CHAPTER NINE

TYSON

Richard smiles, chuckling in the same way he did years ago when I told him to fuck off and choke on his money. He fails to forget I’ve dealt with far worse pieces of shit than he is and his patronizing full-of-himself courtroom bullshit isn’t going to work on me.

“My place is to protect my daughter from people such as you. If you show her this, it will devastate her. You’ve already manipulated her against us by not staying away from her. Haven’t you done enough?” He closes the file without glancing at the photos, sits his ass on the corner of his desk, and crosses his arms.

“That’s the same thing your little slut out there asked me. I’ll be a little more direct with you than I was with her. You are nothing but a fucking maggot. A man I’m going to ruin. I’m bending and this close to snapping with the haven’t-I-done-enough bullshit.” I pinch my thumb and index finger together. It balls up in a tight fist before it drops to my side. I’m waiting on some kind of unanswered prayer he says something to piss me off so I can use it.

“I’m on a roll now, motherfucker. I’ll tell you the same thing I told that bitch out there. I’ve only begun to show you how much enough is. As far as you protecting her, what kind of delusional world are you living in? Jesus. I know everything, you dumb fuck, and you have the balls to actually stand there and speak to me as if you’ve done nothing wrong? The daughter you claim to protect had cancer, and instead of allowing me to take care of her, you left her to strangers clear across the country. That isn’t protecting your child to me. That’s destroying her Goddamn life. I’m not here because you persuaded her to leave me. This isn’t about that. It’s about you crushing her heart when she needed you the most.” Despite how badly I want to choke the life out of him, I’m not going to lay a hand on him today. For once, I’m going to play this all out the right way. Protect the innocent and persecute the guilty like I’ve been taught.

“She needed treatment, looked after. We gave that to her.” I stand there in a maddening craze. Fumes are billowing out of my ears over what he just said. My heartbeat is thrashing roughly inside of my chest. My head is aching over how I’m going to tell her this. It’s all too much.

“She needed me,” I raise my voice.

“How would you have helped her when you would have been gone? She would have had to worry about you on top of worrying about herself.”

“She would have been my wife. I would never have left her side.”

“And the Army? War? I suppose you would have walked away from that, too,” he scoffs.

“Goddamn right, I would have. There wouldn’t have been a damn thing that would have stopped me.”

“You and I both know that isn’t true. Once you sign, the government owns you. My daughter would have been left on some base being looked after by kids who can barely wipe their ass. She’s fine. Healthy. Who the hell knows where she would be if I had allowed her to marry you.” He sits there gloating. Acting as if his daughter’s life was a game and he had won. Every time he opens his mouth, I feel the heat down my back from the anger rolling off Dane. If I don’t move us along, finish this up, then he’s going to fly from behind me and do his worst on this fucking bastard.

“Jesus, Richard. Listen to yourself. Does Lynne mean so little to you that she couldn’t have been taken care of here? That what she really needed was to have someone who loved her hold her when she was sick, afraid? You sent her away to keep her from me. That right there isn’t looking after her. That’s mutilated hatred for me and for her. You sent your daughter to be slaughtered, and she survived. I’m going to watch you burn, Richard. I’m going to hit you below your belt and crush you underneath my palm. You stay the fuck away from her. Lynne is no longer your concern. She’s mine. She deserves to have everything, and I’m going to give it to her. You can keep that file. Take a good hard look at those photos inside and trust me when I say I’m telling her everything.” I cock my head mockingly while I wait for him to give me more ammunition to kill him with. He knows as well as I do that the information I have on him isn’t illegal. It’s not going to extinguish him in the way I wish it could. What it will do is snuff out the torch he carries in this town. Damage his reputation beyond repair.

“You tell her, and it will—” I grab him by his raunchy little throat. Fuck the no-touching rule. He will not patronize me. He will not toss any part of her in my face.

“It will what? Make her see you for who you really are? She already knows. I’m done here. This was a warning. Take it back to your wife, your daughters, and all of you fuck right off. You come near her, and the reporters get that.” I shove him backward, point to the folder behind him. It’s bright green color tempting me to pick it up and head straight for the news station.

“Your five minutes are up. Get out.”

“Will do. Just so you remember. I’m just beginning to turn into the unforgiving savage that’s been gnawing at my soul. You better pray to God that’s the only thing you’re hiding.” I shift my stance toward the door, walk out satisfied in the God given fact I’m going to be the death of that man. All I need to do now is figure out how to tell Lynne first.

***

I’ve spent the last half hour sitting in the parking lot waiting for Lynne to exit her office.

After Dane and I walked out of Richard’s office and calmed the fuck down, this is all we talked about. How I was going to tell her. Lay it on her gently and pray it wouldn’t hurt her. She’s so much stronger than she realizes. Possibly more than I realize. If this sets her back, she’ll never be able to forgive herself.

I refuse to start our newfound relationship off with secrets and lies. There will be no half-truths here, no rummaging around to save her from the pain. I have to spit it out. Get it over with and show her I’m not going anywhere.

I close my eyes, tilt my head back, and rest. At the moment, there isn’t any comfort or relief over having Lynne back in my life. Not after learning about this. Not after seeing her father determined to tear her down even more.

I jump from the light tap on my window, my hand automatically reaching for my gun. Christ. I need a good night’s rest. Being jumpy is not good.

“Tyson. Is everything alright?” Big green, luminous eyes filled with worry stare back at me. Eyes I could look into for days. Damn. She gets more beautiful every time I see her.

I roll down my window. Gut turning in turmoil. Head spinning and a long road of regret sitting in the pit of my stomach. “It is now. How’s it going, Maggie?” I take my eyes off the intoxicating woman standing close to my rolled down window to seek out her neighbor. I’ll chicken the hell out if I continue to look at her. I’m breaking under this ironclad wired façade once again. This time, it’s out of protection. It’s a sad day when you know you’re going to unintentionally stomp on someone’s heart from the wrongdoings of her father.

“I’m good. You’re just what she needs. I’ll see you tomorrow, dear.”

My brows deepen wondering what Maggie means. I’ll put my gun to use if her father has contacted her. Prison or not, I’ll kill him.

“I guess I need a ride home.” She shrugs casually.

“Hop in. I was hoping to catch you anyway,” I say, roll up my window, and allow her to capture my attention. Each time I see her, it gets harder not to pull her into my arms and brush my lips across hers. Not innocently either. It would be fired up with a requisite to strip her out of that tight little skirt. To hike it up over her thighs and shred her bare. Get a glimpse of her sweet little pussy.

There isn’t a chance in hell I’m going to be gentle with her once I have her naked and in bed. Not a Goddamn chance. The way I see it, she doesn’t need gentle anymore. Lynne isn’t as fragile as people have made her believe she is. Not after the life she’s led. Not after living with the bloodthirstiness of a family out to turn her into someone she isn’t.

“Tell me what you meant when you said ‘better now.’ Did something bad happen at work?” she queries, hikes herself up in my truck, and gazes hungrily up and down my body. A deep, heavy sigh escapes her mouth and shoots straight to my dick. I can’t answer. Not when the woman I’ve dreamt about for years is sitting in the cab of my new truck, her presence alone making me fall all over again. Everything about her has me trapped between common sense and practicality.

Sexual tension is a livewire in this truck. It’s flickering. Igniting and curling around the base of my spine. Tapping into my brain to get closer to the one beautiful thing in my life.

Admiringly, I switch to observe the slant of her eyes, the slope of her neck, the increasing rise and fall of her chest, all the way down and back up again. Christ. Beauty is all around her.

When her eyes latch onto mine and a whimper escapes her lips, I lose control. It’s been a long time coming, and if I don’t drown myself in the taste of this strong, strong woman first, I’ll never make it through this. I need her.

Unclipping my seatbelt, I lunge for her as if I were a man released from prison. In a way, I have been. Bound to chains tethered to my feet, steel against my wrists, and a vice clamped around my heart.

My hands grip her waist as her eyes turn into shocked circular saucers. I’m fighting the desire gushing through my veins to drag her ass over my rock-hard cock to straddle me. Feel those legs around my hips and rock my erection to the hot flesh between her sexy little thighs.

Instead, I grip the back of her neck, palm the pink flush, her pulse pounding underneath my touch. Fuck, this crazy shiny star looks up to me with all the trust in the world. I want to fuck up her father so damn bad. To hold him hostage and strangle his Goddamn ass. Shoot him as if he were the enemy. He is the enemy. A coward. A pathetic excuse to mankind for not seeing the woman she is. For not respecting her enough to see her happy. Follow her wishes and provide her with the kind of love she is worthy of.

“You are so beautiful in every sense of the word. Kind, gentle, and undeserving of anyone who has ever hurt you.” She inhales a deep breath, holding it in. I do the only thing I’ve wanted to do for years when the air from her lungs expels. I draw it in. Strength.

A sizzle fills my truck. She moans, and all the darkness, sensibility, and pain disappear with one swipe of my tongue across her bottom lip. I kiss her. Wild and deep. Frantic and desperate. Our teeth gnash together, tongues dueling in an all-out gritty fight. She tastes like promises left unspoken. A long life without pain. An earth-shattering moment that won’t wait.

My dick begs to be set free from the margins of my jeans. I’ve never had the willpower to let go of her mouth, yet this time I do. There are hurtful things to be said. A reminder lodged in my skull so deep that it grates on my nerves. Dishevels my thoughts with dread. I can’t let this bring her down. No one is going to take my right away from me this time to be the protective guard she needs. Strength.

“I’ve missed you more than you will ever know. I need to talk to you about a few things. Is it all right if we hang at your house for a bit?” I fix my eyes on her. Wild. Crazed. Smiling.

“Yes,” she whispers from those tantalizing, swollen lips. God, I’m a selfish fuck for mauling her, giving her hope that what I want is to take her to bed. The craving to do just that bubbles my blood and boils it with a thick, heavy hunger only for her.

It dismisses itself the minute she pulls away from me. My thoughts resume to the complications that could arise from all of this. Will she sink back into depression? Go stark raving mad? Hell, I have no clue what she will do with this information.

“You’re scaring me,” she reveals after several long minutes of silence.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see her eyes clenched shut. Her hands planted firmly under her ass and digging into my leather seat.

“Do you trust me?” She scoffs as if my question is a joke to her.

“Of course, I do.” I heave in a heavy, loaded breath from her declaration. If only she had trusted me years ago. I tamp that notion down. She had no choice but to put her trust in the two people who brought her into this world. Today, though, she’s making a choice on her own. One she should always have the right to make.

Lynne couldn’t begin to understand how much hearing her say that means to me. We’ve been lost for so long that trust shouldn’t be here right now. It’s a gift from a divine spirit that connected us in the first place. Then ripped us apart as if it didn’t matter. Lynne has always made it easy for me to put her first. It’s the way it should be when you care for someone. Their needs before your own. Their happiness always before any other. It’s what sprouts the definition of trust. I can’t live or function without it. Someone to have my back while I take their front. Reverse the roles when the opportunity arises.

“What we’re going to talk about has nothing to do with you and me. I found out something you should know about.”

Lynne ponders her thoughts. I can see the bare-threaded wheels turning in her head. I’m about to reassure her again, but she beats me to it. In fact, she leaves me staggering.

“I see. Well, there’s only one thing I can think it could be. It has to do with my father, doesn’t it? You know, Tyson, don’t you?”