“I’m your father!”
“You aren’t shit to me!” I feel my blood boiling, that red haze covering my eyes that I try so hard to keep contained. “YOU ARE NOTHING!”
“You would choose your queer boyfriend and that whore over me?!”
Time stops. Every head turns to me, and Leo tugs on my shirt in a warning. Noonetalks about them like that.
I drop my shoulder and rush him, catching him in the gut and running him backward. His head smacks the bar, and he goes down to the floor. I pull my Glock from its holster and press it to his forehead. Bending down, I push hard enough to make him wince. “You don’t talk about them like that, you useless waste of fucking air,” I snarl in his face. “These people mean more to me than you ever will. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t put a bullet through your goddamn skull right now?”
Dad looks at the gun and then at my face. “You would shoot me?”
“In a heartbeat.” I tighten my finger on the trigger. “Give me a reason.”
“Gage.” My head snaps up at the sound of my name. “You won’t come back from that,” Zane’s voice cuts through the fog. “Piece of shit or not. That’s your father.”
“Did you hear what he said?!”
“Yes,” Zane says softly. “It’s still not worth it.”
“He’s right,” Ryder agrees.
“He shouldn’t get to live!” I yell. “For twenty-one years, he made me feel less than worthless! Why does he get to walk the fuck away?!”
“He doesn’t have to,” Zane says, slowly walking closer. “You just don’t have to be the one who does it.”
I look back at Dad. “I should load your body full of fucking lead for every time you backhanded me across the face, every time youbeat the shit out of me with a belt, every time you called me a fucking name, every goddamn time you said I wouldn’t amount to anything.” I can feel my hands shaking, my finger pulling on the trigger. “I have everything without you. A beautiful woman who looks at me like I hung the fucking moon, a gorgeous boyfriend who trusted me to give me his firsts, and a family that fucking loves me.Me.” I jab my other finger at my chest, tears burning my throat. “What do you have?” Dad actually looks scared of me; his eyes locked on my face.
I feel someone’s hand slide over mine on top of the gun; I look up at Zane. “Let us take care of it,” he says gently, slowly pulling the gun from my hand.
“That’s such a cop move,” I choke out.
He jerks me away from Dad into his chest, wrapping me in a bear hug. “You don’t need this asshole’s death on your conscience.”
I don’t get a chance to nod before Zane jerks me to the side, pulling the trigger. My head snaps back at Dad. He has a perfect circle in the middle of his forehead, blood soaking the floor under him. Zane takes the toe of his boot and kicks away the gun that clattered to the floor from Dad’s hand. “He was going to fucking shoot me?”
Zane looks apologetic. “I’m sorry, man.”
It’s one thing for your dad to hate you your whole life. It’s totally different knowing he’s more than capable of taking your life.
Les rushes over, wrapping her arms around my waist; I hug her closer, “I’m okay, Pretty girl.”
“Let’s go home,” she says gently.
I look back at Dad one last time, accepting his fate. It should bother me, but everything he did to me growing up reminds me why I shouldn’t.
And the fact he was about to shoot me in the damn back.
Chapter 32
Alessa
Leo and I get Gage tucked in between us on the way home and none of us know what to say. Micah is going to take care of Connor’s body and have someone come in to clean it up.
His dad was an evil man; I knew that. I didn’t know he did all that to Gage growing up, though. I knew about the name calling, but I didn’t know he used to abuse him. Was this going on under my dad’s nose? Did dad know? Or was it before he came to stay with us?
I don’t need to know the answers to those questions; all I need to know is if Gage is okay. He seems lost in thought, staring into space, so I decide I’ll take him somewhere to talk when we get home.
Ryder’s phone rings through the speakers, Mani’s name flashing across the screen on the dash. “Hello?”
