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I took a step toward him. “He’s got a real future ahead of him that has nothing to do with your influence.”
I held my father’s gaze as a smile broke out on his face. I hated seeing him smile. Every time he did, I saw myself in him. It’s why I didn’t look in mirrors. It’s why I had mine in my bathroom covered up with a fucking sheet. I hated looking in the mirror and seeing that man smiling back at me.
But there he was. With that sadistic smile I had inherited.
“My, my. She must really have you knotted up inside.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “She?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes. Um… Dani. That’s the name. Dani Young.”
I tensed. Holy shit, I didn’t even know her last name. This was bad. Very, very bad. Benji had gone and flapped his fucking jowls like the asshole he was, and now Dani was in my father’s crosshairs. That was never a safe place to be. More people than not died once my father set their sights on them. A chill worked its way down my spine as my father closed the distance between us. I stood my ground, keeping my face as stoic as I could. But I knew my silence had already given so much away.
“You’ve fallen for a girl who’s messed up your priorities, son.”
I licked my lips. “I’ve fallen for no one.”
“I told you this gallivanting around with strange women would catch up with you soon enough. How do you think you and your brother came along?”
I grinned. “When a psychopath and a drug addict love one another very much--”
“Even the strongest of men can be deterred by beauty!”
His roaring voice bounced off the walls of the garage as his spittle hit me in the face. In any other moment, with any other person, I would’ve strangled the asshole. But killing my father came with consequences that would get everyone else around me killed. Hell, even hurting my father would get people killed.
Dani included, now.
“I don’t like this. I don’t like her, and I don’t like you. Keep your head in the game, Maxwell. There are big jobs coming down the pipeline. Massive ones that will pay you more than Mr. Dean ever could have. Work through your pitiful anger and screw your head on straight.”
I grinned. “How is our duck-and-run client anyway?”
Dad raised his finger into my face. “Clients are counting on me to provide quality men. As in you and those Red Thorns. I established that crew from nothing. I endured torture after torture to establish this gang. To run it as I saw fit. With morals and an ethical code that got shit done. And ever since it got handed to you, the only thing that’s happened is that the moral fiber of this crew has dropped.”
I shrugged. “Or changed.”
He licked his teeth. “I will not have the president of this club throwing his future away because he wants to screw around with some college cunt on my dime. Women are a distraction. Nothing else. Fuck her, get rid of her, and get back to being president.”
My body hummed with fury. I felt my nostrils flaring as my f
ather’s eyes raked down me. He took a step back and adjusted his suit coat. As if I had somehow knocked it off-kilter with my voracious stare. I didn’t want to make a scene. Not with two massive brutes packing all sorts of heat just outside my fucking garage. Because I knew my father. And complicating Dani’s life to keep her away from me wasn’t something beyond the realm of his abilities. The last thing I wanted was for my girl to get dragged into this shit sto--
My girl?
Since when the hell had Dani become my girl?
“Do we have a deal?”
Dad’s voice ripped me from my confused mind. “I can take care of my own affairs.”
He chuckled. “Or maybe you just need something else to occupy your time.”
“What does that mean?”
Dad snapped his fingers. “Go ahead.”
“Wait. Wait a second. What--hey!”
The two goons standing by the car waltzed their way into the garage. My garage. With my personal things hanging on the walls. I watched them grab everything from pictures to tools and throw them onto the floor.
