King's Treasure (Oil Kings Book 3) by Marie Johnston (great novels .TXT) 📗

I’d hit high school, there had been so much more I’d rather have been doing than running more laps around the gym. “You wanted me to stay in it because you thought it kept me busy.”

He raised his brows, challenging me.

“Pictures kept me busy.”

Dad scrubbed a hand over his face. “I didn’t think you were lazy, if that’s what you’re saying. I wanted you to follow through on something. You dropped out of wrestling. You quit football before you graduated. Any time someone said something to piss you off, you left. You left whatever you were doing and vanished. I wanted to see you finish something to the end. But I had to hear from a practical stranger that you’d dropped out of college.”

“Maybe if you’d let me do what I wanted, then I would’ve been interested enough to follow through.”

“College, Xander. You had your pick of majors.”

“Did I?” What about business administration? Maybe something in public relations if you insist on taking that camera everywhere. “Don’t worry about the money. I’ll pay you back soon enough.”

Profound disgust filled his gaze. “I hope that isn’t why you married Sapphire.”

I threw my hands up. “See? You think the worst. I was too lazy to work for a living so I must’ve married for the money?” It burned that it looked like that was exactly what I’d done. “Did you pay any attention, at all, to how she and I are together? Do you think I’m still with her, or that she’s still with me, for the money?”

Dad’s jaw ticked and he wouldn’t allow me to drop my gaze. “Fair enough. You two seem to care about each other. But what are you going to do for the next several months? Winter’s coming. Do you have enough money to take you both somewhere warm? What are you going to do for living accommodations?” His hands gripped his knees. “Or are you going to couch surf until you’re millionaires?”

I hated that his questions cut through my newfound excitement. I hated that I didn’t have answers. All I had going for me was that I’d proved I could pinch pennies and get by on little. But Dad’s point wasn’t lost on me. It wasn’t just me anymore.

“It’s honestly none of your business.” My heart pounded. By now, I’d usually have stormed off, but that had been to avoid telling him the truth. The truth was out there now and I had no reason not to face him.

The unflinching look he gave me stretched out long enough to be uncomfortable. “Isn’t it? I believe that’s my money you’ve been living off since you left school.”

My pride wilted. Wasn’t that the crux of my issue? All this time I’d avoided Dad to keep from having to defend my choices, but all along he was the one fueling them. All along, I’d needed his help in the form of cash and that meant he’d been right about everything. And if he was right about everything, then I couldn’t follow through on a damn thing and I was doomed to fail.

I pushed back from the desk, the sound of the wheels on the hardwood stark in the silence. Leaving my computer behind, I rounded the desk to head for the door. “And I told you I’d pay you back.”

Dad did nothing more than turn his head to follow my path. “Xander.”

He didn’t bark my name. It was the even, quiet tone that made me stop.

“You can walk out on me, you can run from your problems, but maybe ask yourself how you’re going to deal with life now that you have a wife to think about. Or are you going to walk out on her too?”

My teeth snapped together and I ground my jaw. My hands clenched at my sides and I stormed out. I stomped out of the house, right to the barn, and out the other side to grab my horse. Dawson and Savvy both saw me. Kendall must be hiding, having known her husband planned to confront me.

Savvy lifted a hand and trotted toward me. She hovered at the edge of the barn while I caught Fool’s Gold. I passed her on the way to grab the saddle, my boots crunching in the straw with the horse’s hooves.

“I take it you talked to your dad,” she said only loud enough to be heard above the creaking of the leather saddle.

“Yep.” I methodically strapped the saddle in place. Fool’s Gold sensed my mood and shifted. The horse anticipated a long ride, used to the routine.

“The truth is out now. You two can move on from there.”

She hadn’t seen his disappointment. How unsurprised he was that I’d fucked up everything he’d given me. He probably thought I’d fuck up the trust money too, or worse—do nothing with it but traipse from country to country, only now I’d have the luxury of never needing to work.

My skin itched. I had to get away. I could travel and do something with my life. I’d prove it. “Where should we go?”

Her eyes flew wide. “What?”

“Go. We should get out of here before the snow flies. We don’t even have to go far. Head north to Canada, rent a cabin, wait out the winter, make our plans.”

“We have plans, Xander.”

I shook my head. “I can’t think here.” I led Fool’s Gold outside. Savvy followed on the other side, her top bun bouncing with each step.

“But—”

“We can leave tonight or in the morning. I’ll pack when I get back.” I swung up and with a twitch of my heel, I was off, leaving Savvy behind, just like Dad had said I would.

Chapter 20

Savvy

I couldn’t help it. I waited on the porch, staring out at the pastures, hoping to see my husband ride back in. Logically, I knew he was coming back, that he hadn’t ridden to town and caught a flight out. That’d be absurd.

Yet anxiety curdled in my gut and I waited.

The door eased open. I expected Kendall. She