A Secret Kiss

by Alexia Praks

  Chapter 27

  Punishment

  Alaina watched in horror as James’s palm flew toward her and then—

  Slap!

  Her face twisted to the side. Pain burned her skin. Tears brewed in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and glared at her father.

  Tara gasped, her eyes wide, her whole body trembling in terror. Oh, God! James had just slapped Alaina. That only meant one thing. He was pissed. Very pissed.

  She held her breath as she waited for her turn to come. But it never did. James just scowled at her, his silvery-gray eyes dark, his face a controlled masked of anger.

  Alaina’s hand shook as she touched her sore cheek. “Why did you slap me?” she screamed.

  James narrowed his eyes dangerously at his daughter, his voice cold when he said, “You know what you did, Alaina. Have I not warned you many times I do not tolerate your sadistic behavior toward Sakura? I thought you’d changed. I’ve always known you would never accept her as your sister, but at least leave her be, for God’s sake. What has she ever done to you to make you treat her that way?”

  Alaina gritted her teeth. “She took Darcy from me, that’s what. He’s my best friend, Dad! My best friend! She has taken him from me since the first day she came into this house.”

  James scowled darkly. “And you still have a grudge against her because of that?” he asked, incredulous.

  “Yes, Dad!” Alaina shouted, tears in her eyes. “I hate her. Why did you adopt her in the first place? Everyone knows she’s a criminal. Everyone knows she burned down the orphanage and killed poor Tara’s mother.”

  “Alaina, that’s enough!” he said sharply. “I want you to go and apologize to her, now! And I mean now!”

  Alaina held her head high as she stared at her father. “I will never bow to that bitch.”

  James gritted his teeth, and he never ever gritted his teeth. He closed his eyes for a second, taking in a deep breath. He was too old to deal with these types of things. But deal with them he must because this was his family. He opened his eyes and sighed deeply. “That’s unfortunate,” he said quietly.

  Tara took a step forward, suddenly interested in what he was trying to say.

  “What do you mean?” Alaina asked, a hint of panic in her shaky voice.

  James sighed again. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”

  “Come to this?” Alaina shouted. “What do you mean?”

  James looked her straight in the eye and said, “I’m cutting your inheritance in half, Alaina.”

  Alaina gasped in shocked surprise. “What do you mean? What the hell do you mean?”

  “I’ve decided to cut your inheritance in half,” he said simply.

  “But, Dad! Why? I’m entitled to it. It’s mine.”

  “No, Alaina, it’s mine, and it’s my decision how I share it with my children. You’ve never proven yourself worthy. Nicolas has told me about your spending habits, Alaina, and to be honest, I don’t like it.”

  “It’s all because of her, isn’t it? That bitch Sakura? You’re giving my inheritance to her, is that it? How could you do that? You and Mom have raised her like your own child. Isn’t that enough already? Now you’re giving her half of my money? I won’t stand for it. I’ll take her to court if I have to!” she yelled, her face red with anger.

  James lifted his palm and slapped her again. He felt his heart pounding hard and fast within his chest. Oh, God! He’d slapped his own daughter yet again. But how to discipline her? How? Especially when she was a grown adult.

  “Don’t shout at me, Alaina. I do not tolerate that type of behavior, and you know it.” Once he saw her stepping back and regretting her action, he said, “If you do happen to take Sakura to court, I advise you to hire a very good lawyer. Let me put this straight to you now. Everything, and I mean everything, will be brought up, including the fact that you’ve tried to kill Sakura not once, but twice. How do you think that’ll go down with the jury?”

  Alaina knew her father was threatening her. Good God! Her own father was threatening her? And for that bitch!

  James knew his daughter was thinking twice about her actions. He said, “Sakura is nothing like you. Since she turned sixteen, she never asked for a cent from me or your mother. She has worked hard all her life. She never had the luxury you take for granted.”

  He thought back to when his adopted daughter had been much younger. Sakura had worked very hard to pay for her own tuition fees, and then after she’d graduated, she even saved up enough money to pay him back the amount she thought it had cost him to raise her. He’d laughed at her and ruffled her hair fondly, telling her to give that money to charity instead. She understood him immediately and had donated that large sum of money to their newly built Queen Mary Orphanage in town. How proud of her he was. If only Alaina were more like Sakura, then James knew he’d die a happy man. But so far, that was not to be.

  “It’s a warning, Alaina. If this ever happens again, I will disinherit you completely,” he said calmly.

  Alaina could only stare at her father, shocked. “Dad?”

  “I mean what I said,” he said softly. “You’re my only daughter, yet you truly disappoint me.”

  Alaina couldn’t say a thing. Her heart was pumping so loud and fast within her chest that she thought she was going to have a heart attack and die any second now. She couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe her own father meant to disinherit her.

  She gritted her teeth and, without saying anything, stalked out the door.

  Tara hid a smile as she watched the poor little rich girl go. She turned to James and tried to look as sad as she possibly could.

  “I tried to stop her,” she began softly. “But Alaina, she just—” She broke off, pretending to be really upset.

  James saw through the act immediately. God, he was sick of it—sick of Tara, her poor me performance, and her manipulation of the people around her. He couldn’t fathom why he had adopted her into his household in the first place. No, it was because of Alaina, who’d begged him to take in Tara. And it hadn’t been long after that he’d seen through Tara’s façade, and all too soon, the girl had little Alaina wrapped around her little finger, using her as though the girl were her puppet.

  “You’re twenty-three now, Tara,” James said.

  Tara looked up and cocked her head to one side. “Er, yes?” she queried.

  “A fully grown adult,” James murmured. “Too old to play those silly acting games, don’t you think?”

  Tara gritted her teeth. Shit! He was onto her already. No, wait! He must have known for a long time now. So why hadn’t he kicked her out of the family already? Was it because of Alaina?

  “True,” she said and cocked her head to the other side. “But it’s fun.”

  “I don’t expect to see you ever again after the wedding,” James said. “I’m sure you understand what that means.”

  Tara fisted her hands and tried to control the anger that was rising within her chest. So he was kicking her out of the family after all. Fine! That was totally fine with her.

  “Completely,” she said and turned on her heel. As she left the room, she silently murmured, “But before I’m gone, there’s going to be a big show, and I’m sure you won’t like it, James. You won’t like it at all. All too soon, your golden girl too will be gone.” She smiled slyly, her eyes narrowed.

  She rushed up the stairs and headed to Alaina’s room. She found her friend crying her heart out. Aw, Tara thought, the poor little rich girl having a wee tantrum.

  She came to sit beside Alaina and stroked the younger woman’s hair. “Hey,” she said softly.

  Alaina looked up and wiped her tears. “I can’t believe it. Just can’t believe it. Now I hate that bitch more than ever.”

  Yes, Tara thought, hate her. Hate her. Hate her. God, that felt good. So very good.

  She said, “But we can’t touch her. She’s his golden girl.”

  Alaina harrumphed. “I know we can’t!�
� she snapped, fisting her hands tight. “But I’m sure Kate can.”

  Tara cocked her head to one side, catching on Alaina’s meaning immediately, but pretended she didn’t understand. “Meaning?”

  “She rang me complaining about Darcy not returning her calls or talking to her when he happened to pick up the phone. She said she wants him back. The stupid bitch. Darcy would never go back to the likes of her. But now we need her.”

  Tara chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure you’ve seen how Darcy looks at Sakura. He’s smitten with her.”

  “I know,” Alaina said through gritted teeth. “That’s why Kate is going to come. She’s going to teach that bitch a lesson she’ll never forget.”

  “But I thought you never liked giving Darcy to Kate,” Tara probed.

  “I don’t, but Kate is better than Sakura, isn’t she? Besides, Darcy doesn’t like Kate any more than you or I. When this is all over, Darcy is still my Darcy and Sakura can just go and die and leave all of us to live in peace.”

  Tara chuckled. “Then we should give Kate a call ASAP.”

  Alaina nodded and picked up the phone.