Read Online RISE - Part Three (The RISE Series Book 3) by Deborah Bladon - Free Book Online Page A

relationship with my dad.
    They had met at a business dinner before I was even born. The company my father worked for hosted a large dinner for their corporate clients. Gianna was there alone because her husband at the time was so immersed in his work that he rarely left the office.
    They had laughed over dinner when my father told her insurance jokes. They weren't funny she admitted but the smile on his face was irresistible.
    Over drinks the next week they shared stories about their children and within days they had agreed to meet at a hotel. It was something she needed and he did too. They had wept together after the first time, both filled with guilt about their families.
    "They became friends, or at least Gianna wanted them to be friends."
    "What do you mean?" He pushes a wayward strand of hair from my face. "She wanted to be friends before or after they slept together?"
    I push through the words, not wanting to dwell on them. "They fell into an awkward friendship when they first stopped meeting in hotels and it didn't work. They lost touch for a long time."
    "Are they in touch now?" His eyebrows dance playfully.
    I nod faintly. "She introduced herself on the flight from Milan, so I did the same. She asked where I grew up and what my parents did. I thought, at the time, that she was just an overly friendly person so I answered it all."
    "She knew then, didn't she? She knew you were the daughter of her old lover?"
    "I don't know how I didn't put two-and –two together that day." I run my fingertips along his forearm. "She got a little emotional when I told her my parents had divorced and my dad was living in California. She said she looked him up right after that."
    "What's going on between them now?" His lips dip to graze over my neck. "Have they reconnected?"
    "She's seen him a few times since the flight." I reach to pull his arms around me. "I didn’t ask for details. My father's life is his own."
    I feel the gentle movement of his head against mine. "My father's life is his own too. I hope he spends the rest of it in hell."

Chapter 19
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    "N o one asked you to go see him, Tess." He's on his feet now. "You had no business going there."
    The words, although not unexpected, still sting. I wasn't sure how he would react once I told him I had gone to see his father. "I went because of my father. I went because of you too but I had questions about my dad."
    His expression softens but his stance doesn't. His arms are crossed over his chest. "I know that your dad's situation has been hard for you but he's been released. He's gone back to his life."
    He has. I spoke to my father yesterday and for the most part, he's picking up the pieces of his life again. Some of the friends he made in California after his move there, have stopped returning his calls and he's facing a large legal bill, but other than that, I could hear the joy in his voice.
    I'll be visiting him in soon when I fly there with Landon. That is, if Landon and I can get past my latest confession.
    "I had to know about the connection between Frederick and my father." I wring my hands together on my lap. "There were so many things that just didn't make sense to me."
    "What doesn't make sense to me is why you went there without telling me." He stomps his shoe against the hardwood floor. "I would never have gone to talk to your dad when he was being held in custody without running it by you first."
    I have no doubt about that. I've seen the honest parts of Landon. I don't think he's ever held anything back from me and that's been a true gift. I didn't think I could care about a man again after my relationship with Ansel ended, but Landon has opened himself up to me in such a way that I trust each and everything about him. I realize now that I may have risked all of that to get answers to questions that weren't mine to ask in the first place.
    "I know that I should have told you."
    The look in his eyes is resolute. "Trust has to work both ways.