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With that parting remark, the fucker hangs up.
Suddenly, the need to find where Hale lives and bash his face in is overwhelming. Knowing that Alaric had the same gut instinct only serves to aggravate me more. With Hale’s advice still polluting my mind, I do the one thing I shouldn’t—I call Alaric.
“You motherfucker! You have a lot of nerve calling me!” he rants so loudly I have to pull the phone away from my ear or risk becoming deaf. I let him call me all the names in the book. I let him yell and curse me out. My hands ball into fists with each damning thing he says.
“You think you’re good for my baby girl? You think you can ever measure up? She deserves better than you! She always has. That’s my baby you’re fucking with, you worthless piece of trash. My baby girl!”
My molars grind with each insult, but I take them all with a grain of salt. What if Zoey and I have kids? What if we have a daughter and she brings home someone like me? Would I accept him? Or would I give the dirtbag hell until he was worthy of her?
The answer is simple.
I’d cut his balls off.
That realization is the only thing that keeps my tongue in check. It’s the only reason why I let Alaric demean me and spew out his poison, knowing it will never touch me.
Not as long as I have Zoey.
It’s only when Alaric starts gasping for air, his curses becoming incoherent, that I see my chance to state my case.
“I’ll never hurt her,” I tell him. “I can promise you that. I’d slit my own throat first before I ever cause her an ounce of pain.” Alaric grows so quiet, his shallow breathing is the only thing that tells me he’s still on the line. “You don’t have to tell me she deserves better because I already know. That doesn’t mean I won’t do everything in my power to be worthy of her. I know you think I’m this soulless ghost, devoid of feeling and empathy, and to a degree, you’re right, but not when it comes to Zoey. Never her. I’ll treat her with the utmost respect, protect her, and care for her. She will always be safe in my hands. If anyone even tries to hurt a hair on her head on my watch, I’ll willingly go on my hands and knees and let you kill me. You have my word.”
“What is the word of a killer, Hart?” he asks, using my last name to detach himself from me.
“You once gave your wife your word that you would do all these things I’m offering your daughter. Are you saying you lied and that your word meant nothing?”
The loud growl that howls through the line would petrify a normal man.
But I’m not just any man.
I’m a ghost.
One that has been brought back to life by my little doe.
“Alaric?” I say when he refuses to engage. “I will not be the reason why my girl loses her father. Here is my olive branch to you. You either man up and accept it or lose her for good. The ball is in your court. Not mine. Do with that what you will.”
With that warning hanging in the air between us, I pull a Hale and hang up the phone.
There are only two outcomes that I see.
Either Alaric accepts me and welcomes me into the fold, or he’ll kill me.
Either way, I’ll never stop loving Zoey, not while I have air in my lungs or when my bones have turned to ash.
Not ever.
CHAPTER23
Zoey
Istir in the center of the bed, waiting for sleep to arrive, but it never does. Serves me right. If I had accepted his offer to accompany him on his killing spree, we would probably be home by now, tired and satisfied that we eviscerated one more monster in the world.
But my heart was just not in it, not after what happened last night.
Maybe I could have approached things differently and made it so my father could understand where I was coming from. Maybe I could have done something or said something differently for him to accept the path I was on. I know my dad is hung up on me being with Gray, but deep down I know that’s not his biggest fear. He’s petrified that I will follow in his footsteps, and worst of all, that I’ll like it, but this is me. It’s who I am. It’s who I’ve always been.
Why can’t he see that?
With a loud, audible sigh, I pull the pillow over my head, needing to inhale my lover’s scent, hoping it will soothe my chaotic mood. Unfortunately, there isn’t even a whiff of Gray in this room since his bedroom remains locked for some reason, and I had to make do with the spare.
