Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Isla’s dark eyes glance between Paul and me. Her small hands fist at her sides. She’s nervous. Her hand shakes as she unclenches it and places it on Paul’s chest. She’s trying to do damage control. “The food smells divine, doesn’t it? I know how much you enjoy Greta’s cooking.”
He taps her cheek gently. “What have I said about interrupting men when they’re speaking?”
Isla quickly drops her eyes and mumbles, “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” I snap, instantly regretting my tone when she jumps. I don’t know what Paul’s done to this girl, but it stops now. I step toward her and remove all the anger from my tone. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Angel. There’s no need to apologize.”
Paul’s mouth turns into a sinister smile as his fingers dig deeper into Isla’s skin, turning her flesh red. “Pops, don’t bother yourself with that nonsense. Isla here has been housebroken. She knows her place, and that’s how we like it.” He grips Isla’s chin not so gently and brings her face up to his. “Isn’t that right, baby?”
She holds the position for a moment as if contemplating what to say. Agree or stand up to the blatant misogyny spilling from Paul’s mouth like unchecked diarrhea.
“No.” She whispers the word so softly that I’m unsure if she even said it.
“What did you say, Isla?”
She doesn’t respond. She’s on the ground in a flash from the force of Paul’s backhand. “I thought we talked about stepping out of line. Wasn’t it clear this afternoon?” He cups her cheek, trying to look concerned, but he’s simply examining his property.
Bile rises in my throat. Paul is rabid. He needs to be put down.
My hands ball into fists, my jaw ticks, my shoulders straighten, and I brace my weight between my feet. I’m ready for a fight. It doesn’t matter that my blood runs through Paul’s veins. I have never stood by and let a man disrespect a woman. I’m sure as fuck not about to start now. “Take your hands off her, Paul.”
Paul turns to me, a sneer plastered on his face. His ice-blue eyes stare daggers at me, and my cobalt eyes fire missiles back. The little punk thinks he’s got the upper hand here. Unlike my worthless son, I don’t bully women. He thinks I won’t snap his neck because he’s my son, but he doesn’t know I killed my father for the same thing. I don’t give a fuck if he is my kid. He’s a piece of shit, and the world would be better off without him.
“What are you gonna do, Pops? Fucking nothing, just like Mom when she took me away from you.” He thinks I didn’t take care of Julie. She sheltered him so much, yet he’s under the delusion that he’s some big mob boss. Untouchable.
I smile, thinking about the look in Julie’s eyes when I covered her face with her lover’s blood. She thought I’d moved on, but she never stopped taking advantage of kids after me. A young boy, sixteen years old, found me and asked for help. Told me what that vampiric bitch did to him, and I swear it was the same story I had held onto for twenty-plus years.
So I did for the kid what no one did for me. I put a child predator down. Made it look like she’d run off with her lover and disappeared to some island. In reality, I chopped up the bitch and dumped her in the Hudson. I just wish I’d put her down years ago. Maybe if I’d killed her sooner, Paul wouldn’t have turned into a useless piece of shit.
But right now, my son needs a hard lesson he’ll never forget.
“You fuck around, Paulie boy, and you find out.”
Crack. That right hook used to put men flat on their asses. Paul stumbles back, letting go of Isla. My arm snakes around her soft stomach, and I push her behind me, using my body as a shield between her and my furious son.
Paul rubs his jaw. “You don’t know who you fucked with, old man.”
I move toward him, and he nervously steps back. Typical piece of shit coward, bullying a girl but about to piss his pants when it comes to a man. “No, Paulie-boy, you don’t know who you’ve fucked with. You laid your hands on a woman? Who are you? You sure as hell aren’t my son. I never taught you to be a piece of shit.”
“Better a piece of shit than a pussy. You didn’t keep reins in on my whore mother, and now look.” He waves his hand around the room. “You’re all alone while she’s off sucking some low life’s dick in the middle of God knows where.”
My fist connects with his nose this time. Blood gushes down his face. “Wanna keep talking, Paulie? I can keep going all night. You think you’re some hot shit cause you beat on women? Let me show you what it’s like to face a man your own size. Wanna man up, Paulie? Or are you going to run off like the little bitch you are?” I take another step toward him, and he flinches as I throw a dummy punch. “Get out of my sight before I beat you until there’s nothing left.”