Page 50 of Out Of A Fix

“Oh my God,” he said under his breath as he scrolled through, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Why would he do this?”

“Some of it is because, again, he’s a sadist and likes hitting people less powerful than himself. The rest of it, in Griff’s case, is because his daughter lied to him and said Griff was the one leaving her bedroom at whatever time it was in the morning.”

“What made her do that?” he asked as Tatum brought over a box of tissues and put them down in front of him. “Thank you, Tate.”

She watched him like a mother hen as he pulled a couple and wiped his eyes.

“Fear of her father, but Griff suffered because of her lie.”

“He clearly did,” he murmured, going through the pictures again. “You must have taken him to the hospital.”

“Of course.”

“Was his nose broken?”

“No, just bruised, along with his face, and you can see the black eyes then and now. He also had a lot of blood in one eye, but that’s healing as well.”

“Okay.”

“He had bruises on his body too, but they were minimal.”

His head lifted, and he met my gaze. “And you made him pay.”

On his children, the blue-green eyes were beautiful. On him, they were warm and alluring and making it a little hard to concentrate. “Griff did, yes, and his lawyer.”

“I don’t really like that lawyer,” Tatum said, sounding quite judgmental.

“Oh?” I teased her. “And why is that?”

“He likes you too much.”

“What’s that now?” Luke asked his daughter.

She groaned. “He was all call me for anything.” She made it sound far more torrid than it actually was.

“She’s right,” Griff said, putting a plate of eggs and bacon and sliced tomatoes down in front of me. The tomatoes had a light dusting of garlic salt on them and a bit of fresh mozzarella.

“Now we’re talkin’,” I said excitedly. “This looks great, Griff.”

He grunted.

I gave him my attention. “What? It does.”

“Mr. Kinney was hitting on you,” Griff told me.

I squinted at him before taking a napkin and a fork from the wicker caddy on the table. This was yet another recent purchase. It was lined in fabric that appeared to be from a really ugly Aloha shirt, but there were places for forks, spoons, and knives. Plus, you could easily carry it by the handle to and from the kitchen to refill. “Could you please concern yourself with your father’s plate?”

He scoffed, added a disgusted, dismissive sound on top of it that made me smile, and when my gaze lifted from my plate, Luke was staring at me.

“Your kids are a bit too observant,” I commented. “It’s annoying.”

“It’s true about them being observant,” he agreed softly, grabbing a napkin and fork. “They miss nothing.”

I started eating, and he admired the caddy.

“It makes it easier, and we all like it,” Tatum stated, taking a seat beside me, smiling at her father as she put her elbows on the table and then rested her chin on the backs of her hands. “So, Dad, I have something to tell you.”

“Okay,” he said as Griff set a plate in front of him with eggs and bacon, but instead of tomatoes, he’d added cubed fruit. He glanced up at his son. “I love fruit, but why don’t I get any tomatoes?”