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He'd hated this man for years, had mentally prepared on the way over to face his nemesis. What he hadn't prepared for was the swift rush of compassion for the frail old man sitting in a recliner, propped up by a mountain of pillows, his eyes closed.
He'd never seen Darby anything but overbearing, arrogant, and mean, lording his wealth over everyone foolish enough to get close to him and anyone else who crossed his path.
But that man had disappeared beneath a plethora of wrinkles and a greyish pallor that suggested a long-standing illness.
Anxious to get this over and done with, Nick cleared his throat and stepped into the room. ‘Mr Lloyd? It’s Nick.’
Darby's eyes flew open, their feverish glint a startling contrast to the pallor of his pasty skin. 'What the hell are you doing here?'
'We need to talk, clear the air.'
'I've got nothing to say to you so get out.'
Still the same cantankerous fool, but there was no way Nick was leaving without having his say.
'I will, but before I go, you need to listen.' Nick kept his voice devoid of emotion, not wanting to agitate the old guy further considering he'd now flushed an ugly crimson.
‘Listen to you about what? About you marrying my daughter? About bringing disgrace on this family? Dragging our name through the mud?' Darby sat bolt upright and shook a fist at him. 'I don't want to hear it. You've won, damn you. Isn't that enough?'
Clenching his fists, Nick shoved them deep into his jacket pockets, not willing to show the slightest indication he felt anything other than indifference for Darby's poisonous barbs.
Before he could utter a word, Darby pushed up from his chair, his neck muscles rigid, his eyes gleaming with a maniacal edge. 'Just because I'm stuck in this godforsaken place, don't think I'm stupid. I know what you're up to, marrying Brittany out of spite, taking your revenge on me.'
He stabbed his finger in the air, tottering slightly. 'That stupid girl deserves everything she gets for running around with the likes of you. She won't get another penny out of me now. I've given her more than enough to pad her new life in London. So if you were hoping for a silver lining to your marriage, too bad. You can both go to the devil.'
Nick took a step back, not wanting to believe what he was hearing but, like onlookers at an accident, drawn to the horrifying carnage. The extent of Darby Lloyd's hatred didn't shock him half as much as his total disregard for his only child, and if the old guy didn't look as if he had one foot in the grave, Nick would willingly give him a shove in that direction for his callousness towards Britt.
Instilling a calm he knew would drive the old coot mad, Nick said, 'You're wrong. Our marriage has nothing to do with you or what happened in the past. She's your daughter. Don't you care enough about her to at least maintain civilities with me?'
“Fuck off.” Darby flushed puce, staggered, and flopped back in his chair, flipping Nick the middle finger.
Nick shook his head in disbelief. He’d been wrong to come here. Time hadn't soothed the old man's rampant prejudice; it had festered and grown until he couldn't see reason.
'Get out, Mancini, and don't come back.'
Nick opened the door. By the old guy's shallow breaths and mottled red cheeks, he should probably send the nurse in before he left.
'One more thing, Mancini.'
Nick paused on the threshold, eager to get out of this place and back to Britt. He could tell her all of it now, because nothing either of them could say or do would make an ounce of difference where Darby was concerned.
'Yeah?'
'I hope you rot in hell for going near my daughter in the first place.'
Without a word, Nick walked out and didn't look back.
Chapter Thirty
Britt re-read the same paragraph for the fifth time before pushing away the keyboard and standing.
Work had succeeded in distracting her from losing Nick a decade earlier, but it wasn't doing a thing for her now. She'd scanned her emails, managed to form coherent replies for the important ones, read the documentation for her promotion that David had forwarded from Human Resources, and toyed with an idea to grab the lucrative advertising contract for a premier soccer team.
All perfectly stimulating stuff she would normally thrive on, but today, she couldn't concentrate for more than a few seconds at a time, her mind constantly drifting to Nick.
Where was he?
What was he thinking?
