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He needed to spell it out at this point, because there was no way I was going to stop unless he gave me everything.
The chief leaned back, resting his shoulders on the pillar in the middle of the room, his eyes on me, as he said, “You leave her the hell alone, and I’ll stop trying to take her business down.”
I clenched my jaw hard before saying, “And if I don’t?”
“I’ll ramp it up.” He went on, “I can do a lot to her. I can make her life a living hell.”
I didn’t doubt that he could.
“You’d do that to your own daughter?” I asked incredulously.
“I’ve been doing it to my own daughter,” he countered.
I shifted on my feet, suddenly furious. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Because I can, Carter. Because I fucking can.”
Then he left, and Scott went with him, leaving me in the middle of the SWAT training room with an ever-growing lump of uncertainty growing in my chest.
Noise from the other room had me moving before I was ready.
With my head down and my eyes downcast, I wound my way through the maze of hallways in the inner police department.
It was only when I’d made it back outside to my truck, with the doors closed and the truck running, that I let out a string of curses.
After I’d calmed down enough to speak without yelling, I reached for my phone and canceled the date I’d made with Maven only hours ago and hoped that she wouldn’t hate me forever.
What I didn’t do was give up.
This wasn’t the end. Only the beginning.
If we fuck louder than the voices in my head, this might work.
—Maven to Auden
AUDEN
I scanned the menu later that night, staring blankly at all the options for food, but not really comprehending what I was seeing.
“How about you invite your girl?” Atlas teased me for the fourth fucking time.
It’d started when I’d gotten out of my truck alone and hadn’t had a certain someone with me at our impromptu family golf night. Then, when I hadn’t said more than ‘got busy’ he’d continued, and like always, Atlas never could read the fuckin’ room.
“Would you get off my fucking back?” I snapped at my twin. “Goddamn.”
The snarl of words had my entire family turning toward me to stare.
We were at the country club’s restaurant we frequented because it was easy to get in with a ton of people, and their food was good. The only problem was that the tables were crammed into the space, and I could probably sneeze and hit fifteen tables with the spit spray.
Luckily, since we’d gone to grab a bite a food at an odd time, there weren’t many people in attendance. But still.
“What’s your fuckin’ problem?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and said, “I’m sorry.”
I really was, but he needed to fuckin’ quit. I just might lose my fuckin’ shit if I had to explain it in here with all these people around to listen.
“You fuckin’ should be,” Atlas grumbled. “What the hell is going on?”
