I kiss her forehead. “You stay right here no matter what, understood?”
“But…”
“I mean it, Rebekah. Let me handle this.”
“Yes, sir.”
I flinch. That’s the first time she’s called me sir. I’m not sure I like it. She will not be my servant. She will be my equal partner. But I’m grateful she intends to obey this directive. It’s for her safety. “Good girl.”
I shut the door and step away from the truck to join my brothers where they stand in a line, firmly planted, feet wide, chests back.
“You were going to have to face him at some point,” Adrian says.
“Yeah. I just would have preferred not confronting him in front of Rebekah.”
Richard Sharp pulls his beat-up, blue truck into the grass before leaping out of it. Oh, yeah. He’s angry. He’s also staggering, and he looks like shit. He’s emaciated from drinking his calories. He appears to be thirty years older than I’m sure he is.
“What the fuck are you doing on my property?” he shouts, hip-checking the corner of his truck. Yep. Drunk.
I don’t want him to know we took anything from the house, so I take a different tactic. “Came to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.” Perhaps if I pretend to ask, it will help my case.
Sharp’s eyes widen. “My Rebekah?”
“Yes.”
He sways again and braces himself on the bed of his truck. “All four of you gonna fuck that harlot?”
I grind my teeth, trying to hold my temper while praying Rebekah stays in the truck like I demanded. “I’ll be the one marrying Rebekah.” Now I understand why she tosses that antiquated word around.
He shakes his head. “No.”
Fuck. I figured he wouldn’t let me take her without a fight. She’s his maid. “I’m marrying your daughter. With or without your blessing.”
“The fuck you are,” he shouts. His gaze moves past me toward my truck. “Rebekah,” he bellows. “Get your slutty self out of that truck right this instant. You’re not going anywhere with these Gallant assholes.”
I’m grateful that she doesn’t move. Good girl. I’m sure she’s freaking out, but it says a lot that she trusts me over her father. It says a lot about the conditions she’s been living in, too. And the level of abuse she has undoubtedly suffered.
When I glance over my shoulder, I can see the back of her head. She has slunk down a bit in the seat, but she isn’t facing this direction.
“Why the fuck did you pussies move back here for anyway?” Sharp asks, swaying back and forth. “You should have stayed gone. Can’t you take a fucking hint? You’re not wanted in these parts. Your fucking mother thought she could meddle in my life by befriending my wife over twenty years ago. I had to nip that shit in the bud. Don’t think I’m not aware you people fucking filled Rebekah’s head with nonsense when she was a child. I won’t let you pick up where you left off. Too bad you didn’t all die in that fire. Get the fuck off this mountain.”
I grit my teeth, trying to control my temper. My brothers and I have long suspected Richard Sharp of starting the fire that killed our parents. We had no proof, but I don’t like what’s coming out of his mouth right now.
Asher growls and lurches forward. It takes both Andrew and Adrian to haul him back.
“It’s our land, Sharp,” Andrew informs him, “and I suggest you change your attitude, old man. No one talks that way in front of a lady, and you have no reason to speak to us like that.”
“The fuck I don’t.” Richard staggers forward. “You’re not taking my daughter. I don’t care if she is a harlot and all six of you have fucked her. You can’t have her.”
I’m surprised how steady his speech is. Finding us in his driveway has sobered him up a bit. He’s barely slurring.
“Go inside and sleep off that alcohol, old man,” Adrian tells him. “This isn’t a fight you want to have. You’d break your hand if you tried to take a swing at any of us.”
Sharp points toward the truck. “You’re not taking that bitch with you,” he shouts. “Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. The. Truck. Rebekah.” His voice is so loud that birds fly into the air.
When I look again, I can only see the very top of her head. I’m so proud of her. This can’t be easy. She’s probably shaking violently, and I want to end this conversation and get her out of here.
“She’s mine,” Sharp screams.
