Chapter Eighteen
Lily
“How the hell did you get in here?” Jackson barked, shielding my nakedness with his body. I cowered as I tried to find my clothes behind him, and my father roared with anger, ignoring Jackson’s question.
“I knew as soon as I saw your face after I showed you that article. You’re fucking my daughter, you filthy fucking prick!” he shouted. “I’ve suspected something for a while now, with all these late hours, supposed ‘sleepovers with friends in the city’ and the brand new ‘work car’ today, but I guess now I know for sure!”
“Dad,” I said meekly, pulling my top back over my head. “Please, stop.”
“Shut up, Lily!” he said, casting his rage-filled gaze to me for a second.
“Don’t talk to my girl like that,” Jackson said, hands curling into fists by his side.
Dad scoffed. “Your girl?” he said, incredulous look on his face. “She’s my daughter, you fucking sick asshole!”
“How did you get in here?” Jackson asked, repeating his earlier question. He was calm. Too calm for this situation. Maybe that was just something that came with maturity. Or maybe it was something that came with power—knowing nothing could ever really touch you.
“I always used to have a spare key to your place,” Dad replied. “Figured I might still have it lying around somewhere. And I did. Searched around for a while, and I damn well found it. Surprised you haven’t changed the locks after all these years.”
“So you thought you’d just let yourself in?”
“When I think a dirty old bastard might be violating my daughter, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Dad, he isn’t violating me!” I cried, trying to get in between the two men. “We’re together!”
“Oh, I bet he’s convinced you of that,” Dad said, his voice icy. “You’re just a kid, Lily. You don’t know what men are capable of. But you’re not together!” He turned his attention back to Jackson and continued. “So this is what it’s come down to, huh? You’re still angry about what my wife did, so you try to get revenge by sleeping with my teenage daughter and taking her innocence?”
“Craig, just calm the hell down,” Jackson said. “Lily isn’t a child, and this isn’t about revenge. I care about her deeply, and she feels the same—”
Before he could finish his sentence, my dad swung a fist and cracked him in the jaw with a sickening thud. Jackson reeled back in shock, and then I saw something change in his eyes. They turned flat and steely, filling with vengeance, and he aimed a fist right back at my father, getting him right in the nose.
“Dad! Jackson! Stop!” I screamed as they started to brawl right in front of me. I was helpless; all I could do was stand and watch as they pummeled each other and chased each other around the room, smashing their hands, elbows, knees and feet into any body part they could.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Jackson said, wiping blood from his mouth as Dad drew back for a moment to rub his fist. It looked like he had a broken knuckle. “You’re the one who sent those rumors in to the gossip section. Then you brought it up over dinner, hoping to sniff us out, you sneaky bastard.”
“Fuck off,” Dad snarled. “I don’t have time for shit like that. Obviously there’s just someone else out there who isn’t a fucking idiot. Someone else who saw what I saw, realized what I realized. You think you’re hiding it so fucking well, don’t you? But you’re not. Stupid cunt.”
He swung a fist toward Jackson again, but he ducked it effortlessly. “Craig, you’re frightening Lily. You need to stop,” he said, voice dripping with danger. “Don’t make me do something I’ll regret.”
My heart raced. I had no idea what to say, what to do. Whose side was I meant to take? My dad was being a total asshole, but now Jackson was threatening him, and he sounded serious.
“Please just stop,” I finally choked out, tears streaming down my face.
Dad pulled back and looked at me, gaze still simmering with anger. “Come home with me, Lily. Come home right now, and never see this man again.”
I shrank back and shook my head. “Dad, no. You can’t make me do that. Why are you so mad, anyway? You two seemed to be getting along earlier!”
“That was before I knew for sure that he was fucking my nineteen-year-old daughter,” he replied. “Come home. Now.”
“No,” I repeated, trembling. “I want to be with…”
“I said get home! Now!” Dad roared.
“She’s staying here,” Jackson said firmly. “She’s old enough to make her own decisions, and she’s old enough to not be ordered around like this.”
Not unless I want to be, I couldn’t help but think, though lord knows it wasn’t an appropriate thought to have in this moment.
Dad stared at me for a long moment, and then he shook his head with disgust. “Fine, Lily. Do what you want. But don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart,” he said. Then he turned to Jackson. “And don’t worry. I won’t call the media and tell them their rumors are correct. My daughter doesn’t deserve the shit-storm that’ll result from that, and I’m sure you’ll screw yourself over eventually anyway. Don’t need my help to do that.”
With that, he stormed out. I heard his heavy boots stomping down the stairs, and I turned to Jackson. “I’m sorry,” I said tearfully. “Thanks for sticking up for me.”
He wrapped his arms around me and shook his head. “Nothing to be sorry for. It’s not your fault. People just have trouble understanding certain relationships. Especially fathers when they realize their daughters are growing up.”
“Do you think the age gap is too much?” I asked, voicing the question that’d always sat in the back of my mind. “I mean, you’re only two years younger than my dad.”
“Do you think it’s too much?”
“Well…no. I’ve heard of tons of couples with age gaps like ours.”
“If you’re okay with it, and I’m okay with it, then who cares what others think?” he said. “Your dad will come round. Trust me.”
“I hope so,” I murmured. “Can I really stay here till then?”
He ruffled my hair. “This is your home now, Lily. I’m going to take care of you.”
Despite everything that’d just happened, I felt warm and safe. Content. I trusted Jackson beyond a shadow of doubt, and nothing negative could creep in now and ruin that for me. For us.
I would always be safe with Jackson.