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Hammer gritted his teeth. “You’re forgetting one very important fact. I’ve got a witness who heard you confess that you tried to rape your own underage daughter.”
A murderous, blood-red rage filled Hammer every time he thought of Raine struggling against her repugnant father.
“Liam will be more than happy to testify under oath exactly what you said,” Hammer added.
Bill scoffed. “The word of another known pervert doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’ve also got the medical doctor who examined her the night I found her all beaten and bruised to back me up.”
“I’ll tell the judge and jury that you gave them both a piece of my underage daughter’s ass to persuade them to fall in line.”
Hammer gripped the phone tightly. He fought the urge to drive to Bill Kendall’s house and beat him with a crowbar until the man’s brains littered his filthy, threadbare carpet.
“I still have the photos cataloging everything you did to her, you miserable piece of shit,” Macen reminded. “You fuck with me, and all your neighbors will know what kind of monster you were to Raine as a girl. They’ll see every bruise and laceration your daughter suffered beneath the hands of their pedophile neighbor.”
“I’ll sue you for slander, you self-righteous bastard,” Bill screamed. “Give me my money or you’ll be sorry.”
“Don’t threaten me, old man. You come around Shadows again, and I’ll put a bullet through your head. That’s a promise.”
With fury buzzing in his ears, Hammer hung up and let out a deep sigh, trying to bring his temper under control. A breath didn’t do it. Another only helped marginally. He needed to go check on Raine, but he couldn’t until he dialed back his urge to kill her father. One look at Hammer’s face and he knew she’d see rage—and start asking more questions.
Slamming a fist on his desk, Hammer cursed long and low, then fired off a text about Bill to Liam, who was probably still occupied with the viper. Not that his friend needed something else to fucking worry about.
Text sent, Hammer closed his eyes and sucked in a breath.
“Was that Raine’s father? It didn’t sound as if the chat went well.”
Hammer snapped his head up and stared at Seth, hovering in the doorway. “God knows the only time a chat with Bill Kendall will go well is when he’s six feet under. I wish I’d recorded that conversation, damn it. How is Raine?”
“In the shower. She’s quiet—for now. You know that’s subject to change once she decides she’s pissed off about the way you two are behaving.”
Seth hadn’t known Raine long, but he was catching on fast.
Macen nodded. “I expect her to blow past her hurt soon and throw a righteous little fit.”
“Yeah. She’s earned it. You two promised her honesty and communication so she could trust you. Neither of you is delivering. I’ll talk to Liam about why he’s licking his wounds. But you’re lying to her worse than a used car salesman. Are you two just trying to see how fast you can fuck this up?”
Seth wasn’t far off the mark.
“Thank you for your opinion, Dr. Phil, but Liam and I have already worked this out. We have a plan.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “Because those always work out so well for you two.”
Hammer glared. “Did you come here for a reason? If not, I’d appreciate it if you kept an eye on Raine. I’ll be there in a minute.”
As soon as he got his worry for her safety and his need to strangle Bill under control.
“I did come here for a reason.” Seth sighed. “Go easy on Liam. He’s under a lot of strain. Problems are coming at him so quickly he’s juggling chainsaws.”
“We both are. Bill is no picnic.”
“I’ve gathered. But Liam wasn’t in good shape when I sent him to Los Angeles to visit you, so this is extra strain he doesn’t need.”
“What do you mean? He just came here to avoid winter. And maybe some of the places in New York that reminded him of his marriage to Gwyneth, but—”
“Is that what he told you?” Seth snorted.
“Yeah.” Hammer shook his head. “Wait. Back up. You sent him to me? For what?”
With a droll grin, Seth shrugged. “At the time, we were both under the impression that you had your shit together. I thought you could help fix him.”
Hammer paused. Seth’s words did a flyby in his brain, buzzing around, but he couldn’t quite catch them. “Fix what? He said he’d done his soul searching after his divorce and was fine.”
“Unless he searched for his soul by bleeding masochists with a single tail, then no.”
He blinked at Seth, feeling his jaw hit the floor. “Liam? He’s not a sadist.”
“He sure played one back home for a few months. He was scary convincing, too.”
Hammer groped around for his chair and sank into it. That wasn’t like Liam at all. “What the fuck? Did Gwyneth twist him up that badly?”
