Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 26892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
“Don’t lose hope yet. I’m not going up to bat for Gavin, because believe me, I have no room to after I put Dante through the wringer. I can only tell you that maybe you should talk to him first before assuming the worst.” She gives solid advice, but I’m not sure I’m ready to hear or take it.
“I see you.” The tires come to a screeching halt, and I run toward her. It isn’t until I’m safely in the car that I finally let my eyes close, which is the wrong thing to do because the only person I see is Gavin.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
gavin
Iwatch her run out of here like the flames of hell are dancing at her feet. Genevieve’s tiny frame is swallowed by my shirt, and every instinct in my body screams at me to bolt down the driveway, throw her over my shoulder, and hold her until she’s safe in my arms. But as I take two steps off the covered patio, an obnoxious, mocking snort sounds from behind me.
“Let the fat bitch run, Dad,” Bryce sneers, leaning casually against the table in the foyer like he didn’t just shatter my entire fucking world. “You can do a hell of a lot better than my hand-me-downs.” I stop dead in my tracks. Every tendon in my muscles goes rigid, and my hands curl into tight fists, white-knuckling at my sides. Blood roars in my ears, hot and deafening. I look down the road one last time, seeing Genevieve turn the corner at the edge of the estate, at war with myself. If I don’t deal with this right now, I am going to carry his poison into my chase for her.
I’m ending this now. Once and for all.
“What did you just say?” I crowd him, towering over him, my dark eyes burning with red-hot rage.
“You heard me. I saved you from a huge mistake, man. She’s damaged goods. A pathetic, insecure charity case. I spent months dragging her around, and trust me, she’s not worth the effort.” He doesn’t even have the sense to look intimidated, only smirks while rolling his shoulders.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I growl, my voice dropping an octave, low and dangerous. The air between us seems to freeze.
“Oh, come on!” Bryce scoffs, throwing his hands up in a theatrical display of annoyance. “You actually want her? She’s a nobody! I came here to talk about my start-up, and find my billionaire father groveling after the most basic—”
“Listen to me very carefully, Bryce,” I interrupt, stepping directly into his personal space, inches from him. “Because this is the absolute last time you will ever hear my voice.” I look at him, really look at him. I see the arrogant smirk, the complete absence of remorse. The entitlement bleeds out of every single pore. The realization hits me like a sledgehammer straight to the chest.
He’s a lost cause.
I didn’t raise him. I didn’t know he existed until he was seventeen, but for years, I’ve bent over backward trying to build a relationship with him. I covered his debts, paid for his mistakes, and tried to teach him how to be a man. And to think I blamed myself for not being there, carrying a silent weight of guilt that he learned to weaponize with terrifying precision.
“We are done,” I say flatly. The anger in my voice is gone, replaced with an icy, absolute finality that makes his smirk flicker.
“What?” Bryce blinks.
“I’m done,” I repeat, resting my hands on my hips as I stare him down. “The luxury condo? I’m taking it back. The car? It’s mine. Any and all money you thought you could ever get from me, it’s gone. I am not paying for a single breath you take starting right fucking now.”
“You can’t do that! You owe me back support. You owe me—" Anger flashes across his face.
“I don’t owe you a damn thing,” I snap, cutting him off. “I paid my legal dues years ago. Everything else has been a courtesy from a man who wanted to believe his son had a soul. But as far as I’m concerned, you can go live on the streets where you belong. You deserve to sleep in the dirt after treating anyone, especially her, the way you did.” His face turns a blotchy red. His composure is crumbling, replaced by an ugly desperation.
“You’re cutting me off for her? She’s a fucking joke, Dad! I fucked her first, and now you’re taking my—” I don’t let him finish. My right fist swings in a swift arc, connecting with the side of his jaw with a crack that echoes through the air. Bryce lets out a pathetic yell. The impact lifts him off his feet, sending him sprawling across the wood floor in the foyer. He clutches his jaw, groaning, blood trickling from the corner of his swollen lip.