Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [128]
"It's not done," Paige countered. "Riley won't let it go. He's probably on his way to tell the police right now. He'll get a search warrant. They'll come to get the dragon."
"It won't be here, and surely you don't think Mr. McAllister is any match for a Hathaway?" Wallace's cool, ruthless smile made Paige shiver. "The police chief is a friend of ours. He will not be obtaining any search warrants. Your Mr. McAllister will run into one brick wall after another until he gives up."
"He doesn't give up easily."
"He'll have no other choice, not if he wants to run his business in this city."
"You're really flexing your muscles, aren't you?"
"I'm showing you what it means to be a Hathaway. Maybe it's time you decided whether or not you're up to the challenge."
And with that Wallace left the room, leaving chaos and confusion in his wake.
David sat down on the couch, resting his head in his hands, looking exhausted, overwhelmed, and defeated. "He always wins, Paige. He always wins."
She went to him, kneeling down in front of him, putting her hands on his knees, forcing her father to look at her. "Not this time," she said. "We can't let him win this time. This isn't about honor. It's about cheating. That's not what Hathaways are about."
"Isn't it? I cheated on your mother."
"That's not the same thing."
"Your mother cuts corners at the store every chance she gets."
"That's just good business sense."
"And your grandfather—well, where do you think he got the dragon in the first place, Paige? You're the only one who still has some goodness left. You should get out of this family while you have the chance."
"I don't think I can." Paige sat down on the couch next to him, her mind reeling with information. They'd never spoken this frankly in their lives. It was difficult to take it all in.
"I've made so many mistakes," David said.
Which reminded her ... "You have. You should have told me about Jasmine and Alyssa, especially Alyssa. She's my sister. I should have known about her," Paige said. "Why didn't you support her? See her, even if it was only in secret?"
"Her mother wanted it that way. And your mother would have wanted it that way, too. I'm a very weak man, Paige. I couldn't stand up to either one of them. The last thing I ever wanted was for you to know the truth about me. But now you do. And I'm sorry."
A part of her wanted to put her arms around him and give him a hug, tell him that it didn't matter, that he would always be her father. But that was the old Paige. Sometime in the past week—or maybe in the past few minutes—she'd grown up. "I don't think sorry is enough. Maybe for me, but not for Alyssa. You owe her, Dad. You owe her support, love, and acceptance. She's your daughter. She deserves that as much as I do or Elizabeth did."
"I was missing Elizabeth," he said quietly. "That's how it started. Jasmine was there. She was kind. She listened. It's not an excuse, just a reason. We met at a party. She was a waitress working for the caterer. She was beautiful then, warm, kind. She reminded me that there was still some life in me. But I destroyed her life just as she gave me mine back."
"Did you know that Jasmine's father, Lee Chen, was the man who rescued Grandfather during the war?"
"What?" David looked surprised. "How can that be?"
"The three of them knew each other, Ned Delaney, Lee Chen, and Grandfather. I think they found at least one of the dragons and maybe even the box in China and brought them back here to San Francisco. After that, I'm not sure what happened. But it's strange that you and Jasmine should end up together. And that she should dream of dragons. It all seems so unexplainable."
"The mysteries of the universe. Perhaps I've spent too much time in the Far East, but I believe that there are patterns and connections everywhere. Destiny plays a bigger role than we imagine. Maybe those dragons want to come back together. That's why they're pulling all of us toward each other."
It was an eerie, mystical explanation for what was happening, but there seemed to be