Sweat beaded on my brow, and I clasped my hands together behind my back to hide their shaking.
The uncontrollable physical responses to returning to this traumatic place made rage spark in my chest. I hated this weakness, the way my body betrayed me even when I wanted to be strong and composed.
Rage was familiar. Rage was strength.
I stoked the embers in my chest, allowing the anger to consume me. My trembling fingers stilled, and my back straightened with purpose. My mission to take down Fitzgerald and restore my rightful place in the family had seared me with purpose for nearly two years. I might’ve fucked that up beyond repair, but the strength of my fury would get me through this hell.
The door swung open, revealing the man I loathed and feared in equal measure. My father leaned back in his red leather armchair, swirling his whiskey in a crystal glass in a bored posture. His lips thinned, almost disappearing beneath his neatly trimmed, short black beard. A few flecks of silver glimmered at his temples, the first signs of advanced age only making him appear that much more severe. Prison had carved deep lines around his black eyes, and now, they were drawn like crags in a cliff face. His dark gaze punched my chest, knocking the air from my lungs.
I remembered the last time he’d glared at me with such disdainful loathing. He’d been drinking whiskey then, too. And so had I. But I’d been drunk on my own arrogance and alcohol, and when I’d dared to rail at him for his failures to protect our family, the viper had struck with terrible precision.
The feel of his hands on my neck, the heat of the flames licking my face as he inexorably shoved me into the fire…
My stomach lurched, and I tasted a copper tang on my tongue as I bit my cheek to ground myself with a little hit of pain. I couldn’t allow myself to be sucked back into that terrible night. I had to stay alert and defend myself.
I had to defend Allie.
I thought of her peridot eyes, flashing like gemstones as she demanded my respect; the soft curve of her sensual lips as she told me she wasn’t afraid of me; the heat of her lithe body melting beneath my demanding touch as I claimed every inch of her that she would yield to me.
I took a breath and stilled, settling fully into the present. I wouldn’t allow my family to hurt her. No matter what I had to do, I would protect her.
“Your sister tells me that you’re in a relationship with Alexandra Fitzgerald.” My father’s drawl was soft and deceptively calm. “Our family is fractured. Your Uncle Tony is still in prison. Ron Fitzgerald would love an excuse to destroy what’s left of us while we’re critically weakened. He’s still allied with the Bratva. With the men who murdered your mother.” His voice rumbled with the hint of a growl on the last. For all of his cruelty, he’d loved my mother in his own way. He hated the men who’d taken her from us every bit as much as I did.
“Haven’t you cost this family enough?” he spat. “You let the Russians kill your mother. You wasted years pissing away my money when you should’ve been rebuilding the family. And now, you’re fucking our enemy’s daughter. Explain yourself, Maximus.”
Each of his accusations slammed into my wall of rage like a sledgehammer, seeking to shatter me. I gritted my teeth and drew my fury around me like a defensive shield. As long as I had the strength of my anger, I wouldn’t break.
It allowed me the presence of mind to come up with an excuse to explain away my actions and protect Allie. If my family thought she meant nothing to me, they wouldn’t have a reason to threaten her.
I squared my shoulders and met my father’s glower head-on. “I started a relationship with Alexandra to humiliate Fitzgerald,” I explained in a calm, even voice. Not even a hint of my lie colored my tone. “She’s an adult and can make her own choices independently of him. She’s kind and sensitive, and she doesn’t like that her dad tries to interfere in her life so much.” I was betraying some of her secrets, but if that was the cost of her safety, I would give them to my family. “She likes me. If her father tries to break us up, his princess will resent him. I’m hitting him where it hurts most. She’s the only family he has left.”
My father cocked his head at me, stroking his beard. An agonizing minute of silence passed, and I fought the urge to squirm under his scrutiny. I clenched my fists behind my back and locked my shaking knees.