You Could Do Damage Too

Chapter 1

Kincaid.

Nari followed me through the lobby, fuming, but I understood. She and I had just discovered details that completely complicated everything about us.

“You’re right. We do have a lot to discuss, starting with how you know my father and knew I was here.

Are you following me?” She folded her arms across her chest, firing bullets through a heated stare while I ignored her, hitting the locks on my car so that we could leave.

There was no way in hell we were about to have this discussion in the middle of the sidewalk, in plain sight, after what the hell I had just found out.

“It’s my job to know where you are at all times, now more than ever.” While my hand rested on the open door of my vehicle, my eyes lowered to her stomach, and she laughed under her breath.

“You’re not going to use this baby as a way to control me.”

“How am I controlling you, sweetheart?”

“Let’s start with the fact that you’ve known all this time who my father was, and you didn’t bother to tell me because the two of you are in some dick-swinging contest. How is that not control?”

“Nari, I’m more than open to having this discussion with you, but before that can happen, you need to get into the car. We’re not doing it out here.”

“No, I’m not going anywhere with you until you explain why you conveniently left out the very important detail that you knew who my father was.”

“I didn’t leave out a damn thing. I didn’t fucking know. Imagine my surprise the moment I got word that my wife was alone, sitting at a table across from a man who would take her life and not think twice, so we’re both at a crossroads here, now get in the fucking car.”

“You expect me to believe that you didn’t know? You, the almighty Kincaid Akel, didn’t know who my father was?”

“No, sweetheart, I didn’t fucking know. Now, get in the gotdamn car. If you want to have this discussion, we can, but again, we will not have it out here like this.”

My stance widened at the same time my shoulders expanded. My chin dipped so that our eyes leveled to ensure she understood just how serious I was. If she didn’t move in a matter of seconds, I would physically move her myself.

“Fucking tyrant,” she muttered under her breath, but at least things between us didn’t have to get physical.

After she was seated, she slammed the door before I got a chance to close it myself, which had me taking a cleansing breath before I scanned my surroundings for any signs that someone was watching us.

Once I determined nothing seemed out of place, I got in and pulled away from the curb with Nari shooting daggers through me.

“If you didn’t know, then why make the point of telling my father that he should know that you wouldn’t let me anywhere near him?”

“Because I didn’t have to know he was your father to make that determination.”

“And you don’t think that’s control? He’s my father.”

“He’s a killer.”

“So are you.”

When my eyes met hers, she didn’t back down. I laughed arrogantly. “Lucky for you I’m invested in keeping you safe. I’d be willing to bet my life that’s not a sentiment he and I share.”

“He’s my father. Why wouldn’t he want me safe?”

“Because that’s not who he is. Regardless of whatever dream he sold you, Eli Manchester will always put his agenda ahead of yours. That means if it serves his purpose, then you don’t fucking matter.”

“Sounds very familiar.” Her heated gaze landed hard on me, and I snorted.

“Not even fucking close.”

“You sure? Because what you’re describing sounds a lot like you.”

“The fact that you would insinuate that we’re the same lets me know just how fucking naive you are. We’re nothing alike.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because I fucking love you, and he loves the potential that he sees in the prospect of using you for whatever sick fantasy he’s dreamed up in his head after learning that you exist.”

“You love me?” Her tone was accusatory and snide, which I didn’t fucking appreciate. I cut my eyes at her but didn’t respond.

“Answer the gotdamn question, Kincaid. Do you love me?”

“More than you will ever be capable of comprehending.”

“Then why the fuck did you sleep with another woman?”

Again, I didn’t answer, and it triggered something because before I could process what was happening, she slapped me so hard that it took everything in me not to break her fucking jaw from an instinctive reaction.

When our eyes finally met again, I could see the moment it registered what she had just done, but she didn’t fold.

“I will never in my life put my hands on you, but I promise I can make you suffer in ways that you can never even imagine without ever laying a finger on you. Show me the same respect that I show you.”

She snorted. “Fine. Then I’ll just go fuck another man because, apparently, that’s how we’re showing respect.”

The best thing Nari could have done at that moment was shut the fuck up. As much as I loved her, she was engaging in a dangerous war with me. One she wouldn’t be able to win, so it was a small blessing that she chose to ignore me silently.

When we arrived at the house, she and I went in different directions. She climbed the stairs, and I headed straight for my office. I needed time to process what the hell had just happened.

Nari’s father was a man who I wanted nothing more than to silence with a bullet.

He wanted me on the receiving end of one as well, preferably from his gun.

How fucking small did the world have to be?

The first thing I did was wrap one hand around a bottle while the other gripped a glass, which I filled to the brim, taking down half in one motion before I landed in the chair behind my desk and refilled it.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there repeating the process, but half the bottle was gone by the time I had control of my thoughts.

I finished the last of what was in my glass, gripping the fine crystal snifter in my hand before I sent it flying across the room. Glass shattered against the wall, landing in shards on my office floor. My head met the back of my chair just as my eyes closed.

“That bad?” Darius’s voice caused me to snort through my frustration.

“That fucking bad.” My fingers massaged my temple before I dragged them across my forehead. A migraine was inches away, hindering the ability for me to think as clearly as I needed.

“What’s up? What do we need to do?”

“Kill Eli Manchester,” I muttered before lifting my head to see Darius. His expression was pensive, which I understood. Three simple words would tip the scale and cause a rift. Kill Eli Manchester. It wasn’t as easy as it seemed, not just because of the DNA he had provided my wife.

“I’ll stand by whatever call you make, but what you’re saying will start a damn war.”

“And not just in the streets.”

His frown drew deeper. “I don’t get it.”

“He’s Nari’s father.”

“You’re shitting me, right?”

“This mess would be a lot less complicated if I was.”

“Damn, how did that get by you?”

A good fucking question.

I prided myself in knowing all the details so I would never get caught with my pants down. The best business strategy was to know every player and the weight of their importance. This one small detail changed the gotdamn game.

“If I had to guess, I didn’t know he had a daughter.

His name was never listed on any documents.

There was no connection to be made. Nari’s mother was sixteen when she had her, and her parents handled everything because she was a child.

When they found out she was pregnant, they made her give Nari up for adoption, only she was never adopted, so it wasn’t necessary to get relinquished rights documented from the father.

It’s likely why she landed in foster care.

There was no contact from her mother or father throughout Nari’s life.

Nothing at all to point to Manchester before now. ”

I had done my research because that’s who I was, so it was really fucking with me that that one very small, yet important, detail somehow remained unknown until today.

“And what evidence is there now?”

“He confirmed after ambushing Nari today.”

“He pulled up on your wife?” Darius’s eyes lowered, expressing his feelings on the matter. He didn’t like Manchester’s stunt any more than I did.

“She was at the penthouse. I’m sure he had people watching once he connected the dots and realized who she was. It would be the smart thing to do because he knew I wouldn’t openly welcome him into her life.”

“The penthouse? What was she doing over there?”

Running from me!

“Story for another day. I just need to decide what the fuck I’m going to do about this.”

My decision was already made. That muthafucker’s days were numbered.

Nari didn’t understand whose blood she carried.

Even if I exposed the type of man he was, she wouldn’t easily handle the idea of me killing her father.

A presence she’s wanted in her life from early on as she understood the role of a father.

Her emotions would get in the way of logic, and I would end up the bad guy for ridding her of a cancer that would ultimately destroy her heart.

It was inevitable. Regardless of Nari being his flesh and blood, she would be handed over as a sacrifice without a second thought if she got in the way of anything he wanted.

“I already know what you’re thinking, and that’s not an easy call to make.” Darius’s voice had me exhaling through my frustration.

“He’s not worthy of her time or her heart.”

“I agree, but he’s her father. You can’t—”

“I can, and I will without hesitation if that’s what it comes to.”

“At what cost?”

“She is the cost. It might take time, but she’ll eventually see that I prevented an inevitable disappointment . . . or even worse, placing her life in danger.”

“You willing to bet your marriage on that?”