He turns to Dante, his teeth gritted. “Step aside, boy. This is family business.”
Dante steps closer and squares his shoulders. “Lillyismy family.”
I can’t see his face, only hear his tone, and it’s the first time I feel the danger he possesses.
My father scoffs. “She spreading her legs for you too?”
I wince at his words, and he turns to me, looking me dead in the eyes.
“Whoring around will only get you so far in life, remember that.” And with his last bit of fucked up fatherly advice he turns and storms right out of the room and hopefully right out of my life for the last time.
My body instantly deflates, and I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I drop in the only chair still standing, right at the back of the table. After the latest threat has gone, I’m left with a deep shame of having that played out in front of anyone.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” I drop my head in my hands and I feel Dante’s big warm hand press against my shoulder.
“No need to apologise to me, darlin.” He gently rubs it and offers comfort in stark contrast from our previous encounters. “No offence, but your dad's a bit of a dick.”
I laugh despite everything that has just happened and look up at him. He has a genuine smile, albeit one of pity, but still heart-warming all the same.
“I’d say a big one, but I don’t want to give him any sort of compliment.”
He chuckles, pulling up a chair from the ground, taking a seat next to me.
“Sometimes it’s all…” I shake my head, looking for the right words. “Just too hard. You think, oh here’s something good, then life just slaps you in the face, you know?”
“Well, you definitely punched back, you did good.”
“Hmph, definitely way past due that’s for sure.”
“Now I get the jumping out of moving cars.”
“Pfft, Dad doesn’t scare me that much. Did you see him, he could hardly stand. He would probably hurt his fist more than my face if he did get to me.”
“Was never gonna let that happen.”
I turn to face him, and after such a terrible night, I smile, a real, heartfelt smile. “Well, look at us. We’ve come a long way.”
He shakes his head, regret filling his face. “I was an asshole. I’m sorry about the other night.”
“Well, you obviously weren’t wrong. Ren seriously should have listened to you.”
“No fucking chance that was gonna happen.”
“All this with Sergei it’s too much. He won’t stop. And now, I’m putting everyone at risk over my mistake. It’s not fair to any of you.”
“Darlin, it’s done. You’re family now. You don’t need to worry. We’ll handle it.”
I drop my head on the table, groaning. “That is gonna get me fired up again.”
“Look, tonight we didn’t think he’d pull a stunt like this, but Ren won’t let anything happen. We’ll get rid of him, then we can enjoy the rest of the night.”
“He’s already gone.” I sit up, blowing out a breath, leaning back in the chair.
A frown settles across his face. “How do you know?”
And I swear, I don’t get why any of these macho men don’t listen to me.
“Because he said what he needed to say. There’s no reason to stick around. He set the clock and laid out the terms.”