Embracing Danger by Olivia Jaymes Read Free Book Online Page B

changed his name and didn’t tell me about his family. Is he an outcast? Did they disown him?”
    His sweet Arden. She was desperately trying to make her father some kind of hero in this scenario and in a way he probably was. Although he’d lied to his only daughter, he’d never shirked from his duties as a parent.
    “They didn’t disown him. He left after your mother died.”
    Another frown. “Mother died here in Tremont. Her grave is in the church cemetery.”
    Shit, Shane hated what he had to do.
    “Your mother’s grave is in Hemingdale, a little town just outside of Indianapolis.” He pulled the death certificate from the file and held it out to her. “From what they could find out, your father paid for an empty grave in the local cemetery for the woman that you would know as Susannah Cavendish, but she died with the name Susannah Hollis.”
    Her shaking fingers pushed back her curls from her face and he couldn’t stop himself from capturing that hand and holding it in his. The least he could do was be there for her because she sure as hell was going to need someone by the time he was done.
    She squeezed his hand as if in thanks. “Holy hell, he went to all that trouble? He created a fake grave? What the hell is wrong with him? Why didn’t he tell me the truth?”
    “Probably because the truth was ugly.” The discarded death certificate sat on her thigh and he reached for it, bracing himself for her reaction. “You told me your mother died of leukemia but that’s not what the investigation showed. According to the newspaper reports and the death certificate, your mother was shot in her own home.”

Chapter Eight
    ‡
    T he room seemed to fall away and Shane’s voice echoed in her ears as Arden struggled to make sense of his words. Her body and mind went completely numb to keep her emotions in check. She couldn’t afford to break down until she knew it all.
    “Shot? She had cancer.”
    Shane’s thumb caressed the pulse point at her wrist but the action barely registered. “She was shot, honey. I’m so very sorry to have to tell you all this. We can stop here if we need to.”
    “No.” Arden shook her head and pulled her hand away from Shane, wringing them together. “Keep going. All of it, please.”
    Shane exhaled slowly but didn’t argue, for which she was grateful. “They never found the person who did it apparently, and there wasn’t much evidence and no witnesses to the actual crime.”
    I’ve been lied to my entire life.
    “Where was Daddy?”
    “Your father was on a business trip in St. Louis.” Shane paused, waiting for her to speak but she didn’t have anything to say. She didn’t even know how to feel yet. “From what Jason’s firm was able to dig up your father decided to give you a new life, so he changed his name and moved both of you to Tremont where he started a business here. Your grandmother must have missed you because she followed six months later. Your mother did have a best friend who still lives there, although no other family.”
    “I could use a drink.”
    She could use several but she’d start with one and go from there. Shane stood and disappeared into the kitchen before returning with a highball glass and a bottle. He sat the glass down on the coffee table and front of her and filled it halfway with an amber liquid.
    “Whiskey. Sip it, honey, don’t gulp.”
    Wrapping her cold, shaking fingers around the cut crystal, she took a swallow and closed her eyes as the alcohol burned all the way down into her stomach. The pain was exactly what she needed to jolt her out of her emotionless state. Tears of anger and hurt began to well up and she rubbed at her eyes to keep them from falling.
    “Is there anymore?”
    “We weren’t able to get many details on the shooting other than what was in the newspapers at the time. Jason’s friend Jared is still digging but I’m not sure he’ll find much more.”
    More sips of the whiskey and more heat sliding down her