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Spotting me, he clenched his jaw. “Where’s my daughter?”
I gritted my back teeth, hating that the man seemed to detest the sight of me now, but it wasn’t anything I didn’t really expect. Colt Hannigan was a hard-ass, and I got that he was overprotective of his only daughter, but he needed to realize I’d been protecting her for almost as long as he had. I wasn’t ever going to let anything hurt her.
Even if the one doing the hurting was her own father.
“She’s at the shop,” I told him. “I’m taking her something to eat, so unless you need something, I’d like to get it to her before it gets cold.”
“Yeah, she’s not answering my calls.” He grunted something about her being stubborn like her mother under his breath before raising his voice again. “Tell her I’m getting her car checked over before I bring it to her. New tires, brakes, oil change, all the fluids topped off. Need to make sure it’s safe for her to be driving it.”
“If Max is working on her car, then he would have told you I got the oil changed last week. And he did a full inspection. Her brakes and tires were fine.” I shifted the bag in my hand. “But, yeah, I’ll tell her.”
As I passed him and walked out the door, he followed. “What do you mean, you got the oil changed? Since when do you do shit like that?”
I didn’t turn to face him, instead calling over my shoulder as I headed for my bike, “Since you gave her the car. I’m the one who has always gotten the oil changed as well as made sure the tires and brakes were in working order so that she was safe on the road.”
Once a month, I took her car to the garage, and Max checked it over for me. I couldn’t sleep at night unless I knew my girl was safe in all aspects, including driving the short distances from home to school to work and back again.
“Are you telling me every time I’ve asked if she’d gotten the oil changed, that was your doing?” I shrugged and slung one leg over my bike. Once I was seated and had the food stored away, I finally looked at him again. “Just how long have you been with my daughter without me knowing, Maverick?” he snarled.
I met his gaze without flinching. “I’ve always loved River. From the time she could crawl, I have protected her. And I’ll spend the rest of my life doing both.” He took a menacing step toward me, and I just sat there. If he wanted to take a swing at me, he was more than welcome. “I know you don’t like the thought of me dating your daughter, but the truth is, I’m going to marry that girl as soon as I can get a ring on her finger.”
“The fuck you are!” he roared and charged toward me.
“Colt, stop!”
I tensed at the sound of Uncle Bash’s barked command. Colt stopped only a few feet from me, his chest rising and falling in heavy pants as he glared at me, but he didn’t take another step toward me.
My honorary uncle, godfather, and MC prez stomped up behind his brother-in-law, his blue eyes blazing. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“This has nothing to do with you,” he growled. “This is between me and this worthless piece of trash my daughter thinks she’s dating.”
His words cut me deep, but I didn’t let him see that by so much as blinking.
“Worthless piece of trash,” Uncle Bash repeated. “Up until River’s birthday party, you’ve practically praised this boy. How many times have you said he was a hard worker, had a good head on his shoulders? Fuck, brother, you even said he would make a good husband a while back. And now you’re treating him like shit on the bottom of your shoe.”
Those electric-blue eyes landed on me, and the hardness on his face eased. “River is a smart girl. I trust her judgment in people as much as I would my wife’s. That she picked Maverick as her man doesn’t surprise me. He will watch over her, protect her, provide for her, and treat her like a queen.”
I had to swallow the knot of emotions that filled my throat at his words, but f
rom the look on Colt’s face, it was all going over his head.
“Listen to me, brother,” Uncle Bash muttered, lowering his voice. “I know how hard it is to accept that your daughter has grown up. When Lexa started dating Ben, I nearly lost my mind. But I learned my lesson, and you should have learned something from what we went through, too. Get on board with who your little girl loves or risk losing her forever.”
Colt’s nostrils flared, and he spat on the ground at my feet. “Fuck your lessons, Bash,” he gritted out before turning and walking back into the diner.
I watched him go as dread churned in my gut. I had a bad feeling where River’s dad was concerned, and I didn’t like it.
Uncle Bash blew out a harsh sigh and turned his gaze from the closing diner door back to me. “I’ll try again after he’s cooled down a little,” he offered.
I shook my head. “Don’t bother. He’s not going to accept me being with River.”
“It’s not because you aren’t good enough, Mav,” my uncle tried to assure me. “For some fathers, they just can’t let go of their little girls. He wouldn’t be able to accept anyone.”
“I get it,” I said as the dread in my gut churned a little harder. “I just don’t want it to hurt River.”
But I knew my real fear was that Colt would try to tear us apart.
Fourteen
