Slice of Desire

20 Emeric

I keep my eyes on Serenity all day, hating that she isn”t resting but knowing if I push her she”s going to fight me again. At least she wasn’t here when Chad was around. That would cause a bunch of different problems.

But she”s meticulous, not fearful. She calmed some when I handed her a coffee and told her to draft but not send an email for the club mentioning a recent termination and to please contact us if they have any concerns about conduct.

As much as it annoys me, it”s good having her here. She does the paperwork when I go downstairs to chat with the club members, smoothing over worries until we have real answers. Right now I don’t have any answers about the auction, and everyone is getting in my face about it.

I need to talk to her but at my house, not in the club. She’s going to have issues with what I need to say, but the envelope David handed me is stuffed under the keyboard at my desk. It’s not a problem I wanted to address after this morning, and if Serenity is already here it’s easier to let her do the work she wants than to fight.

Russell stops me before I can head up, his eyes narrowed. “Anita found this in Serenity’s bag earlier.”

Frowning, I pause by the office door, voiding the code as he talks. He pulls out a small device with a speaker, and I stare at it. “What is that?”

“It’s a recording device,” he says, dropping it into my hand. “I shorted it, so there’s no audio feedback now. But it records whatever sound is near.”

My mind flies to Serenity’s claims about Chad having an audio file, and I know she lugs around that tote bag like her firstborn. “So it could’ve recorded a discussion in the office.”

“Sure, a discussion,” Russell replies with a smirk, and I roll my eyes. “You can show it to Serenity. Anita says she mentioned Chad recording you through two doors, and that’s not going to happen. He got kicked out again as soon as someone noticed him, so there’s no way he could casually stand around and record you.”

I didn’t realize Russell knew so much about what’s going on. “So being in the club…”

He shrugs. “He probably wanted some spank bank material on Serenity, and got more than he bargained for.”

Serves him right. “The recording?”

“Working on it. Don’t worry, it’ll be gone soon.”

Nodding, I pocket the device and Russell salutes me before walking off. I spot Tyson as I type in the code, pulling open the door. He waves and I nod for him to come over. “These doors… they aren’t soundproof.”

The corner of his mouth hooks up. “Nope. Hollow, crappy wood. I could install soundproof ones and fix the problem but Jo always turned me down-”

“Do it,” I say, turning towards the stairs. “For both of them.”

“Sure.”

I don’t wait to see if he has more to say. I don’t worry about how Anita discovered the recorder, but she’s not one to lie. If she found it in Serenity’s bag, it really was there.

When I get upstairs, Serenity is on her phone, a fingertip pressed to her temple. “Really, I’m okay.”

I raise a brow, plopping down in my chair. It gives me time to shove the envelope in my pocket as she continues to talk, all the questions I have about her circling in my head.

“Jo,” she grunts, and I immediately know this conversation took a dive. “I don’t care. I’m perfectly fine. It was a freak thing and it’s not going to happen again.”

My eyes narrow. If she’s talking about Chad, she’s damn right, but she shouldn”t brush it off either. I know it bothers her.

Serenity sighs, glancing at me and then away. “I’ll work it out. He can’t stay mad at me forever.”

Rocking back in the chair, I glare at her. Who is he?

“Yeah, well, I didn’t ask for any of this either,” Serenity snaps, closing her eyes. “I’ve got it handled. Stop stressing out about me. You have your own shit to figure out.”

She hangs up the phone without another word, and I simply study her. She purses her lips, obviously waiting for me to say something, and she only lets the silence sit between us for a moment before she caves. “That was Jo.”

“I heard. Is she checking in?”

“You know I didn’t need everyone telling my cousin I’m an idiot,” she grumbles, her fingers rubbing along her temples like she can fight off a headache. “Vienna sent her a text too. I didn’t even realize she had Jo’s number.”

“She’s worried-”

“Which she are you referring to,” Serenity snaps, looking up at me. “My sister who can’t handle getting to school on time, but wants to tell me how to handle getting drugged? Or my cousin, who should be dealing with her own problems and not mine?”

“Both,” I reply, shrugging. “They are both worried for different reasons. It’s not something you should brush off.”

She avoids my gaze, and I already know she wants to fight me. “I need to pick up my car. We could go over after work-”

“You think I left your car sitting there?” I ask with a chuckle. “When Anita went to see you this morning, she had to ask for an address through Russell. He went with Emilio to grab it before coming in. Should be at my house by now.”

Her eyes widen, and she grabs her bag off the corner of the desk, digging around inside it before she looks back at me. “You stole my car key.”

“Correction, I had your car picked up. It’s at home.”

“You can’t just decide to take someone’s keys!”

“Were you going to use them?” I ask, and she flattens her hands on the desk as she stands. “If I remember right, you were supposed to have an easy day at home.”

Narrowing her eyes, she stomps around the desk to get in my face. “You took a picture of me. I want it back,”

Smirking, I lean back in the chair. “Do you?”

“I didn’t want you taking pictures at all!”

“We never did talk about that,” I muse, reaching for my cell phone. I purposefully took the photograph, but not to hold it over her head. “Want to see? You look so damn lovely when you cry for my cock.”

She sputters, cheeks flushing when I flip the image around. It’s a decent picture even though I took it mid sex, and she really does look like she’s losing her mind as I fuck her. The little hairs that stick to her cheek from the sweat and tears are lovely, and the headset I snapped over her head makes her look a little roughed up while we’re fucking.

I love her like this. Uninhibited and enjoying herself.

Cheeks red, she tries to grab my phone. I hold it out of her reach and she lunges forward onto my lap, trying to grab the phone out of my grip. “Give me that!”

“It’s my souvenir, Doe Eyes. Gotta have something nice to remember you today.”

She scoffs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I want to forget the last few days.” She squirms on my lap, which just sends my thoughts south. “I’m not thrilled about how things went.”

I drop my phone on the opposite side of my desk, barely paying attention to where it lands. With my hands free I find the curve of her waist, settling my palms there as I watch her. “How are you feeling?”

Her nose wrinkles at the question. “I’m fine.”

I flex my grip on her hips, and she glances down. “No, little one. How are you really feeling?”

She lets out a breath, one I imagine she’s been holding in all day. “I’ve been better.”

Nodding slowly, I draw circles along her hips. She doesn’t fight the affection, and I think she leans in a little bit closer. “You didn’t sleep well.”

She bites her lip, but there’s no arguing it. I watched her toss and turn all night, her whimpers adding fuel to the fire. “No.”

“Dreams?”

She nods, her hands coming forward to fiddle with the buttons on my shirt. But I don’t want sex from her right now. “What can Daddy do to help?”

Her head snaps up fast enough she almost hits me in the face, but I’m not backing down. She craves someone to care for her, but she’s so stubborn about putting her trust in anyone it doesn’t happen. “I don’t-”

“The more you lie to yourself the harder it is to accept, Doe Eyes,” I murmur, looking towards her lips. “For a moment, pretend there’s no weight on your shoulders. Let me carry some of the burden with you. What would help?”

She shudders, and I wonder why she’s braving the world all alone. “I can’t let anyone down.”

I frown. That’s not even close to what I thought she would say. “What?”

“My dad,” she rushes out, wincing like she doesn’t want to talk about him. “He has… high expectations of us. Me. He hated Jo’s mom and he thinks if we’re anything like Jo we’ll be damned to hell. He’s constantly looking down on us with disappointment.” Her eyes flicker to mine, something flashing through them. “That’s probably why he loved my idea to broadcast his simpler surgeries. He thought it would keep me under his thumb. I would always be there to observe, and he would know if something took an interest in me. Like Chad.”

Well, that does sound like the perfect setup to manipulate his daughter.

“So how do I not let people down?” I’m wondering if the release I gave her a little bit ago opened up a wave of emotions she’s kept locked up. “My sister looks up to me, but she hates everything I do at the same time. My parents don’t care if she passes or fails school because she’s got money and a trust fund to fall back on like me.”

“The only person you need to care about letting down is yourself. That’s something I can help you with.”

“You don’t get it,” she says quietly, shaking her head. “Do you have siblings? My sister was the breaking point for my parents. I’m twenty three. She was born five years after me. They didn’t want another kid. So they separated. No divorce, because mom would have to fight and she refuses to do that. They exist together by hating each other. And who do they rely on to relay things? Me.”

She moves to stand up, and I tighten my hands on her. She’s going to start pacing if I let go, and that beautiful head will send her spiraling. When I refuse to let her up she slaps her hands on my chest and huffs. “So that’s my problem, Emeric. I’m going to disappoint everyone.”

“And this circles back to Chad?”

Her eyes widen, like she’s forgotten him for a moment. If Chad hadn’t gone and pushed we may not be in this position now. We’d still be trying to hate each other, and there’s no way I would’ve convinced her to come to my house.

Serenity shakes her head, staring down at my chest again. “I don’t know. Maybe. I… I went and did the stupid thing girls sometimes do. I let a guy corner and manipulate me and didn’t ask for help. I wanted to solve the problem myself. And I almost ended up getting really hurt. If that happened, Dad would absolutely try to marry me off to someone to cover it up.”

My eyes flash, and I move to lock my hands together behind her back. The recorder in my pocket burns, but I don’t know if I can toss something else into the mix right now and not overwhelm her. “Your father doesn’t get to do that to you for something you didn’t want, little one. Remember that. Even if I’m not around he doesn’t own you.”

She rolls her eyes. “He doesn’t want to own me. He wants me to be someone else”s problem.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, tilting my head to the side. “He was pretty damn pissy seeing me at your house last night.”

She shrugs, suddenly uncomfortable. “He wants me to be better than the rest of his family.”

“Better than Jo, you mean.”

“And Porscha.” She brushes at her hair, refusing to meet my gaze. “He wants me tucked away safely.”

“And what do you want?”

She hesitates before turning her face up, her lips grazing mine. “I want to feel like I’m alive.”

I cup her jaw, kissing her when she leans forward. Using my other hand on her back, where I dripped wax from the candle on the table not long ago, I push her down against my growing erection. She whimpers, and I can imagine she’s sore.

I need to get out of here. Staying in the club means we’re under the scrutiny of anyone here, and Nate begrudgingly offered to help with the club again if need be. We have to talk to people to get the auction in motion, but after the weekend we’ve had he said he could handle taking care of things with Callie. It’s something he refuses to do long term, and I know that’s why Jo and Vinny sought outside help.

Pulling back, I tap her thigh and she squirms. “Are you going to be finished so we can leave soon?”

She blinks at me, a frown slowly pulling at her lips. I’m dragging us out of the moment instead of getting lost in it. “I need to finish the email about Chad. Jo called and we were on the phone for a while.”

The corner of my mouth lifts. With Jo I can absolutely believe that. I give her ass a playful swat that makes her jump at the contact, surprised eyes meeting mine. “Well, let’s get it finished. I don’t want to get stuck here tonight answering questions.”

She nods seriously, and I know from all the muttering she did when she popped upstairs that there’s a lot of applications to field for the auction. She’s set aside a ton of names for me to look over, and we need to decide if it’s a first-come-first-serve basis or if there are more rules to join the auction.

Getting off my lap, I study her when she walks back across the room. She’s either distracted enough to forget about the picture, or she’s going to try to delete it later. Glancing back at my phone, I notice there’s new messages popping up.

Clicking the group chat, I instantly regret it. They all arrive one after another, and they are still coming in as I try to catch up on the conversation.

Jo: Is she giving you some bullshit answer that everything is going to be okay? Do not let that girl lie to you. Serenity is too stubborn for her own good.

Jo: Her dad is going to make her feel like total shit if she goes home. Everything is not fine. Wayne is such a dickhead to his kids. Why do you think I campaigned for Serenity to work at the club?

Vinny: Stop blowing up his phone. He’ll talk to her, darling.

Jo: Not good enough. Emeric, if you let her go home to deal with Wayne all by herself I will fly all the way back from Florida to personally kick your ass. You think your apartment is in danger right now? I will throw out your pole and all your left socks if you do not get her to come back to your place. Or ours! We have a whole empty house just sitting there that no one is using.

My brow twitches. That devil woman is going to destroy all my things because of Serenity’s stubbornness. The messages are still coming in.

Callie: Oh, let her stay there! The view is fab. You know all the ways you can fuck someone off a balcony.

Jo: Do not fuck her on my balcony, or at least don’t tell me about it. You know where the keys are, Emeric. Take her over there if she’s too bullheaded to stay with you. Wayne sure as shit doesn’t know where my house is.

Jo: Oh, and Emeric? Your so-called brother is a total ass some days. I don’t know if I’ll ever get through to him.

Nate: For the love of god take me out of this chat.

I smirk at the last message. Jo made the message thread before they left, mostly for herself and Callie to gossip back and forth. They’ve become close friends over the years. But Callie still doesn’t know everything that happened in Florida, and for her mental wellbeing we all quietly decided to keep it that way unless she starts digging.

Nate can deal with that if she ever wants to know.

I look over at Serenity, who is engrossed in the screen as she works on this email. She did a decent job with the one for the auction, I have to admit. It got us some crazy applications and a lot of interest from the members of the club. The email to Chad was more emotionally driven, but I think she can separate emotion from facts for the termination notice to the club.

If there wasn’t a privacy threat, we wouldn’t need to alert everyone. But if Chad violated anyone else it has to be dealt with.

Serenity wants to fight her own battles, but I think she’s so used to standing on her own she doesn’t know how to accept someone else into her bubble.

~~~

“I am perfectly capable of handling my father,” she snaps, arms crossed as she sits in my passenger seat. We’ve already debated where we were going, and I agreed to pop over to her father’s to grab some things only because she threatened to call an Uber.

That’s not happening. Not when I’m around.

“Your father who wants to control you,” I verify, raising a brow. She’s hiding her wrist again beneath a hoodie, rubbing at her hand from time to time. It’s bothering her.

“I’ve lived with my dad for years. Even when I wasn’t living at home for a while I still dealt with him. I’m capable of handling this. Stop questioning me.”

My eyebrows lift as we sit in her driveway. Every time we get near her Dad’s place she tenses, and we haven”t even seen him yet. I”m hoping there isn”t another run in at all. “The offer still stands. Jo says you can use her things and we don’t even have to walk in there.”

“We don’t have to do anything,” she snaps, but when it comes to her so-called family some of that confidence in her voice seems to waiver. “I’ve got this.”

Leaning back in the driver’s seat, I watch her through the corner of my eye. The firm set of her shoulders doesn’t waiver, but I’m almost certain she is bluffing on how confident she feels.

Her cousin’s house is open for the taking. It has been since February. Yet she’s still putting up with her father, who seems to put his own interests in front of his daughters.

“You’re not alone,” I tell her, and her gaze slides back to me. “You might be used to it, but you aren’t. People want to be on your side. Stop icing everyone out and you won’t feel so alienated.”

She jolts at my words, like I’ve truly surprised her. “I don’t alienate myself. I like having people around.”

“You just don’t know how to accept them then?”

Serenity throws the door open, and maybe I pushed her too far. She stomps towards her house, and I blow out a breath before following her. I don’t like her father, and I don’t think anything is going to convince me otherwise. There’s no way I’m leaving her to put up with his shit.

She glares at me but doesn’t protest, pausing at her front door when the knob doesn’t twist. “I could just open the door if someone didn’t take my keys.”

“You didn’t even remember to bring them,” I remark, leaning over to press the doorbell. She looks mortified that I just did that, but it’s late on Sunday afternoon and I want to be in and out of this hell as fast as possible.

“It’s Sunday,” she says absentmindedly. “The housekeeper isn’t in or she’d be at the door already.”

It takes a solid two minutes for someone to answer, and Serenity mutters nice things about the nameless housekeeper as we wait. She’s started fiddling with her wrist nervously by the time someone answers, and she perks up slightly when Vienna pops her head out.

Vienna brightens when she spots her sister, before looking over at me with a smirk. “Taking care of my sis are you?”

“Don’t start,” Serenity grumbles, pushing into the house. Vienna crackles, stepping aside so I can walk in too. “Let’s just grab a few things and go.”

“Dad’s in his study,” Vienna replies, following as Serenity practically jogs down a long hall. The place is immaculate, without a speck of dust anywhere, and each item is set in a very staged way, like no one actually touches anything here. The white furniture looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

Vienna walks with me at a much slower pace behind her sister, and I notice she has a large cup she’s carrying. “I told you she’s stubborn.”

I nod, glancing down at Vienna as we walk. She’s so much like a younger Serenity it’s jarring. There’s a bit more youth in her face, and the eyes are different, but their faces are so similar.

Not identical. Vienna has a smaller, rounder nose, and Serenity has high cheekbones that I love watching turn red when I embarrass her.

Vienna takes a sip as we round a corner, and I’m wondering why this house was built out and not up. “She seems happy.”

I frown. “This is happy?” As far as I’m concerned she’s tense.

“Oh yeah. She didn’t even ask what’s in the cup.”

I eye her, wondering if that’s a trick question. “Do I want to ask?”

“Nope.” She pops the p in the word, kind of like Serenity did when she was uncomfortable, but this is for fun. She takes another sip through the straw, some dark amber liquid appearing through the transparent plastic, and I raise a brow.

“If I need to be worried I will be. You’re her sister. I’m going to worry about you by default.”

She stops drinking, looking up at me with wide eyes before she bursts out laughing. “Oh, wow! She definitely picked the right guy.”

I frown, and we pause a few steps from the bedroom Serenity disappeared into. “What do you mean?”

Vienna pats me on the shoulder, and it’s a very strange feeling. “The right guy to give her virginity to. I knew she was holding out, but damn, you’re like a dream.”

I stare at her, because I don’t know what to say in response. Didn’t Serenity say this girl is in high school? She’s very candid, which is the opposite of Serenity’s passion and temper. “Right.”

She chuckles again. “Don’t worry, you aren’t my type. And I wouldn’t stand in the way of her happiness when she’s found something good.”

There’s a creaking board somewhere further down the hall, and this house seems to be built like a hollowed out square. Rolling her eyes, Vienna waves as she steps away. “Tell her to hurry up. I’ll distract Dad so he doesn’t have another fit about her leaving. One of us should have a good night.”

Vienna leaves, sipping on the drink again, and I notice there’s the slightest stagger in her steps. That girl is drunk.

At least she’s at home.

I poke my head into Serenity’s bedroom, surprised to find the space is mostly grays and whites. It’s dreary compared to what I usually see her wearing, and she’s in the process of packing a bunch of clothes in - fuck, three suitcases.

How long does she plan to stay away? I didn’t exactly give her an expiration date.

“You’re going to drive me to Jo’s,” she says, her voice wavering. “It’s still furnished. I’ll sleep in their guest room.”

“You don’t want to come back to my place? Your car is there.”

She hesitates, her fingers flexing over the top of the suitcase, before she sighs. “No. I think I need to be alone.”

Everything in me rebels at those words, but if I push she’s going to give me hell. Maybe one night away will give her some clarity. It sure as fuck isn’t going to help me.

I already know how I feel about her. And if I have to wait I will, but I refuse to leave now that I’ve made a decision.

Every piece of her belongs to me. I’ll take pieces if she isn’t ready to give me all of her, but I’m not backing down either.

“I just think I need time to think,” she mutters, grabbing things from around the room. I think there’s a whole, gigantic suitcase that’s just stuffed with clothes. The shoes are another matter, and the third seems to be for makeup and self care. “This weekend was a mess. And everything’s happened so fast… I just need time to breathe.”

I suppose she’s right. Saturday night feels like it’s a lifetime ago even if it’s only been a day. I still vividly remember her father, and the he shook her doesn’t sit right with me. She’s a grown adult who shouldn’t be putting up with this shit.

But she took it, like it’s happened before.

“Do you want help?” I ask, suddenly eager to speed this up. It’s fine if she wants to go to Jo’s, but I need her out of this hose so I can breathe again.

“I’m almost done. I’ve just got to get my bathroom stuff and we can go.”

She’s adamant about packing herself, and keeps shooing me away when I approach. It’s a control thing, which is great and all, but we’re on a time crunch if we don’t want to run into her dad again.

“Vienna, enough. I know what you’re doing.”

Speak of the devil…

Serenity straightens, strangling what looks to be a charging cord in between her hands. Her eyes widen and she hurriedly starts tossing the remainder of her things into the bags, including the stuff she grabbed from the en suite bathroom.

“Dad, I really think you should-”

“Vienna,” Wayne days more sternly, and I glance back to the door to listen. “Your sister is not leaving this house. End of story.”

“Dad, she is twenty three-”

“And I’m in my forties, yet you both seem to think I don’t know what she’s leaving to do.”

I slide that random detail away for later. Maybe Wayne just hates me because at best he’s about fifteen years older than I am. It could bug him, but the ten year gap is irrelevant in my mind.

“Help me finish packing,” she hisses, and the new urgency in her voice surprises me. I didn’t think it would matter to her so much since she’s adamantly avoided my help since we arrived, but her eyes are round and worried. “Now, please.”

I step closer, their voices approaching in the hall, and grasp her chin. “Something I should know, little one?”

Her lip wobbles, which is so unlike her I know something’s happened. Worried eyes dart to the door once more before she digs out her phone, taps on something, and shoves it towards me before she continues stuffing things into a bag.

Dad: If you come back to this house tarnished I’m going to have you fixed. This isn’t a game, Serenity. I’m thinking about your future.

My eyes narrow, and I crush the phone in my palm just as the two arrive at the door. Serenity reaches for her phone again, and I ignore her, turning to glare at Wayne as he shoves his way in here.

I know there’s a rant coming. I just don’t have the patience for it. “What do you mean you’re fixing her?”

Wayne balks, looking between the two of us. “You told him?”

“I just showed him the message,” she says, and I feel the heat of her body behind mine. “It’s a strange thing to say, Dad.”

He scoffs, and I shift on my feet. I don’t give a fuck if Wayne is a doctor. I’ll break his fucking hands if he tries to touch her.

“There’s nothing to fix,” I snap before he can respond. “What she does or doesn’t do with her life really doesn’t involve you as an adult. Offering to fix her over something you view as tarnishing is sick.”

“Emeric,” Serenity breathes, her hand locking on my arm, but I shake her off. I can’t humor her right now when my gaze is locked on Wayne.

“What do you know,” he snaps, looking between us. “You’re preying on a young girl!”

“She’s twenty-three,” I say, surprised.

“And you’re what?” Wayne snaps. “Thirty?”

I snort. “Wow, seven years is fucking insane, isn’t it?” I cross my arms, and Serenity is pulling on my arm in a silent plea. “I’m thirty three, which will probably fuck up your twisted sensibilities.”

“Oh, go sis,” Vienna chimes in unhelpfully, and Wayne turns to glare at her. His speckled hair looks thinner than before, or maybe I’m just seeing it in good lighting for the first time. “What?”

“Don’t encourage this.”

“Dad, chillax. You’re being so uptight about ten years. It isn’t even that bad.”

I press my lips together, deciding to not tell Vienna that a decade gap at her age is creepy. There might not be anything to her words, but it’s still something that makes me wonder for a split second.

Then Wayne’s busy spewing bullshit again. “You’re too old for my Serenity. My little girl doesn’t need someone like you in her life.”

He puffs out his chest, trying to seem like a bigger threat than he is. I don’t really see why all of this is such a big deal, but Wayne’s got a screw or two loose in what’s left of his brain.

“Dad, this isn’t-”

“Enough Serenity,” he growls, cutting right through whatever she planned to say. “Let me handle this, please. I know what’s best for you.”

For fuck’s sake.

Turning to look at her, I can already tell she’s going to give me hell for this later. But I can’t listen to Wayne bitch and cry for his side of the story anymore. “He’s right, little one. You should let Daddy take care of this.”

I think she’s going to faint. Her eyes widen far enough they are in danger of falling out of her head, and her mouth pops open as she stares at me like she can’t believe I just said that.

It’s strangely therapeutic.

“You’re not…” Wayne begins, his brows drawing together as he plays over what I said. Beside him Vienna seems to have caught on, and she”s trying her hardest to not burst out laughing. Then his face turns red, the realization setting in. “Do not speak to my little girl that way!”

“I could say the same thing to you,” I retort, looking back to Serenity again. She’s the whole reason I’m even in this godforsaken house, and she looks positively mortified that I’ve brought this up. “You should go sit in the car, love. Let me take care of this for you. I’ll bring along your things.”

She starts shaking her head, looking ready to argue, before grabbing a random suitcase and hefting it off the bed. I think she’s too stunned to fight. Looking around at the three of us, she turns for the door.

Wayne catches her arm when she moves to pass, and I’m only a step or two behind. I simply don’t trust him. “Ser, be reasonable.”

Ser.He couldn’t come up with anything better for his daughter?

“Dad, I’m going,” she says, and I internally smile at the strength in her voice. “It’s best for both of us. I don’t need to be living at home anymore. I more than have the money to be on my own, and it’s healthier if I’m not living under your roof at this point.”

At least she’s reasonable. Far more than I can be.

Wayne isn’t willing to let it go, catching her arm when she moves to pass him. I smack his wrist hard enough he hisses and lets go again, shooting me murderous looks as he does so. But he’s smart enough to not put his hands on her again. I don’t know if he’d strike his daughter, but watching him violently shake her last night doesn’t make me trust him either.

“Listen,” Wayne hisses, leaning in closer like all of us can’t hear him. “The Daniels can be really forgiving. They can overlook a slight mistake-”

“You’re not going on another purity preach are you?” I ask, interrupting him. Wayne’s dark eyes peer up at me, threatening violence, and I just snort and push on. “You’re far too invested with your daughter’s sex life. It’s creepy.”

Wayne hesitates, glancing towards Vienna, and that just makes things weirder. But the youngest girl saves it from verging into creepy. “He’s just mad because I lost my virginity when I was sixteen. He can’t let both daughters fuck up.”

My eyes snap to Serenity, and she looks down in shame. He’s putting too much pressure on a woman in her twenties all because of his jacked view of his sister.

What a bitchy move.

I squeeze Serenity’s shoulder, and she leans into my touch. The emotional toll is high enough for her, and I can see her slowly shutting down. “Go wait in the car for me.”

I dig out my keys, dropping them into her hand when she turns to protest. I don’t hesitate, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to her lips. “Wait for me.”

Serenity gives me one last look before giving in, glancing at her Dad before she marches past. Vienna joins her, giving her Dad a stern look, and I can tell which sister is the more outgoing of the two.

Wayne shakes his head as they leave, the vein above his eye bulging. “How dare you.”

“How dare you,” I mimic, crossing my arms. As much as I love defending my girl, I think she might have an issue if I deck her father on principle. Maybe if he says one more twisted, bullshit thing I can get a pass for doing it.

“You don’t get to waltz in here and pretend like my little girl means something to you,” he seethes, stepping closer. We aren’t as close in height as I first thought, and Wayne Zimemrman is almost four inches shorter than me. I’ve also got a decade of youth on him, and I’m betting he hasn’t gotten into a fist fight in just as long. “And making her call you… Daddy, what kind of sick fuck are you?”

I glare down at him. “The one giving your daughter the solid male figure she desperately needs.”

He snarls, stepping a little bit closer. One more step and I will hit him for touching me. “You don’t fucking touch my daughter.”

“If you had it your way no one ever would,” I counter. “You’re teaching her that no one will love her except for the wrong reasons. She’s an adult who is so damn worried about what her father thinks you’re factored into everything she does.”

“As it should be,” he snaps. “Family comes first.”

“Like the family you pretend doesn’t exist?”

He narrows his eyes. “If you mean cousin Joelle, she made her bed and let everyone sleep in it. Serenity will not turn into the same type of hussy-”

My fist flies out before I can stop it, aiming for his mouth instead of his jaw. He screams when I connect with his front teeth, sending him stumbling back into the pristine room. A little blood spurts from his nose, hitting the white walls and painting her room in shades of violence.

I shake out my hand as he catches himself against the dresser, holding his face. “Don’t talk about them like that. Either of them. Your daughter isn’t some trash you’re trying to polish, and Jo isn’t a hussy for what happened to her.”

“You don’t know-”

“I lived in Florida with them,” I snap, and I see the surprise on his face, “until Porscha died. You were nowhere to be found. Don’t pretend you’re trying to protect Serenity for purity reasons. It’s selfish because your sister died and you did absolutely nothing to save her.”

He flinches, and even though I’ve punched him that might be the most painful thing he’s heard. And it isn’t even about his daughter. “You’re not going to mess up my little girl.”

I wish he was slurring. Then I’d know I hit hard enough to break something, and I wouldn’t feel so compelled to strike again. “You’re right, I’m not. Because there’s nothing messed up about her, except for you. Get out of her head before you do fuck something up.”

“Serenity needs-”

“Someone who doesn’t make her self-isolate,” I snap. “She keeps to herself because of you. And now she’s rebelling against the restraints you try to keep in place.”

He sneers, dropping his hand. I see the smears of blood and a smug bit of satisfaction rocks through me. “I’m protecting my daughters. I have to get it right with one of them.”

“So guilting the eldest is the right answer?”

Wayne drags his arm across his face, smearing more of the blood. “Serenity’s always made good choices until now. You’re tempting her to sin.”

I shake my head. “Christ. You need to find something else to fixate on. Get out of her private life and maybe she won’t be so against you.”

“My daughter isn’t against me!” he snarls. “She works for me at the hospital-”

“In a role that only benefits you.”

“What do you know?” he snaps, glaring at me. His nose is still bleeding, and he’s going to need to apply all of his good doctor skills to fix that before work. “You’re taking advantage of an innocent girl.”

My mind flashes to Serenity, needy and desperate even as she took her virginity by slamming down on my hand “You don’t know your daughter at all.”

He lunges at me, and I spin out to punch him in the stomach. He manages to catch my shoulder with a glancing blow, but all it does is sting. He drops to his knees, winded.

I shake out my hand, stepping back to examine the knuckles. Wayne is a twisted asshole, but he didn’t piss me off like Chad. He’s just screwing up his daughter’s head. My knuckles are split again, and it’s going to suck waiting for those to heal.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her,” I tell him, and Wayne glares up at me from his knees. “Because I actually ask Serenity things about herself instead of guessing. Try it sometime. Maybe she’ll want to talk to you.”

I don’t tell him that there’s no way I’m going to let her have that conversation without me present. I just don’t trust Wayne, and if he isn’t being a little sneak, he’s being manipulative. Both those things will bode bad for him if he tries again.

“Get out of my house,” he hisses.

“With pleasure.” Stepping past him, I grab the two bags Serenity left behind, zipping up the last one before hauling them towards the door. Before I leave I pivot on my heel to face him again, tapping my chin. “Oh, but if you ever offer to fix my girl again I will kill you. Don’t misinterpret that - I will actually kill you.”

I don’t wait for his response. I know it’s going to be controlled by rage. Stepping out into the pristine hallway, I head back to the front doors, letting my bloody knuckles smear on the door frame. It’s a cruel reminder of what will happen if he tries this shit again.