“Jesus, Michelle. It’s me, your husband. I’ve been there for you and Melanie since she was nine. I will do anything you want.”
His voice is thick with desperation, but all I hear is the poison laced within it. I watch Michelle, waiting, hoping—praying—that she’ll tell this bastard to get the hell off my property before I put a bullet in his skull. But she doesn’t speak. She just stands there, silent.
Richard takes a step closer, his eyes pleading. Pathetic. “Can we please just talk?” His voice cracks like he actually gives a damn.
Michelle crosses her arms over her chest, her face unreadable. “Okay. Talk.”
I feel Melanie shift against me before she suddenly pulls free, shaking her head as she storms off. Every instinct in me screams to follow her, to make sure she’s okay, but I don’t. Not yet. My focus stays locked on Richard, making damn sure he knows that no matter what bullshit spills from his mouth, Melanie is never goingback with him. I step onto the porch beside Michelle, standing tall, every muscle in my body coiled tight with rage. “The only reason you’re still breathing,” I say slowly, venom dripping from every word, “is because I won’t shoot an unarmed man. But if you show up here again, I will make sure it looks like you came after me and my wife.” I tilt my head slightly, letting my lips curl into a smirk. “And just so we’re clear—no matter what you and Michelle discuss, don’t you ever think for a second that Melanie is going back with you. She’s happy here.”
Richard chuckles darkly, shaking his head. “Really? You expect me to believe that your marriage—” he lifts his fingers, mocking quotation marks in the air “—is legitimate? Please. There is no way my daughter would willingly marry someone like you.” His gaze sweeps over the house, his lips curling in disgust. “This house, if you can even call it that, is a shack compared to what she’s used to. So forgive me if I don’t buy into this little fantasy. Because when she realizes she can’t keep up this act, she’ll come home. And you? You’ll be nothing. Just dirt under her shoes.”
My vision goes red.
“You think that makes you better than me because you have money?” My voice shakes, fury pouring from me like a storm about to break. “You’re not. Men don’t fuck little girls, you low-life piece of shit!”
His laughter is like nails on a chalkboard, grating against my skin. He’s laughing.
“You think that’s funny?” I growl.
“I do.” He smirks. “Because Melanie has you fooled too, doesn’t she?”
Michelle stiffens beside me for the first time, her eyes darting between us, uncertainty flickering in their depths. And for a brief second, doubt hits me like a sucker punch to the gut.
Was Melanie lying? Was this all an act?
Richard sees the hesitation, the fraction of a second where my walls crack, and he pounces. “You see, Nick, before Melanie went bonkers, she was on track to become one of the highest-paid childactresses in Hollywood. If she had stayed on course, she’d be sitting on a fortune by eighteen. But then the drugs killed her spirit. At fourteen, she started drinking, doing drugs, and spiraling. We spent thousands cleaning her up, putting her through rehab after rehab. And in the end? The doctors all said the same thing—” he pauses, tilting his head with an almost sympathetic smile, “—pathological liar.”
I grit my teeth so hard my jaw aches.
“But,” he continues, stepping forward, his voice lowering to a taunting whisper, “she may have met her match. I’ll give her that.”
Then his smirk turns razor-sharp. “Tell me, Mr. Consele—does my daughter know why you really tricked her into marrying you? Or are you still pretending it was about love?”
The ground beneath me feels like it tilts. My breath catches.
How the fuck does he know?
My head jerks toward the spot where Melanie stood moments ago, but she’s gone. My stomach tightens. I didn’t want her to find out this way. Not like this. Not when things were finally starting to feel real between us.
Richard grins, satisfaction gleaming in his cold, dead eyes. “Oh, I know all about you, Nick. That’s the beauty of having money—it’s power. And I will always have power over you. And my daughter? She knows what money can do. Sooner or later, she’ll come to her senses. And you?” He chuckles. “You’ll be nothing more than a mistake she’d rather forget.”
The rage in me explodes.“She’s not your fucking daughter.” My voice is raw, broken with fury. My fists clench so hard I feel my nails bite into my palms, the only thing stopping me from lunging at him and beating him into the ground.
Beside me, Michelle’s breath hitches. “What are you talking about, Richard?” Her voice wavers, confusion knitting her brows together. But Richard just grins wider, his teeth bared like a predator who knows he’s already won.
“You think you scare me, flaunting my past in my face?” My voice is low, deadly. “It’s nothing compared to what’s coming for you.”
Richard dips his head to the side, studying me with a knowing smirk. Then he leans in slightly, his voice barely above a whisper.“Yeah? Well, we’ll see about that.” And just like that, he turns on his heel and walks away, leaving nothing but destruction in his wake.
45
NICK
Ididn’t wait another second. Leaving Michelle and Richard to their conversation, I bolted out the back door, searching for Mel. My heart pounded as I scanned the yard until I spotted her beneath one of the white oak trees, Loco sitting faithfully by her side. She stood still, arms wrapped around herself, staring off into the distance as if lost in another world. Something inside me twisted at the sight. I approached cautiously, the cool night air biting against my skin.
“Are you okay?” I asked softly.
She didn’t answer. Didn’t even glance at me. Just kept staring, her expression unreadable.
