“Thanks, boss. I won’t let you down.”
“You’re a good man, Reed,” Chuck said. “I know you won’t let me down.”
I’d sure as hell let a lot of people down, my ex-wife and daughter included. But that was all about to change.
I wantedto see Penn before I left. I knew before I even put my truck in park that it was a bad idea to pull up to Elise’s unannounced tonight. There was another truck here I didn’t recognize, and I had a sinking feeling it washis. I instinctively reached beneath the driver’s seat, my fingertips brushing the cold metal.
Of course Elise lied to me. She may have chosen this man to share her bed, but there was no way in hell I was letting him play house and parent my daughter. Fuck that! I couldn’t leave town knowing Penn was around him. Lord only knows what she was being exposed to in that house.
Gripping the handle of my 9mm, I lifted the hem of my shirt, clipping it inside the front of my jeans. Sliding out of the truck, I closed the door with a soft click. If no one heard me pull up, I didn’t want to alert anyone and have him run out the back. I adjusted the front of my shirt, making sure it concealed the fact that I was armed.
My body read cool and in control, but inside, I was seething. Being a person in recovery, there were too many times to count where I had a gun pulled on me. It was necessary for me to be packing. The last time someone shoved a gun in my face wasthe night Elise found out she was expecting Penn, and it was the wake-up call we both needed to get clean. While becoming a mom made her relapse, it made me more determined than ever to remain on the straight and narrow. The last thing I wanted was to revisit that time in our lives, but she was forcing my hand.
I knocked lightly on the front door and listened.
“Can you get that?” I heard Elise mumble from somewhere in the house.
Heavy boots sounded from the hallway, approaching the door. The doorknob turned, and my hand disappeared at my waist, resting my palm on the grip, prepared to draw.
As soon as he opened it wide enough, I grabbed a handful of his shirt to pull him out onto the front porch, slamming him against the siding. With my hand twisted in his shirt and my forearm resting against his throat, I pressed the barrel against his temple.
A look of surprise flashed across his face, then was quickly replaced with the hard look of a man ready to fight. His light-gray eyes brightened when he registered who was staring him in the face. His lips curled in a sneer, ready to taunt me, yet he held up his arms in resignation.
“If you think you can be around my fucking daughter, you have another thing coming, Junior.” I was so livid, my words were punctuated with spit.
Junior bared his teeth like a rabid dog. “Fuck you!”
“They should have kept you locked up.”
“Good behavior. I got three years of parole.” His grin turned vile. I fucking hated this guy.
“There is no way in hell I’m going to walk away from here without my daughter. You and Elise can wallow in whatever shit you’re into for all I care. And if you ever come near Penn again,”—I dug the barrel into his temple—“this gun will be cocked.”
I pushed off him, letting his head knock against the wood siding, before shoving the Glock back into my waistband and storming into the house.
Elise was lying on the couch, half asleep and probably high.
“Penn!” I called, walking past the living room of thrift store furniture and down the hallway. “Penn!”
“Daddy?” Penelope came around the corner of her bedroom door.
“Hey, princess,” I said as calmly and as smoothly as I could, not wanting to frighten her. But my heart was pounding out of my chest, and I felt as though I could barely breathe.
I knelt, letting her skip into my arms.
“Are we going to go see the horsies?”
“Yeah, we’re going to go see the horsies. Let’s get some stuff, and you can spend the night.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” I stood up, looking over my shoulder briefly to see Junior shaking Elise awake to tell her I was here for Penn. “Come on.” I hurried us into her room, finding her Frozen backpack and quickly shoving clothes into it. “Grab your teddy and your blanket.”
“I’m so excited! Can Mama come, too?”
My heart just about broke hearing her ask that. I shook my head. “No, sweet girl, it’s just you and me tonight.”
I swung the backpack over my shoulder and lifted her into my arms.
