AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Enough,” Gunnar demands, with more force than I’ve ever heard from him. “Isla, darlin’, take Kiran into your room and wait for me or Nox.”
“She doesn’t obey you. I’m her husband. Remember?”
“Not for long, motherfucker… You will sign those papers,” Gunnar growls as I pass Kiran to my mom. His cries as they walk away almost do me in.
“No, I won’t…” His voice raises. “She’s mine.”
The unstable shake in his voice and the gun within his reach have me rushing him, ready to have him out of our lives for good. Zoned in on the man who created every one of my childhood demons, I faintly register Gunnar shouting my name. I can tell the scumbag’s been drinking. His reflexes are too slow, and my hand is around his throat before he can even reach for his gun.
“Touch that pistol, and I’ll put a bullet in your skull,” Gunnar’s voice booms from beside me as he holds his own gun to my father’s head.
I pick Jeff up by the throat and slam him back down into the chair, breaking the legs and sending him flying to the floor.
My fist whips his face to the side. “Didn’t I warn you? All those years ago,” I say in between punches. “Why couldn’t you just stay away?”
Even as I ask, I know why.
“You fucking piece of shit. I couldn’t protect them from you when I was younger…” I move my hand back to his throat, wanting to see the struggle in his eyes. Men like him…men like Tommy don’t deserve to walk around on this earth. “But I will never, and I meannever,let you expose my son to your low-life abuse again.”
Squeezing his throat. I feel Gunnar’s hand on my shoulder, but I continue spitting in his face. “You don’t want to sign the papers, that’s fine. She can’t be married to a dead man anyway.”
Suddenly, I feel two strong bodies pulling me off. I struggle against them, wanting to end this now…so close to ending this forever.
“Nox… Nox…” Gunnar pleads, and I finally snap out of it.
Smith Rexwood stands beside him, gun pointed at my father’s limp body. He crouches down, feeling for a pulse. Rex nods to Gunnar. “It’s faint, but there.”
“Lennox…you have too many good things going right now. Please,” Gunnar begs. With a pistol still in one of his hands, he encases my face with the other. His eyes plead with mine, the eyes of a man who cares about me more than my own blood ever did. “You got yours. But let us finish what you started. No questions asked, we won’t involve anyone we don’t trust.”
I take several deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart. “Lennox, I care about your mom…a lot. I care about you too. You have my word he will be taken care of. Please, just go back there and check on your family. Rex will pull his Tahoe into the garage, and we will handle him.”
A million scenarios run through my head, but Kiran’s cries for me from the back room are what finally have me giving in.
I nod sharply and place the pistol in his outstretched hand. Looking back at the scumbag on the floor, I kick him one more time for good measure, and the way he barely responds tells me he is hurt badly.
The lack of remorse I have in this moment should concern me, but then I remind myself of all the things he has done over the years.
When I wrap my son up in my arms a few moments later, I am even more thankful for the opportunity I was given to be his father. To break the cycle of abuse and neglect. To show him nothing but love and guidance.
Once I know things are clear, I help my mom clean herself up and take her and Kiran back to my place for the evening. She falls asleep with him wrapped up in her arms, and I hope that after today she can rest better every night, knowing she won’t have to deal with him ever again.
Emerson walks in the front door a couple of hours later, none the wiser to the traumatic afternoon we experienced because it wasn’t something I wanted to tell her over the phone.
But the minute she sees my face and notices my mom with Kiran snuggled up on the couch, she knows something isn’t right. Emerson rushes to me, and I tell her every fucked-up thing that went down. The trauma I hope our son won’t remember and will never have to witness again.
Angry energy wafts off of her, seemingly ready to call Gunnar up and let her finish him off herself. But instead, she holds me, knowing I need her. Emerson’s presence alone already soothing my anxious mind.
My Sonny… Like the sunshine that finally peeks through the sky on a cloudy day.
Twenty
Two Months Later
“Great session today, Em. I can really see a difference,” Snow says, wiping the sweat off his face as we gather our stuff from the nearby bench.
“Thanks, I can feel it.” I beam a megawatt smile at him, proud of my progress over the last few weeks.
“Are we still on for Monday?” Snow asks as we stop in front of the men’s locker room.
