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His eyes harden. “Then your dad needs to fire Tyler. He’s the one who hired him after all.”
I tilt my head at him and realize this isn’t about him wanting to provide for his future wife. It’s something different.
Furrowing my brows, I look at the man in front of me and wonder when the hell he changed. Or maybe I’m the one who has? Perhaps he’s been this way all along, and I’ve been blind to it.
“What does Tyler have to do with anything?” I ask. And why did he wait two days to bring this up? He apologized for his behavior yesterday, and now tonight it’s like our conversation never happened.
Robert stands, then turns on the lights. His face is red as he begins pacing the living room. Adrenaline rushes through me as I watch him getting worked up, more than I’ve ever seen.
“Tyler is dangerous!” he shouts. “I don’t want my future wife around a criminal. I don’t give two fucks if he claims he was ‘set up.’ How can you or anyone trust a convict like him?”
I glare at him as he continues raising his voice. He’s yelling at me like I’m a child, and I’m two seconds away from grabbing my keys and bolting.
“On top of his shady drug dealing past, I don’t like the way he fucking looks at you—like you’re a piece of meat and drooling over you. You aremine, Gemma. You. Are. Mine!” He picks up a picture frame and whips it across the room. The glass shatters against the wall, making me jump.
“Robert, stop! You’re scaring me,” I tell him. I see the crazed look in his eyes, and it makes me want to crawl out of my skin. “Tyler is just trying to get his life back on track. He’s not a threat to anyone.”
“Bullshit! I have lost all respect for your father. He’s useless.”
Hearing him talk about my dad makes me snap. No one gets to talk shit about my family, especially not him.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I stand and speak louder, meeting his level of rage. “You’re not going to talk about my dad like that. He did Tyler a favor because that’s the kind of man my father is. I didn’t even know Tyler was applying for the job, so you’re making it out to be something it’s not, which is seriously pathetic. You need to grow up, Robert. Not everything is about you!” Weeks of pent-up stress and frustration blow through me as he works my last nerve.
Robert snarls at me, stepping closer with darkness in his eyes. “Why are you defending Tyleragain?” He studies me with a harsh expression. “Are you sleeping with him?”
My jaw nearly falls to the floor, and I'm in such shock that I slightly lose my words, and then the anger begins to boil over. His accusation is a slap in the face, and I shake my head, seeing red. “How dare you! How fucking dare you!”
“Well?” He waits with his arms crossed over this chest as if my reaction wasn’t enough of an answer.
I walk out of the living room to the kitchen island, then grab my purse. I’m not wasting another minute on this ridiculous conversation. As soon as I turn to walk out, Robert grabs my wrist and pulls me back.
“You’re not leaving,” he demands.
“I don’t know how you have the audacity to look me in the eyes and ask if I’ve slept with another man. How can you even think that? I’ve been one-hundred percent loyal to you and our relationship the entire time. I agreed to marry you, for god’s sake!”
“What am I supposed to think when you’re dead set on defending him and your father’s choice to hire him? You’re supposed to be on my side.” He jerks me closer to him. “Not some loser convict who’s probably going to steal the rug out from under you both. He’s gonna screw you guys over big time, and y’all will come crying to me to fix it.”
“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” I hiss. Tyler would never do that,ever, to anyone.
“It makes perfect sense that you’re fucking him behind my back. I saw the way you two looked at each other as if y’all were hiding a secret. Do you know how embarrassing it was when you stood up for him in the bar? You should’ve kept your damn mouth shut.”
I forcefully escape from his grasp, and my wrist throbs from how tight he was holding me. There’s no point in even trying to talk to him right now. He’s completely out of line.
“I’m leaving. We can talk again when you can be rational.”
“We need to move the wedding up. I’m tired of waiting. So decide if you want to marry me or if you want to keep fucking that drug dealer behind my back. But don’t think for a second I’m letting you go that easy. He’ll be a dead man before I let him take my fiancée.”
My mouth falls open, and I’m so furious, tears well in my eyes at his threats. It’s been a long time since I’ve angry-cried. He glares at me, and all I can do is shake my head before I spin around and walk out the door. Surprisingly, he doesn’t try to stop me this time.
When I get into my car, I let out a guttural groan, and tears spill down my cheek. I can’t believe that just happened. Robert has never spoken to me that way, and aside from this past weekend, he’s never acted so rude to another person. Swallowing hard, I try to regain my composure, then back out of the driveway. Dad always taught me not to get behind the wheel when I’m upset, but I can’t stay inside that house while Robert’s temper spikes.
On my way home, I decide to call Everleigh because I need someone to talk to before I go crazy, and she’s always a great listener.
“Hey,” I quickly say as soon as she answers.
“Uh-oh.” She pauses, hearing my sniffles. “What’s wrong?”
“Robert and I had a huge fight, like the biggest we’ve ever had.”
