THE TAKING OF CLARA 2(12)

Years of frustration, anger and resentment leaked out of her.

“My luck is turning—”

Clara grabbed the other vase then threw it at him. This one caught his leg. Edward stumbled back shocked by the impact. “No, you’re luck is not turning around. You’ve got a fucking daughter along with a dead wife. Your house is gone. You sold your daughter in a card game. When are you going to realize you’ve got nothing left to gamble with?”

“I need you.”

Tears filled his eyes as he looked at her. This is where she fell down against his guilt. He’d talk about everything he lost because of her being born. She’d supposedly taken everything away from him.

He’d taken everything away from her. Through his gambling he’d taken her mother because the stress had caused her to have a heart attack. After her mother’s death, their home had been taken along with all their possessions. She’d loaned her father money, which in turn stopped her from living her life for fear of having nothing left to pay her bills.

Now, he’d taken her life by giving her to a man in a card game. She felt lucky because of her feelings for Matthew but that didn’t stop the implication of what her father had done to her.

“The only thing you need to do is to get the fuck out of this house. I’m not giving you another cent.”

Clara turned her back on him to hang up the key.

“You’d turn your back on your own father. You’d leave him out in the cold.”

Clara stormed to his side and slapped his face. She didn’t understand what had changed inside her. The power she felt coursed through her veins, filling her with strength.

“I’m your daughter. I’m supposed to be the one asking you to repair my mistakes. Not the other way around. I’m supposed to be the fuck up while you’re supposed to be the one helping me. I’m done. I’m not helping you anymore.” She pressed a finger to her chest. “I’m living my life without worrying about you.”

Edward grabbed her arms. “If you don’t help me then I’m fucking dead.”

Before she got a chance to answer, Edward jerked away from her. Relief rushed through her the instant Edward’s arms were no longer on her. His touch repulsed her.

Clara stared up at Matthew. He looked threatening as he stood glaring at her father.

“What the fuck are you doing on my property?” Matthew pulled her against his side, glaring down at Edward. Her father lay sprawled on the floor.

The sight of Matthew filled her with joy.

Her father started laughing, which she didn’t understand. What could her father have to laugh about?

“Well I have to say, you know how to make life exciting,” another man said.

She turned to the other man. He looked every bit as powerful as Matthew, only he possessed blond hair instead of black.

“Clara, I’d like you to meet Luke Arnold but first it’s time I dealt with your shit head of a father.”