled that scent before. Not just once, but multiple times. As it did when I met Tess for the first time, the smell of that man’s aftershave hits me like a freight train, and I know without a doubt that we’ve met before.
Then I think about that night when I woke up in the woods, the way one of my attackers smelled just like this and how, after I escaped from him, he didn’t chase me. He strolled. He prowled.
Justin.
“I know you don’t remember me, princess,” he starts, reaching out a hand that Chasm very quickly slaps down, inserting himself between me and Justin. The man doesn’t let on that the move bothers him at all but for the most minute crinkling of the skin beside his eyes.
It’s that small tell that scares me the most.
I push Chasm aside and step forward.
More than anything, I want to talk to this man in private.
If he’s here, then everything we’ve suspected thus far must be correct: the Slayer has a personal interest in seeing me submit to his will, interact with him, learn from him. He’s here for me, and I’m here for Parrish.
There has to be a way to work this out.
“You might not remember me, but I’m your father, Mia,” Justin repeats with all due seriousness. He’s like, the dream dad that every girl wishes for her, and I’m goddamn terrified of him. “I’ve been wanting to come and see you for some time now.”
“Do not respond to him, Dakota,” Tess repeats, tearing from Paul’s grasp and running her palms down the front of her white power suit. “He’ll be leaving now, and if he wants to see you, he can take it to court.”
“You’d do that to me?” he asks, giving her a crushed sort of look that’s so genuine I almost believe it. “That’s sick, Tess. I’m the girl’s father. I was given as little choice in losing her as you were.” He casts a look in his ex-wife’s direction that makes her look to be the enemy in this scenario. He turns back to me yet again. “As soon as I heard you’d be found, I started preparing things for you.” He reaches out to touch my face, and Chasm goes completely stiff beside me.
I grab Chas’ wrist when he tries to move forward, squeezing it tightly enough that he stops in his tracks. We cannot piss this man off. I know that much within five minutes of meeting him.
“Nobody wants a disgraced father living in exile.” He tilts his head at me, blue eyes sparkling. I’d say we looked nothing alike, but that’s only if you take in basic details like hair and eye color. Our faces are structured in a very similar way: same nose, same mouth, same eye shape. Even his jawline is just a masculinized version of my own. “But I’m here now.” Justin turns his attention back to Tess. “If you have a problem with that, we can certainly get the law involved.”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do; you are not talking to my daughter without a judge’s order.”
“Your daughter?” Justin asks incredulously. “You mean our daughter.” He looks at me again and smiles. “Give me a hug, princess.”
Shit.
My eyes slide over to Tess; she’s looking at me, Paul’s looking at me, Chasm’s sending a heated death glare directly through Justin’s skull.
When he holds out his arms like he’s offering me a hug, I know that I have to take it. The unspoken command rests behind the friendly glimmer in his ice blue eyes.
Even though it kills me to reach out and hug the man who’s responsible for Parrish’s suffering, who orders him to be cut, to bleed, who traumatizes me, ruins my life, destroys my relationships with people I care about, I embrace him like he’s the most important person in the whole wide world.
Because as long as he has Parrish, he is.
And he knows that.
Nothing he’s done thus far is accidental—especially not this.
I love tight hugs. I really do. It’s a Banks’ family tradition to give big, tight squeezes.
What Justin does to me however … feels more like an anaconda circling prey. He hugs me so tightly that it actually hurts; he crushes the breath from my lungs and makes my bones ache. I don’t let any of it show through.
I can’t afford to do that.
And we both know it.
“Tell them you want to come with me. Beg them. Scream. Do whatever you have to do,” he whispers against the side of my head. And then he kisses me on the cheek and strands up straight, putting his hands on my shoulders and looking me over like, well, a long-lost relative. “You have turned out beautifully, you know that?” he says, gazing at me with the same level of desperation that Tess often displays toward me. Only, his isn’t sad like hers is. It’s obsessive. “What did I do to deserve such an incredible daughter?”
“Don’t act like you’re responsible for this girl in any way, shape, or form, other than a small contribution of semen.”
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My mouth gapes open at Tess’ boldness—she’s usually, um, way more WASP-y than this.
Tess moves between me and Justin again, pointing at the door with a shaking hand.
“Get out,” she snarls, but Justin isn’t afraid of her. That much is clear. He puts his hands back in the pockets of his slacks.
“Tess, don’t be like this. I won’t want things to get ugly, but Mia is my daughter, too.” His voice takes on this cold, domineering tint, so at odds with his appearance. The two of them stare at each other, close enough to touch.
There’s a disturbing level of tension between them.
“How did you react when you first found your child after fourteen fucking years? I’m sure you wept and shook, kissed her forehead, held her close.” Justin reaches out like he’s going to tuck a loose strand of Tess’ hair behind an ear. Her hair was perfect when she got up this morning, but all her flailing around just now has knocked some of that carefully arranged hair loose.
She knocks his hand away.
“I’m taking her out for a few hours. Just a few. I’ll bring her right back.”
Tess lets out this high, quaking laugh. It’s hysterical, is what it is.
“You’re not taking my goddamn baby anywhere,” she snarls right back at him, and I’m stunned by the deeply protective note to her voice. I know I shouldn’t be, considering her crazy coddling and keeping tabs on me and all that, but … wow. It sounds like she’d quite literally kill to keep me safe.
My throat tightens up.
She loves me, I think. Even if she doesn’t like me.
She really would die for me, right then and there, I’m sure of it suddenly. As sure as I know the sun will rise tomorrow. Damn it, Tess.
“What do you think, Dakota?” Justin asks, turning to me.
God. Damn it.
I exhale sharply, squeezing Chasm’s wrist for support. I haven’t let go of him this entire time; he’s anchoring me to reality. His smell is soothing away some of my violent, crippling anxiety.
Focus, for Parrish. For Parrish. Anything for Parrish.
“I … I’ve never had a father,” I admit, lifting my right palm up and out in a placating gesture. Tess’ eyes go wide as she snaps her gaze back to me, like I’ve betrayed her somehow. She immediately switches that expression to one of terrible fear and desperation.
“Dakota, before you even think about going with this man, we need to talk.”
“Oh, come off it, Tess. Harping about he-said, she-said bullshit from fourteen years ago is not going to help our daughter. You heard her: she’s never had a father.” There’s an unspoken implication in his words, and it’s exactly this: she may never have had a father, but she did have a mother. Ouch. “Don’t stand in the way of a man and his child.”
“I said no. Last chance to leave before I call the police,” Tess says, her voice wicked cold. “Get out.”
Justin takes a few steps back and then carefully peeks out the window beside the front door.
“Like those police out there?” he asks, turning back to her. “How do you think I got in the front gate? Things are about to change in Medina, Tess. You forget: I was born and raised here. You were invited.”
“Alright, I’ve had it,” she says, taking her phone from her pocket. She turns back to me and Chasm. “Go upstairs and lock yourselves in a bedroom.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Justin chides gently, his voice absolutely patronizing. He doesn’t even acknowledge Paul’s existence as the other man moves up beside his wife, his face reddened with anger. “And here I was, ready to offer you a way to save your missing son.”
My heart breaks in half as my attention flicks over to Chasm. He catches my gaze before turning back to Justin. Did he … did he really just admit to kidnapping Parrish?!
“Don’t you dare bring up my son,” Tess whispers, her voice dark with rage. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Tess, calm down for a minute,” Justin offers patiently. But like, when has one person ever told another to ‘calm down’ and not intended to be an asshole. I’m still stuck standing here in total disbelief.
“What the hell is he doing?” Chasm grates out, pulling me just a little closer to him. I want so badly to just turn and hug him right now. I feel like I could use a hug. A real one, not one where it feels like a man is trying to choke the life out of me.
“You know that I’ve been working on my facial recognition software since high school.” He gives her a charming smile to go with the memory. “Well, we’re gearing up for a big launch. This product is going to change the world.” He gestures with a hand, sliding his palm through the air like he’s imagining his name in lights. “We even turned down an offer from the US military.” He gives Tess a look, his hand still lifted up in the air. “My company would like to offer to track Parrish Vanguard, free of charge. We can search traffic cams for his face, gas station surveillance cams, even the dark web. If there’s footage of your son out there, we’ll find it. We’ll find him.”
Tess’ mouth is practically hanging open, but she shakes her head like she knows how crazy Justin sounds right now. Facial recognition software is a thing, sure, but I thought like, only the CIA and shit had access to anything even remotely credible or useful on such a large scale as Justin’s describing.
“Justin, you’ve officially lost your mind—” Tess starts, pausing at another knock on the door. Justin doesn’t skip a beat, just steps back and opens it.
“Sir, I’ve got the judge on the line,” a man says. He’s also dressed in a suit, much shorter than Justin, with curly hair and huge oversized glasses with a bold zebra pattern
“I’ll take care of it, thank you,” Justin says with a curt nod, and the man retreats, closing the door on his way out. Justin turns back to our gaping group and pulls his phone from his pocket. He presses a few buttons and then lifts it to his ear, affecting another gorgeous smile. “Judge Valentine,” he says with a companionable laugh. “I’m doing wonderfully. She’s …” He looks over at me, and his beaming smile manages to get even wider. “She’s everything that I hoped she would be.” A pause. “That’s wonderful, thank you. You can email it over, that’s fantastic.” Justin hangs up before turning back to a very suspicious looking Tess. “That was Judge Valentine; he’s a good friend of mine. He’s going to send over the emergency custody agreement that I filed for.”
“Excuse me?” Tess blurts out.
“The emergency order will grant me temporary full custody,” Justin explains casually, slapping his phone against the palm of his hand. “Forgive me, but as soon as I was able, I filed the motion. The hearing was held ex parte, but you can understand why. Not only did you lose our child once, you’ve just lost another one. Face it, Tess: you’re a shitty mother.”
Oh my fucking god.
Oh my god.
Did he really just say that to her?!
“I won’t allow you to speak to my wife like that—especially not inside the four walls of my own home!” Paul roars. I didn’t think he had it in him, I’ll be honest. I step even closer to Chasm, and Justin’s eyes flick our way. “If you don’t walk out that door right now, I will hit you.”
“Oh, Paulie, don’t kid yourself,” Justin says with a mirthful twist of his lips.
“Don’t,” Tess warns her husband, glancing back at him. “That’s what he wants.” She turns back to Justin, letting out a long, heavy exhale. “If you hit him, he’ll press charges. He’ll push this custody thing.” Tess points at her ex. “Forward that custody order to my lawyer now. You sure as hell aren’t taking my child without a fight. And, might I add, for you to come in here knowing that my son …” Her voice cuts off in a choking sob, and I swear, I see Justin shudder with pleasure.
He gives her a falsely sympathetic look.
“I would never think to rip a child away from her family,” he says, stepping close to Tess as Paul bristles and then turns away, putting his hands on his hips in a way that reminds me of Parrish. His fac
e is crimson at this point. “That’s your specialty, isn’t it?” Justin leans in close to Tess, even as she seethes on the inside, her dark eyes burning. “If you’d never stolen my daughter away from me in the first place, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have lost fourteen years with my child.” Justin turns to look at me abruptly, snapping his fingers. “Go pack your bags, princess. You’re coming with me. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To spend some time with your father.”
“I …” I start as Tess looks at me with that same pleading expression she was wearing before. I can see in her eyes that she’s scared for me, for herself, for both of us right now. I don’t know much about Justin Prior just yet, but I do know a bit about Tess at this point. She can be a prickly person at times, but she isn’t evil. If she ran from Justin, if she took me away from him on purpose, there’s probably a solid reason behind it. “I’d like to make my own opinions, Tess.” I nearly choke on the lies as they ooze out between my lips. “And maybe his software really could—”
Tess ignores me, whipping her phone out and making a quick call. Whoever’s on the other line must be paid well because they answer immediately.
“Check your email. Justin is here, and he’s supposedly gotten an emergency custody agreement from Judge Valentine.” She turns her glare on Justin, but he simply hands his phone over. Tess types something in—her lawyer’s email address, I believe—and then hits send. “Did you get it?” she asks after a few seconds. “Well?”
“You are not going with this guy,” Chasm growls against my ear. His angry lips stir my hair, and goose bumps break out across my entire body. Oh, that feels good. And this is most definitely not the time to be thinking about things like that. I turn toward him, looking up into his gaze and wishing … No, there is no wishing involved here, is there?
My arms slide around his neck, and I lift up on my tiptoes, letting him press his forehead against mine. He wraps his hands around my waist and gives my belly a small squeeze.
“No, Little Sister,” he breathes, his mouth so close to mine that I can practically taste him. “You aren’t risking your life—not even for … his.” Chasm presses his lips to mine, and I swear, the entire room goes silent.
Payback Princess (Lost Daughter of a Serial Killer Book 2) Page 26
