“I told you to stay away from her.”
John leaned forward. “You did what?”
Oddly enough, uttering Livvy’s name had calmed him. It was done. His father knew, and all that was left to see was how the man would handle it.
He didn’t care what Brendan did, though, because Nicholas knew what he was going to do.
Nicholas shoved his salad aside and perused the platter of dessert. No cannoli, but there were chocolate chip cookies. He picked up two and placed them on a napkin. He took a big bite of one, aware his entire family was watching him like hawks. “I told you, I’m not a child.”
“You’re my child.”
“Your child, not your robot.” This magical land of not giving a fuck was pretty cool.
“I will not tolerate you seeing a member of that family.”
Another bite. “I don’t care.”
Brendan slammed his fist on the table. Eve jumped, but Nicholas didn’t move. Nor did he usher her and his grandfather out of the room.
They were adults, and he couldn’t protect them anymore. Let everyone see exactly who Brendan was.
“You know what they did to us!”
“They didn’t do anything to us.”
“They killed your mother.”
“No. Robert was behind that wheel. It sucked. It was bad. It was a fucking tragedy. But that had nothing to do with the rest of them. You’re the only one who wanted to punish the whole family for one man’s mistake.”
“One mistake? The fire—”
“The charges against Jackson were dropped,” he said flatly. It didn’t matter what he thought about the younger man.
It was too late for him to make peace with Paul. Regret slammed into him at the thought of his former best friend. Paul had been difficult and stubborn, no doubt, but Nicholas should have and could have tried harder to speak to the man instead of letting their friendship disappear.
Nicholas would have to carry that regret for the rest of his life. He could, however, make peace with the living Kane son.
“We all know he did it.” Brendan thumped his fist on the table again. “I knew this would happen. You were always panting after her like a dog after a bitch. What’s so special about her pussy, Nicholas?”
John barked out, “Watch it, Brendan,” but Nicholas couldn’t fully appreciate his grandfather scolding his father like a child.
He sat up straight, taking advantage of the few inches he had on his father. “Don’t speak that way about her ever again.”
The paleness in Brendan’s cheeks had vanished, replaced by a red flush. “Because it’s the truth?”
“Because if you want any place in my life, you’ll be civil to her.” Nicholas picked up his second cookie and bit into it, savoring the chocolate and brown sugar. It tasted like freedom. “You will not go near her, pay anyone to go near her, or do anything which could be seen in any way, shape, or form, as aggression.” Cookie in one hand, he leaned forward, not breaking eye contact with his father. “Do you understand me?”
“If you date that woman, Nicholas...” Brendan shook his head. “I told you what would happen.”
“You were bluffing.”
“You think so?” Brendan looked at Eve. “Do you want to gamble on it?”
Nicholas couldn’t help but cut his gaze to Eve. Their eyes met for a split second, and it was enough. Realization dawned on her face. “This is about me? He threatened you with something to do with me?”
No matter how much he wanted to, Nicholas couldn’t keep every ugly thing away from Eve. Especially not now that she was an adult. “Yes.”
Eve reached forward and grabbed her own cookie. “What was it?” She sounded only mildly curious, but that wasn’t surprising. If the Chandlers did anything well, it was pretending everything was fine.
