Rose’s heart pounded as if trying to escape her chest. The world around her dimmed, the room blurring until only the sound in her ear remained.
The voice on the other end of the line was a ghost.
“Hello, Rose.”
Her blood ran cold.
No.
But she knew that voice.
Dave Brunette, Her father
The man who had gambled away everything. Who had destroyed her mother? Who had left her drowning in his debts, abandoned in a world that didn’t care. He was the storm that had blown through her childhood and left nothing but wreckage behind.
Her fingers trembled violently as she gripped the phone tighter, knuckles whitening. “How did you get this number?”
He chuckled. A low, mocking sound that slithered through the receiver and made her skin crawl.
“Oh, sweetheart. I never lost track of you.”
Her
