Page 79 of Tempting Tessa

I touch my jaw, checking for damage. Nothing broken. “I deserved that.”

“Damn right you did.” He circles me, his footwork still sharp despite his anger. “How long, Matteo? How long have you been fucking my little girl?”

I keep my guard up, watching his movements. “About nine months.”

“Nine months.” He laughs, the sound bitter and raw. “Nine months you’ve been sneaking around behind my back, sticking your dick in my daughter, and not once did you think to tell me?”

“I wanted to. She wasn’t ready.”

“Wasn’t ready?” He throws another punch; this one I block with my forearm. “My daughter wasn’t ready to tell me you knocked her up, so you just what? Kept fucking her? Kept getting her pregnant?”

The accusation lands harder than his fist. “She was already pregnant; you can’t keep getting someone pregnant. It wasn’t like that.”

“Then what was it like, Matteo?” He’s breathing hard now, not from exertion but from rage. “Enlighten me. Tell me how my best friend ended up balls-deep in my daughter without me having a fucking clue.”

I lower my guard, making myself vulnerable. “I love her, Conrad.”

The words hit him like a physical blow. He stumbles back, his face draining of color. “Don’t you dare say that to me. Don’t you fucking dare.”

“It’s the truth.” I keep my voice steady despite the storm brewing behind his eyes. “I love her. I’ve loved her for a while now.”

“You love her.” He repeats it like it’s the most absurd thing he’s ever heard. “My daughter. The girl you watched grow up. The girl you held as a baby. You love her.”

I nod, not breaking eye contact. “Yes.”

Another punch. This one catches me in the ribs, driving the air from my lungs. I double over, gasping, but straighten up before he can follow through.

“That’s for being a sick fuck,” he hisses.

I take a breath, feeling my ribs protest. “I understand you’re angry⁠—”

“Angry?” His laugh is sharp enough to cut glass. “I’m not angry, Matteo. I’m fucking devastated. You were supposed to be the one person I could trust with anything. With anyone. And you—” His voice breaks, and that’s worse than any punch he could throw. “You took my daughter.”

“I didn’t take her.” I shake my head. “She came to me willingly. She’s not a child, Conrad. She’s a woman who made her own choice.”

“My choice would have been to stay the fuck away from her,” he spits. “But you couldn’t do that, could you? You saw something you wanted, and you took it, just like you always do.”

The accusation stings because there’s truth in it. I’ve never been a man who waits for what he wants. I’ve always taken it.

“Maybe,” I admit. “But she wanted me too. She still does.”

He lunges at me, but I sidestep, letting his momentum carry him past. He recovers quickly, turning to face me again.

“She’s twenty-three,” he says, his voice dropping to something dangerous. “You’re forty-five. Do the math, Matteo. That’s a twenty-two-year difference.”

“I’m aware of the age difference.” I circle him slowly. “But it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change how I feel about her.”

“Feel about her,” Conrad scoffs, circling me like a shark. “You don’t feel shit for her. You want to fuck her. That’s what this is about.”

“You think I’d risk our friendship just to fuck someone?” I keep my voice level despite the anger building in my chest. “You think I’d knock up your daughter just for a quick lay?”

“I think you’re a greedy bastard who takes what he wants.” He throws a jab that I block easily. “Always have been.”

“That’s rich coming from a man who married a woman his daughter’s age.” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them, and I immediately regret them.

Conrad’s face darkens. “Don’t you dare bring Kat into this.”

“Why not? You want to talk about inappropriate age gaps? Look in your own fucking mirror.”