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John nodded, circling the pair as he moved closer. No sudden moves. What to say? He could blame their need for a hasty departure on Caroline.
‘Sweetheart, that’s nice of you, but we have to go,’ John said, his eyes never leaving Dornan’s.
Dornan smirked, putting his hand on the ice pack and pulling his head back slightly. ‘It’s okay, darlin’,’ he said, motioning towards John with a tilt of his chin, ‘your daddy seems upset.’
John ignored him. ‘Your mother’s not good,’ he said. ‘She’s sick. I need to get back to her.’
He noticed, for the first time, the kid sitting on the other side of the room. The refrigerator had been obscuring his presence, and since he hadn’t moved a muscle since John had walked in he’d attracted zero attention.
‘You been there the whole time?’ he asked Jason, who nodded. ‘Jesus. This kid here’s like a goddamn ninja.’
Juliette glanced at Jase as she dabbed antiseptic ointment onto a piece of gauze and continued to tend to the wounds John had inflicted on Dornan’s face. A cut right above his nose looked red and angry; purple shadows were starting to appear under his eyes. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but it didn’t seem to worry his psychotic brother in arms, who sat still like a kid waiting for their lollipop at the fucking doctor’s surgery, getting their shots.
‘That’s my boy,’ Dornan said evenly, glancing at Jase and then back at John. ‘Stealthy, like his brothers.’ He smiled at Juliette, and it was the first gesture John had seen that seemed genuine. ‘You didn’t have to do this, sweetheart. You’re a good girl. Good to our family.’
Sweetheart. Please.
‘Juliette,’ John said. Forceful, this time. He’d rather she hated him, as long as she still listened to him. There was no time to play soft cop right now, not when Dornan could reach out and pluck out her eyeballs before John could so much as clear the space between them. Not that Dornan would hurt Juliette. She was like a daughter to him. Had been his daughter, really, for the first few months of her life, until John had been released from prison and was able to get back to the new family he’d unwittingly created when he screwed Caroline in a haze of weed and booze. He didn’t really drink anymore, because he sure as shit didn’t want to end up making that mistake twice. Having one daughter – one beautiful, smart, perfect daughter – to keep tabs on in a vicious underworld where the things you loved became yourweaknesses, was hard enough without adding more to the mix.
‘Did I ever tell you the story about when you were born?’ Dornan asked Juliette, his eyes all for John.
Juliette looked kind of confused, but she could stay confused. She didn’t need to know this asshole was responsible for her survival in her first six months while her mother sold herself for blow and slept in gutters.
‘We’re going,’ John said, stepping forward and tugging Juliette’s elbow.
‘Dad!’ she protested, stumbling a little as she followed him. John turned towards the hallway and the exit it promised, but suddenly he was blocked.
By Jason.
Little bastard.
‘Did he hurt you?’ Jason asked Juliette, alarm in his eyes.
Juliette shrugged John’s hand off, wrapping her arms around herself. ‘What?’ she asked. ‘No. I’m fine. I’ll call you later.’
Mercifully, she headed for the front door.
‘Move,’ he growled, but Jason stayed put. John’s eyebrows practically hit the roof. ‘Really, kid?’ he asked without thinking. ‘You don’t think that maybe you’re barking up the wrong tree if you’re worried about violence against women?’
Jason sagged immediately, letting him pass. John felt shitty for delivering such a low blow – the poor kid – but desperate times and all that. By the time he got outside, Juliette was already sitting in the passenger seat, her arms folded tightly across her chest and her eyes shiny with tears. She always got upset if she saw John hurt. It frightened her, and rightly so.She shouldn’t have to worry about her parents not making it home. Shouldn’t have to be tricked into leaving the house with Dornan, an obvious and cruel move to fuck with John. His heart was torn up at how Juliette was worrying in the seat beside him, yet wouldn’t say a word.
John made the quick decision not to go straight home – in his fantasy, Caroline might have more time to miraculously die before they arrived to find her – and instead drove towards Hermosa Beach. It was a little over thirty minutes to get there with no traffic, and thankfully there was none this late at night.
He could tell that Juliette was too cut up to ask where they were going. John said nothing. Eventually, after about fifteen minutes of silence, she cleared her throat.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked quietly.
‘For a father–daughter drive,’ John replied. ‘Humour your old man.’
‘You’re not even that old,’ Julz said, fiddling with her jacket sleeve. ‘I don’t know why you always say that.’
He snorted. ‘It’s all about how old you feel. I feel like I’m about a hundred right now.’
Juliette seemed to digest that. ‘It’s because you never get any sleep, Daddy,’ she said quietly. ‘You’re always busy worrying about everybody else.’
She was a smart girl. It broke his black heart that she noticed so much.
‘Don’t worry about me,’ John said, making the turn that would take them to Hermosa. It was utterly desolate on the streets of LA tonight. He hadn’t seen it this quiet in forever.
