“Let’s say you married her for my and the firm’s sake. But it should’ve been on paper only.”
“It was.”
“Oh, really? Then did I imagine your tongue at the back of her throat just then?”
“You can curse and hit and punch me all you want, but you need to watch your fucking language when you talk about her. And yes, it was just on paper at the beginning. To protect her and the firm and you, but it became more.”
“More, like what? Like you were fucking her under my own roof? Did you perhaps do it in this very office? Was it a fantasy of yours that you harbored for years, you sick fuck?”
He raises his fist and punches me in the face. He doesn’t hold back and my head snaps to the side from the force of it.
“I told you to watch your language, King.”
I drive my fist into the cut of his mouth and revel in the sight of the blood that explodes from his lips as I grab him by the collar. “Do you think I want to talk about my own daughter like that? It makes me sick to my stomach thinking that you touched her, that you had your fucking hands on her and used her.”
“I didn’t use her, King. Never.”
“Oh, come on, I’ve been on your side for over two decades and I know you use women for sex.”
“Not her. She’s different.”
“Heaven could fall and you wouldn’t change, Nate. It’s in your fucked-up genes, right? Because your parents didn’t like you, because you were always second to the same brother you couldn’t hate, because he took care of you. But even he didn’t like you very much, no? Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left you without giving it a second thought. Because you were jealous I had a life, a fucking family, so you went ahead and destroyed it. You went ahead and stained my little angel with your darkness because you wanted to take the one thing that made sense in my fucking life.”
He loses it then and starts punching me. I punch him back and we roll to the ground, hitting and kicking each other until we’re both bloodied, him more so than me. I can tell he’s holding back.
In the past, Nate was never the type to hold back, not for any reason. But right now, he’s lessening the blow of his punches, no matter how much I hit him, and I don’t think it’s because I’m still recovering from the accident.
The same damn accident that caused me to leave Gwen alone with him and the fucking woman who gave birth to her.
When we’re finally spent, I roll to sit against the chair while Nate winces and leans against the wall, his legs outstretched in front of him.
He wipes his face and grunts. “Fuck you, King. Fuck you for being a goddamn motherfucking dick.”
“And fuck you for stabbing me in the back. She’s a fucking kid. She hasn’t lived yet and you ruined everything.”
“She’s not a fucking kid. She stopped being that a long time ago, but you keep overprotecting her to keep her with you forever. She’s strong and knows how to take care of herself, and you need to start getting used to that.”
“Shut the fuck up. You don’t get to tell me how to treat my own daughter. You will stay away from her, you hear me? I’m going to file a restraining order.”
“You can’t do that on her behalf. And stop being a fucking dick. I care about her, okay? I care about her like I’ve never cared about any woman in my life. Hell, like I never cared about any person. This is serious. I’m serious about her, King.”
Fire like never before rises in my veins and images of him with my beautiful little angel, my Gwen, nearly cuts me open. Nausea clogs my throat and I want to fucking kill him.
So I stagger to my feet and grab the gun, then point it at him. “You shouldn’t have touched her, Nate. Best friends don’t touch their friends’ kids.”
“Don’t you think I tried not to?”
“You should’ve tried fucking harder.” I approach him with the gun and put it to his forehead.
“Put it away, you idiot. If I die and you go to prison, she’ll have no one.”
When I don’t make a move to comply, he grabs the gun and throws it on the sofa.
“I’ll find a way to kill you without getting caught then. Now get the fuck out of my house and don’t ever show me or my daughter your face again.”
“That’s impossible since you’re my partner and she’s my wife.”
“Like fuck she is. You will divorce her.”
“No.”
“What the fuck did you just say?”