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"I don't want to talk about this anymore." He paced away like a cornered rat.
"You don't have to, just listen. For the next three months I will court Ashley, I promise you that I will be a complete gentleman during that time. Nothing about her life needs change, except now I will be a big part of it. She will go to school as usual.”
“On school nights I will have her home by ten, on the weekends, maybe midnight. She will no longer be taking the bus to and from school I will pick her up in the mornings and have her driven home in the afternoons if I’m too busy at work.”
“Sometimes I will have her sit with me in my office after school, she can do her homework there." I let that settle in for a bit and when all he did was stared I carried on.
"That's about it for now."
"And if I don't agree?"
"Oh Cliff, you do not want to play hardball with me. There're so many things to choose from, where should I start? Should I start with the alienation of your daughter by letting her in on some of your more hostile feelings towards her?”
“You really should be careful what you say when out drinking with the boys. Should I tell her of your plans for her when she finishes school? Looks like I came along just in time. On second thoughts, I don't think I can leave her here alone with you after all."
"Listen here you, if you..."
"I'm not interested in your threats Cliff, just know this. If you do anything to harm her, I will fucking bury you. I have some compassion for the loss of your wife, but your treatment of your daughter in the years following border on criminal.”
“Your neighbors might see it as over protectiveness while I see it as fucking abuse, and of one who is so undeserving of such. You've stifled every impulse..."
"Why should she live and be happy when my Dana is gone because of her? Dana was sunshine and light and that fucking brat and her fucking whining robbed me of my life."
In that moment he came dangerously close to bleeding. I clenched my fists and prayed for patience. It wouldn't do to strangle my Blossom's one remaining parent in their living room the first time we met. The man had raised an amazing creature, how could he be such a dick?
"You really are pathetic, I came here hoping the reports were wrong for her sake, that there was some redeeming quality to be found, but you have none. Just remember what I said, mess with her, I'll mess with you. One more thing, when she asks you about this later you will give her your support one hundred percent or there will be hell to pay."
I turned for the door, I'd said all I came to say after-all and if I spent one more second in his presence I might knock his teeth down his neck. How could he look at that beautiful girl and see anything less than a gift?
Whatever, his reign of terror was over. Whatever hell he'd put her through because of his misguided misplacement of guilt ends now. Come tomorrow one little girls' life was going to change drastically and all for the better. I couldn't wait to introduce her to my world, to watch her grow up and Blossom into the beautiful being I know she is.
Of course I'm going to keep an eye on her father, any man who could hold a grudge against an innocent child for so long couldn't be all there.
I knew though that she loved him, it would be hard to get her to see what he really was without breaking her heart, which I am not going to do. Even if I have to protect her from the truth of what he is I will. As long as he doesn’t fuck with me and mine.
Where I've learned that the first part of her existence was...less than pleasant, I planned to make sure she enjoyed all the good that my money could buy.
Everything else I'd have to see to, and after meeting that man face to face I was sure it wouldn't be long before I found a way to get her out from under him. Stupid fuck, how could he not love my girl? His fucking loss I will make up for everything he denied her in life.
Outside on the sidewalk I inhaled some much needed fresh air. The man left a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn't imagine my girl dealing with that shit day in and day out.
I think maybe I'll pick her up from school, give her the good news. Maybe I'll start taking her to my office after school starting today. Why wait?
I looked back at the little house she shared with that ogre and was suddenly struck by a thought. Since meeting my Blossom I've been acting totally out of the ordinary, what was one more thing?
I picked up my car phone as soon as I was seated. "Agnes please, it's Gideon Thorpe."
"Gideon, so nice to hear from you, what can I do for you?"
"I need to look at mansions sometime today."
GIDEON
Ispent the better part of the morning looking at homes with Ashley in mind. That meeting with her father had done more than left a bad taste in my mouth, it had left me feeling unsettled like there was something I was missing.
It was one thing to get reports and guess at what they meant behind the scenes and quite another to see the reality first hand. I didn’t know exactly what the fuck I had walked into here but my gut was telling me to get my shit together.
I’m a very possessive beast by nature and in all my dealings, all my acquisitions to date, none had ever come close to her. In one moment I had seen her and been ensnared now she consumes my every fucking thought.
