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He stood there, leaning heavily against his walking stick and breathing laboriously. His eyes were on me first, frowning hard, and then they shifted to Zane. I hoped he wouldn’t recognize Zane since he wasn’t wearing his glasses. But then his face blanched. Generations of trauma flashed across his features that were worn with the pain of loss. His cheek trembled, and his hand shook where they grasped the cane.
It was as if a tornado exploded in his body right then.
And then his eyes widened to the point they were almost bugging out of his socket.
“You.” My father’s voice was a whisper of horror and fury. He brought one shaking finger up and pointed it at Zane. “What are you doing here?”
I winced at his rising tone. My father didn’t yell often, and when he did, it typically meant he was at the end of his rope.
Zane didn’t answer. His face tightened, though, his jaw standing stark against his chin. My dad started looking frantically between the two of us, and I could tell his brain was quickly drawing a horrible conclusion.
“What did you do to my daughter? Did you hurt her, you bastard?”
“No,” I defended, even though I could understand how he would conclude that after finding Zane looming over me like that. “He didn’t hurt me. He actually helped me. I hurt myself. I twisted my ankle see, and—”
“What are you doing back in this place?" my dad continued, no longer interested in my explanation. “You have a lot of balls coming back here. I told you if I ever saw you again, I would kill you for what you did to my daughter.” In one sudden movement, my dad grabbed the handrail and picked up his stick, brandishing it. “Believe me, I meant it.”
“Dad, relax.”
“Stay out of this, Charlie. I’ll deal with this murderer. Abusive piece of shit. Violence is the only thing men like him understand.”
“You can’t get stressed, Dad. Please think about your health.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to not be stressed with this murdering bastard in my house?” my father yelled, and I knew he was far gone. There was no reason for Dad when he was in this mood. His entire body shook with his rage, his veins stood out on his neck, and his red face told me that he was already furious beyond repair.
I turned to Zane, who was watching my father. Zane schooled his features into an apathetic mask, but something told me there were things brewing underneath. His eyes shifted briefly to me, and in that second, I gave him my most pleading look.Just go. Please.
Zane must have had a heart after all—or he didn’t want to get into a fistfight with a nearly seventy-year-old man—because he nodded. Then he turned around and left.
I immediately turned back to my dad, who was still glaring at Zane’s retreating back.
“Dad.”
He turned to me. “What were you doing with that bastard?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” I replied reassuringly. “I wasn’t doing anything with him. I already told you. I twisted my ankle, and he coincidentally happened to be around.”
“Nothing is a coincidence with him.” My dad stared darkly at the shut door. “He’s not satisfied with killing my Kelly. Now he wants to seduce and kill you too?”
“Dad, that’s ridiculous. Zane doesn’t want anything with me.” Of course, my stupid brain chose that exact moment to flashback to the night we spent and the sensual marks he left on my neck and thigh. Crap. My face was probably a fiery red.
My dad narrowed his eyes. “You’re saying that like you want him to be.”
“No. I’m just stating a fact.” I swallowed and gave my most convincing smile as if it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. “Dad, it was a coincidence that he found me there. He lives next door to one of my students, and I didn’t know that before I went over there, either. I swear I didn’t know.”
My dad came the rest of the way down the stairs, hobbling until he reached where I was sitting. Then, he grabbed my arm, squeezing it tightly as he stared into my eyes intensely. “Stay away from that man. Promise me you won’t go anywhere near him again.”
“I promise,” I said easily because it was an easy promise. Zane lived out of town, and now that Sydney’s dad was likely pulling his daughter out of basketball, it meant I probably wouldn’t be seeing Zane again.
I would make sure of it.
“You have nothing to worry about, Dad. I doubt we’ll see Zane ever again.”
My dad nodded and then collapsed in exhaustion on the couch near me. He shut his eyes.
“Are you okay, Dad?” I asked, concern flashing through me. He looked exhausted.
“Yes, honey.” He gave me a weak smile. “Your mother just stepped out for a few minutes to get my medicine. She should be back soon.”
