Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 89303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Yep, it was there.
I played it for her.
Mom watched the video, slightly shaking her head as she listened to their exchange, and then she watched her husband beat the ass of a guy half his age. She gave the phone back to me and sighed.
“Mason came over to say hi, and I hoped Dad wouldn’t figure it out…but he did.”
“Because he figures out everything.” She kept glancing at the front desk, anxious to get him out of that place as soon as possible.
“Has Dad ever done anything like that before? I’ve never seen him lose his shit like that.”
Mom was quiet for a long time, glancing at the counter then the opposite wall. “Maybe once…”
“Really? What happened?”
“Before you were born, a guy I used to see said something to your father, so your father broke his nose.”
“Wow, go Dad.”
Mom ignored what I said. “I knew this whole thing bothered him, but I didn’t realize how much.”
“I’m not surprised, actually.” There was no line he wouldn’t cross, not for Daisy. “You have to admit, Dad was pretty badass. Gotta be proud…at least a little bit.”
She shook her head. “Your father could have gotten hurt.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t. Maybe his knuckles are a little sore from breaking Mason’s face, but that’s it. And I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty satisfying watching Mason get his ass handed to him like that.”
Mom didn’t say a word.
Eventually, we were led into the back, past cells full of drunken men who had made some wrong decisions that night. I made sure to walk between her and the front of the cells so the guys wouldn’t stare at her.
When we reached his cell, he was alone, sitting on a bench up against the wall, his eyes still dark and furious like a few hours behind bars wasn’t enough to dim his rage. He didn’t even look at us.
“Free to go.” The guard unlocked his cell and opened the door before he walked off.
Dad didn’t move.
Mom stood in front of the open doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.
I stepped aside and tried to give them some kind of privacy.
Dad still didn’t make eye contact.
Mom gave a loud sigh. “This is going to be on your record for the rest of your life. You know that?”
His dark eyes shifted to her. “Then it’s a good thing I’m a billionaire and my own boss.” He still wasn’t himself, responding with rage when Mom did nothing to spark that anger.
“What will your patients think—”
“They aren’t going to give a damn because I save lives.”
“You could have gotten hurt, Deacon.”
“But I didn’t. I reminded that asshole that I’m a man and he’s a boy. Fucking boy.”
Mom took another deep breath because there was no reasoning with him right now. “Daisy is perfectly capable of—”
“Nobody hurts my daughter and gets the fuck away with it. I don’t care about the consequences or the repercussions of my actions, nor am I sorry, nor will I ever be sorry. I would put that motherfucker in his place over and over again. He can sue me for damages, and I don’t give a shit. Money will never replace the dignity and respect I took away from him. Money will never fix the embarrassment, the sheer humiliation I caused. He betrayed my daughter and humiliated her in front of her own family. Now we’re even, bitch.”
Damn, my dad was a fucking gangster.
Mom had said her piece, and there was nothing more to say. “Let’s go home.”
Dad lingered for another moment before he got off the bench and walked out of the open cell. He walked past my mom and barely acknowledged her. He didn’t look at me either.
She grabbed him by the front of the shirt and tugged him toward her.
He moved with the pull, letting her do whatever she wanted, weak whenever it came to her but a fucking badass when it came to others. He stared her down as he waited for her to say something.
She whispered so low I could barely hear. “I love you.”
He melted at her words, and his arm slid to the small of her back, tugging her close and pulling her into a kiss.
My impulse was to look away, but there was something special about the moment, a memory of my parents that I wanted to keep when they were gone, to remember how much they loved each other.
Her arms circled his neck, and she hugged him as she pressed her face into his chest. “I’m so happy that you’re the father of my babies.”
Thirteen
Dex
It didn’t take long for Daisy to figure it out.
Because that shit was all over the news.
Nobel-Prize-winning and world-famous oncologist beat the shit out of some guy in a bar. They showed videos of Dad being taken into the police car, and they also showed a clip of him in action.