Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
I still carried Evelyn. She was trembling in my arms. Danny hadn’t even acknowledged her. As she looked from the woman in the bed to Danny and back, her breathing quickened.
“Calm down, Evelyn.” I tried to speak calmly when I wanted to set her down and pound the living hell outta my brother. “You want to go home. And you can’t do that if you have a panic attack on the way out the door.” She nodded. “Put your arms around my neck and put your face against my shoulder,” I whispered. “Not a sound until we’re out of here. You can do it.”
My dad ushered the kids out. “Take them to the truck, Knox. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“If you’re telling Danny to go to hell, I wanna stay.” Luke lifted his chin, glaring daggers at my brother. Seems he was good to let his sister go with me so he could stay and see his own father get a dressing down. I understood him completely.
Danny just sat there. I recognized the look on his face from years past. He knew he was in trouble and was going to sit there and take it. Then he’d continue on like nothing happened. The question was, would he want to stay in Evelyn’s and his children’s lives, or stay with his new woman.
“Why is she calling you Daddy?” The woman gave my brother a look somewhere between anger and anguish.
“Because Danny’s her father.” My dad might be over seventy, but he was still in top physical condition and he wasn’t a small man. He could intimidate better than almost anyone I knew. Well, except possibly Lemon. But in my defense, any woman who refused to clean the blood off herself after she helped beat men to a bloody pulp just so she could get one over on the club girls in Grim Road deserved to be feared. “It’s obvious to me you’re as innocent as Evelyn in this, so I’m sorry to tell you Danny has two children with Evelyn.”
“Well, I’m sorry to tell you he’s my husband. We’ve been married for fifteen years.” Her voice shook, and I knew she was on the verge of tears. “I never thought I’d be able to have kids, so this is our first child.” She turned accusing eyes to Danny. “What’s going on?”
“He’s just a crazy old man, honey. Those kids are my brother’s.”
“Then why did the girl call you Daddy? And why have I never heard about your brother? Or your father? You told me all your family was dead!”
“You were always your mother’s favorite, Danny.” My father looked angrier than I could ever remember seeing him. “But she’d be ashamed of you if she were still alive.”
“So your mother really is dead?” The woman looked like she was simultaneously on the verge of tears and tearing Danny’s heart out with her bare hands. “I guess that’s one thing you told the truth about.”
“Honey, I --”
“Save it,” she bit out. “I can’t think about this right now.” She rubbed her tummy, obviously comforting herself. This woman was as much a victim as Evelyn. Maybe more. Evelyn hadn’t moved once she’d tucked her face against my shoulder.
“Knox.” Dad lifted an eyebrow at me. “Remove them from this situation. Please.” He asked nicely, but it was a clear order from a man who expected to be obeyed.
I nodded my head. “Luke. Aneshya. Let’s get your mom in the truck and settled. Then we’ll all go… home.”
“I want to hear what Grandpa has to say to Danny,” Luke said stubbornly.
“I know you do. But your mom needs you right now. Both of you.”
“She needs Grandpa too,” Aneshya said softly, obviously confused and not sure what to think. If she’d put it together, I couldn’t tell, but Luke certainly had. I’d bet my left nut the kid knew his dad had another woman before we’d seen the proof. And it sounded that, though he had two kids by Evelyn, she was the side piece. Not this woman.
No matter what happened next, this wasn’t going to end well. “Come on, Dad. It’s done. Let it go for now. Evelyn needs us all.”
Dad lifted an eyebrow. “Us? So you’re part of this family now?” Yeah. Dad was good and pissed. Which meant no one in the wrong was going to get off easy. That included me.
“I have a good reason. Which I’ll happily tell you. Later.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. “You’re right.” He turned back to Danny. “You need to be prepared to give us all an explanation.”
“I don’t have to tell you nothin’, old man.”
My father took two steps toward Danny, then he backhanded him. “You’ve disrespected me for the last time,” he snarled. “Do not come home unless you’re prepared to tell me what the fuck is goin’ on, son. You do, there’ll be more where that came from.”