She was trying to do it again. Meredith was right, and this woman had me wrapped all the way around her finger - or had. She just didn't know that Faith always came first, yet she was still trying to twist things. Shit, even Ashton had slipped up. He'd told me she was a viper. Maybe that was his best attempt to get me out?
"It's a fucking cult," I breathed, backing away. "You take all the good shit in a man's life and screw it up. You..." And I pointed at Ashton. "You tried to trick me into her bed. That's why you set me up to walk in on her. And Cy perverted me. All y'all worked together to make it sound like a good idea. You pushed me to think it was mine. You said this was like a fucking family, and I shoulda known better. That's how they talk in cults!"
I spun, marching around the couch to grab my hat, but Cy stepped in my way before I could head to the door. "Hang on," he said.
"No, I'm fucking done with that shit. I have a real family, whether you like it or not, and I'm not going to let you take my kid away."
"That's not what we're doing!" Ash yelled, shoving to his feet. "Pull your fucking head out of your ass for a second and let's talk about this?"
"So you can fuck with my mind again?" I asked. "I can't believe I fell for it. I was actually starting to think that I was like you. I actually let that man put my dick in his mouth, but that's how you do it, isn't it? Little something to hold over my head. You slip me something while you were at it? No way that kiss in the barn was an accident," I told Cy. "You two planned that. Together, so if I started swinging, you could... what? Take me down?"
"They'll give Faith to you!" Cy roared. "Next of fucking kin. We're not trying to take her. We're trying to help her!"
"That's not how it works," I growled, taking a half step toward him. "They'll snatch her out of that house, grill her until she points a finger at someone, and then they'll put her in foster care. They'll say I'm unfit. Her mom will be ruined, and if you don't think that'll fuck her up, then you're more screwed than I thought. All because the man hugged her? Well, news flash, that's what good parents do! They love their children. Just because you never had one ain't my fault."
"Let us help," Cy said, catching my arm as I tried to shove past him.
"You've helped enough." I yanked my arm free. "And don't you dare fucking touch me again. I will punch you in your dick-sucking mouth."
"Let him go," Violet said.
But Cy just stared at me. I could see the hurt in his eyes, and it made me regret those words, but I couldn't take them back now. That was how deep they'd gotten. Meredith had been right. Before these people showed up, I was a good man. I'd been a proper Christian. I'd taken care of my kid and worked hard. I hadn't had these urges. I hadn't done this stupid shit. I'd been a good man, then they'd gotten under my skin and ruined it all.
"If you touch him," Ash said softly, "then all bets are off, Luke. Walk out now and get your head out of your ass. We tried to help you, but if all you want to do is shit on us, then leave."
"You wanna come at me," I told him, "then fine. But you come at my kid and all bets are off. You get me, boy?"
Then, before this could continue, I pushed past Cy, slamming my shoulder into his to make it clear I wasn't scared of him. The man grunted, but he turned, giving me a clear path to the exit. A straight line to put my life back on track. A free chance to right the wrongs I'd just made.
"What if I'm right?" Cy called after me. "Luke, before you do anything stupid, just ask yourself that? What if I'm right and you help that man molest her?"
"Fuck you!" Because I'd kill all of them before that happened.
Faith was my world. She was the only thing that had ever mattered. That little girl may have been my biggest mistake, but she was also the best thing that had ever happened to me. I was a good dad, but if I wanted to stay that way, then I needed to get my shit straight. I had to walk away from all the temptation Southwind kept offering and focus on her. Just her.
And damn if it didn't hurt like a bitch.
Chapter Fifty-Six
The door slammed behind Luke, and we all just stood there. It sounded final. It sounded like the end of something, and Cy's shoulders slumped. That was more than I could take. After seeing him punching a bale of hay yesterday, I knew this was hurting him. It was the exact same thing I'd done to hurt this man, so I stormed after Luke.
"Let him go," Violet said again, but I ignored her, charging out to the front porch just as Luke climbed in his truck.
"Hey!" I yelled.
He paused, half in the truck. "Stay the fuck out of my life, Ash."
"No. You don't get to cut down the people I love and think I'll ignore it," I yelled at him.
"But it's ok for you to do the same?" He got out of the truck and came back at me.
So I met him halfway. "We're trying to help you," I snapped.
Luke shoved, hitting me on both shoulders. I had to step back, but I wasn't going anywhere, so Luke shoved again. "You're sick," he said, "and I want no part of this shit."
Oh, but I knew where that was coming from. I'd tried the same thing. If his attraction to men was a disease, then it wasn't his fault. If we'd given it to him, then it had to be ours. Diseases could be treated. It gave him the hope of a cure that simply didn't exist, but with everything else crumbling around him, that was the lifeline he'd chosen to cling to.
Not us. Not this place. Luke was grasping at straws, and all the wrong ones. The only problem was that he was willing to hurt everyone to help himself out of this hole, and I wasn't going to let him. I'd seen the hurt on Cy's face. I couldn't stop thinking about that man on the verge of tears, punching the shit out of the hay simply because he couldn't hurt it and he felt like he hurt everything else.
