Page 67 of Protective Phlox

His eyebrows drew together, and he looked around. “No, I’m here to speak to Savannah,” he said. I looked him up and down again. His voice was mildly familiar, but there was no way. That prick she was engaged to wouldn’t be that stupid…would he?

“What business do you have with Savannah?”

“I need to speak to her,” he said.

“You’re not speaking to anyone if you don’t tell me your name and why you need to speak to Savannah. I’ll have the guards escort you off the property right now.”

He looked around again, and this time up at the mansion. “My name is Shawn, and I’m here to speak to Savannah about our son.” If I wasn’t holding Cutter, I would’ve drawn my gun and shot him where he stood. “She is engaged to be my wife.”

“Is that so,” I drawled. Christmas had come in July. Goran had filled me in on what happened while Savannah was away. He had ranted about what a bitch her mother was and how her ex was a raving asshole.

“That’s interesting. I was told that your engagement was called off years ago.”

Shawn lifted his chin in defiance. I was going to wipe that arrogant look right off his face a moment before I ended his life.

“We had a misunderstanding. But I never agreed to the engagement being called off. Savannah stole my son from me. I deserve to have a future with him, or she can pay me to stay out of his life. She can certainly afford it.”

“Shawn, do you know who I am?”

“Your face doesn’t seem familiar to me.”

“Do you remember after Savannah dumped you and threw your cheating ass out into the snow? You tried to call her one night, and a man answered the phone.” I watched for the light to turn on, and the moment it did, I walked down the steps and held out my hand. “Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Nathaniel Mikhailov, and this is Cutter. My son.”

Shawn’s eyes lingered on Cutter before looking at me and back again. Other than Cutter’s blue eyes, there was no mistaking whose genetics created him. Shawn swallowed hard, and I held up my hand, summoning Ivan.

“Dad, who is this?”

I kept my eyes locked on Shawn’s. He was too stupid to be as terrified as he should be.

“He is no one of consequence.”

“Con-s-qence?”

“You were close. You can look up the word with Ivan. He will spell it out for you,” I said, casually handing him to Ivan. I waved at him before they disappeared inside the house, the smile firmly planted on my face until they were no longer in sight.

A snarl left my lips, and Shawn took a step back as I advanced on him. “You have quite the balls to come here. But that arrogance makes you stupid, Shawn.”

He took another step back, but I grabbed the front of his perfectly pressed polo shirt and shoved him until he slammed up against his rental car.

“What the fuck, man? Get off me,” Shawn said, holding his hands up like that would stop me. I didn’t live in the world of using your fucking words.

I turned my back to the window, just in case Cutter could see, and pulled my gun, pressing it into the middle of Shawn’s forehead.

“Holy fuck, are you crazy?” His voice shook, and I was positive he was going to piss himself. He looked cross-eyed as he stared at the metal, pinning him to the car.

“If my son wasn’t a few feet away inside that house, I’d put a bullet between your eyes for stepping foot on my property and trying to lay claim to not only my wife but my son. I’m a man of very little patience as it is, but even more so when someone threatens my family.”

“I swear I didn’t know…she led me on…the bitch told me that he was mine.”

Crack. The bone in the fucker’s nose broke as I brought the butt of my gun down. Blood dripped down his face as his eyes filled with tears.

“Oww, fuck. You broke my nose.”

“Don’t you dare insult Savannah,” I growled, my finger close to releasing the safety and ending his miserable life. Fuck the consequences. “I’m not an idiot, and I know my wife. You’re only here because you thought you could squeeze some money out of her.” His eyes flicked away from mine. The guilt was written all over his face. “I don’t know how you found out where she was living, but my guess is that you looked it up and saw that she had made it rich. Figured you’d come here and stir up trouble, maybe threaten a legal battle for Cutter. Am I close?”

He licked his lips. “Answer me,” I shook with the fury that was fueling me.

“Yes, yes, okay. She left her address with her mother, and I looked it up. It pissed me off that I wanted to get back together, and she’d moved on, so….”