“That’s him, alright,” Chasm mutters, flicking his tongue against one of his black lip studs. “I’ll give him this: the bastard’s got balls.”
“Balls?” Maxx asks, cracking his knuckles. He’s actually still wearing his riding gloves. Yep. He must’ve seen the text and then just taken off in his Jeep without hesitation. “He’s psychotic. What does he think he’s going to accomplish by coming here?”
The assistant with the zebra glasses exits through the front door as Justin turns back to the three of us—fully aware even as he’s smiling at us that we all know the things he’s done, that he’s made us do, that he will do if given the chance.
That he’ll kill Parrish.
“I’ll tell you what he hopes to accomplish: taking Dakota out for a daddy-daughter luncheon tomorrow.” Chasm keeps his voice low when he says this, even as Justin holds out his arms like he’s offering me another hug.
“A goodbye squeeze for daddy?” he offers, and I swear, it’s like I can feel those words whiplash through Maxx like a storm. He’s moving before I can even think to stop him, and then he’s throwing a hard punch and clocking Justin Prior right in his pretty face.
The Seattle Slayer stumbles back against the wall, his hand over the lower half of his face. I can already see blood. It blooms on the white marble floor beneath his feet like a sea of wild roses.
“Maxx, stop!” I shout at the same time that Chasm curses, and then we’re both grabbing X by the arms and hauling him back. When Chas first touches him, he jerks his arm away with enough strength to send the other boy stumbling, but when I touch him … he goes almost disturbingly still. His green eyes flick down to mine, and I think about all the warnings that Chasm gave me regarding Maxx.
X turns his attention back to Justin as my bio dad pulls his hand away from his mouth, staring down at the red in his palm with a placid expression that scares me about a hundred times more than a scowl or a sneer might have.
This man is goddamn terrifying.
I see now that everything I’ve done for Parrish thus far was absolutely necessary. Looking at Justin now, do I really think he’d kill Parrish if I disobeyed him?
Oh, yeah, you bet I do.
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” he remarks casually, lifting his cold blue eyes up to Maxx’s face and smiling. Maxx is shaking right now, his hands squeezing into fists so tight that I can hear the creak of his riding gloves. I keep my tight grip on his arm as Chasm hovers on X’s left, ready to grab him again if necessary. Justin turns his attention to me. “Did I not tell you to choose your pawns carefully?”
He shakes his hand out, splattering yet more blood on the floor.
“If you kill Parrish, I will hunt you down,” X says, his voice this even, dark, dreadful thing. “And you won’t like what I’ll do to you when I find you.”
Justin laughs, removing his pocket square to dab at the blood streaming from his nose.
“That’s cute, Maxx Wright. Very cute.” He lifts his gaze up to mine again.
“What’s the point of all this anyway?” I whisper, squeezing X’s arm even tighter when I feel him tense up. He’s on the verge of losing his shit completely; I can feel it. If any one of us were going to kill Justin, I can easily see who the most likely candidate would be.
“It’s payback, princess,” Justin says easily, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Raúl, I need a new shirt and jacket. I seem to have experienced an unfortunate nosebleed.” He hangs up and puts his phone away, studying the three of us with undisguised interest. “Surely you’ve heard stories about me already?”
“Not many,” I admit, knowing that the honest truth will upset him the most. He wants me to know about him. He wants me to know everything there is to know about his and Tess’ relationship, everything about his past, about his exploits. “When I asked Tess who my dad was initially, she said he was just some old boyfriend that she didn’t remember. I never even heard your name mentioned until you made me ask about it.”
That does it.
A muscle in Justin’s jaw ticks, but he calms himself with a deep exhale. His eyes find the framed birth certificate on the wall nearby and he taps at the glass with his knuckles, giving a low, dangerous sounding laugh. I wonder why the field for father has been left blank? Is this not my real birth certificate? Did Tess have him removed from it? Or was Justin Prior never on it at all?
“Well, I’ll tell you this right now: the people in this town are not who you think they are. They’re filthy, greedy liars who care more about themselves than the relationships they forge. I’m sure you’ve noticed how easily they’ll turn on you? Lumen Hearst, for example. Little more than animals.” Justin pauses as his assistant, Raúl apparently, reenters through the front door with a fresh jacket and dress shirt in hand. “Even if you don’t see it now, you will. I’ll make sure of that.”
