Page 99 of A Taste like Sin

couldn’t bear to put you on the stand. I knew what that would do to you—”

“Don’t use me as your excuse.” I replay those early days over and over in my mind. All those

birthdays of playing cat-and-mouse with Simon. All those nights wasted fearing my unseen

boogeyman. Another terror takes hold, impossible to swat aside this time. “Did you give him access

to me?” I can’t even look at him.

“Never,” he swears in a tone I’ve never heard him use before. “I would never let that monster near

you! I made sure, even when I—” He breaks off, coughing.

“Daddy?” I draw back, lurching to my feet. “You need rest. I should go—”

“No!” He grabs my hand with a strength that contradicts his frail appearance. I doubt I could pull

away if I tried, so I sit. “Everything I’ve done has always been to protect you. Maybe not as well as I

should have,” he admits. “But at least you’ll never have to worry about that monster again.”

Twisted hope and dread form an anvil that crushes my lungs. Gasping, I choke out, “Who is he?”

“I can’t tell you his name. I think it would confuse you more and I need to explain.” Pain distorts his

pale features. “Just trust me when I tell you that he’s dead. Has been for four years now. He will

never hurt you again.”

I recoil, frowning. “Dead? N-No. That’s wrong—”

“He’s dead,” my father insists. “I saw the bastard lowered into his grave myself. I spent so damn long

watching him. Waiting for one shred of—”

“Heyworth!” Diane appears breathless in the doorway, one of her hands braced against her chest.

“Heyworth!”

They scan each other, their eyes brimming with tears, and I don’t have the heart to ruin the moment by

dredging up the past. Not now, when I can barely form a coherent thought.Four years.My mind keeps

replaying those words over and over.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” I croak, standing.

“I know the gala is tonight darling,” Diane starts, “but I may be late—”

“Stay here.”

“I’m sorry, sweet pea,” Daddy calls after me, his voice broken and hoarse. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Because he’s lying to me, I decide as I race into the hall. He has to be. Because if Simon died four

years ago…

Only one man in the world has the means and knowledge to replace him.