Chapter 7 Reed #2
My body read cool and in control, but inside, I was seething.
Being a person in recovery, there were too many times to count where I had a gun pulled on me.
It was necessary for me to be packing. The last time someone shoved a gun in my face was the night Elise found out she was expecting Penn, and it was the wake-up call we both needed to get clean.
While becoming a mom made her relapse, it made me more determined than ever to remain on the straight and narrow.
The last thing I wanted was to revisit that time in our lives, but she was forcing my hand.
I knocked lightly on the front door and listened.
“Can you get that?” I heard Elise mumble from somewhere in the house.
Heavy boots sounded from the hallway, approaching the door. The doorknob turned, and my hand disappeared at my waist, resting my palm on the grip, prepared to draw.
As soon as he opened it wide enough, I grabbed a handful of his shirt to pull him out onto the front porch, slamming him against the siding. With my hand twisted in his shirt and my forearm resting against his throat, I pressed the barrel against his temple.
A look of surprise flashed across his face, then was quickly replaced with the hard look of a man ready to fight. His light-gray eyes brightened when he registered who was staring him in the face. His lips curled in a sneer, ready to taunt me, yet he held up his arms in resignation.
“If you think you can be around my fucking daughter, you have another thing coming, Junior.” I was so livid, my words were punctuated with spit.
Junior bared his teeth like a rabid dog. “Fuck you!”
“They should have kept you locked up.”
“Good behavior. I got three years of parole.” His grin turned vile. I fucking hated this guy.
“There is no way in hell I’m going to walk away from here without my daughter. You and Elise can wallow in whatever shit you’re into for all I care. And if you ever come near Penn again,”—I dug the barrel into his temple—“this gun will be cocked.”
I pushed off him, letting his head knock against the wood siding, before shoving the Glock back into my waistband and storming into the house.
Elise was lying on the couch, half asleep and probably high.
“Penn!” I called, walking past the living room of thrift store furniture and down the hallway. “Penn!”
“Daddy?” Penelope came around the corner of her bedroom door.
“Hey, princess,” I said as calmly and as smoothly as I could, not wanting to frighten her. But my heart was pounding out of my chest, and I felt as though I could barely breathe.
I knelt, letting her skip into my arms.
“Are we going to go see the horsies?”
“Yeah, we’re going to go see the horsies. Let’s get some stuff, and you can spend the night.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” I stood up, looking over my shoulder briefly to see Junior shaking Elise awake to tell her I was here for Penn. “Come on.” I hurried us into her room, finding her Frozen backpack and quickly shoving clothes into it. “Grab your teddy and your blanket.”
“I’m so excited! Can Mama come, too?”
My heart just about broke hearing her ask that. I shook my head. “No, sweet girl, it’s just you and me tonight.”
I swung the backpack over my shoulder and lifted her into my arms.
“You … you can’t take her,” Elise slurred as she sat up from the couch.
“The last thing I want to do is take her from her mother, but you’re failing her, Lis. Things can’t go on like this, and unless you want me to get social services involved, you’re going to have to let me take her.” I had no idea how calm I was sounding when I wanted to put my fist through the wall.
Junior hovered at her side, whispering something into her ear, but I wasn’t going to wait to hear what either of them had to say.
I needed to leave before they both decided to put up a fight and this got ugly.
I wasn’t going to subject Penn to that shit.
She deserved better than that. I knew all too well what it felt like growing up in this type of household.
I scooped up her boots at the door and marched out to the truck. Penn clung to my neck, looking back over my shoulder at her mother. My heart continued to break while my body vibrated with rage. I quickly buckled Penn in her booster and shut the door.
Junior stepped out onto the front porch right as I was about to get behind the wheel.
“Pull a gun on me again, and you can say goodbye to your little slut,” he said from the front porch.
“What the fuck did you say?” I halted my boot on the running board. My hand gripped the door handle, keeping myself in place. Otherwise, I was about to march back over there and get in this dude’s face. I was squeezing so hard, my knuckles cracked.
“You heard me. Pull a gun on me again, and Lina Larsen will see the end of mine.”
“Get her name out of your fucking mouth,” I gritted out between my teeth.
Junior’s lips curled, knowing he struck a chord. Fuck him!
“It’s about time. One less Larsen to deal with sounds good to me.”
“Go anywhere near Lina, my daughter, or the ranch, and you’ll wish you were dead.”
I didn’t want to hear any more of his shit. One more word from him, and I’d make good on my promise. Climbing into the truck, I slammed the door. I didn’t waste time turning over the engine and backing the hell out of there.