Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
“Daddy, are you threatening me?”
“Now what sense would that make? If I threw you outta that house, he’d just build you a new one! If I stopped payin’ your water bill, that son of a bitch would build you a well and dig a trench, and even add a man-made pond. If I cut off your lights, he’d get you solar panels and some battery run generator, and if I took your car away, he’d call one of his other fucked up cousins that’s handy with cars ’nd such, like Phoenix, and have you set up with some fresh wheels. No, girl… that wasn’t no threat. I don’t need to threaten you. Tellin’ you the truth will suffice just fine.”
“Daddy.” She huffed. “I’m so, so tired… I’m tired of your bullyin’. I’m tired of you makin’ me feel bad for living the life I want to live. None of the men I’ve dated you’ve ever approved of. I haven’t had a bunch of babies out of wedlock and embarrassed you. I haven’t run around town whorin’, as you call it. I haven’t gotten into drugs, stealing, or drunk myself silly, and you’re still not satisfied. I got pregnant young, yes, and no, Kage wasn’t planned, but his father, Kane? He was the love of my life!” Her voice shivered. “I don’t know if we would have still been together right now if he hadn’t been murdered, but I’d like to believe we’d at least be friends… That is respect, Daddy.
“Co-parenting, and being nice to one another, for the child’s sake. I was never afraid of Kane, despite his affiliations. That man never once struck me. He never called me out my name during our occasional quarrels, either. Whatever he was doin’ out in those streets was none of my business, but when he came home to me, he was devoted. He was beautiful, inside and out. I never wanted for nothin’. All he did was tell you to back off, and you went ape shit. I loved him, and he loved me.” He rolled his eyes, barely able to stomach it. “He didn’t get in your way. He knew how you felt about him. Even after all of that, you still disrespected him and did everything you could to break us apart.”
“Because he was attracting the wrong crowd, and could’ve gotten my daughter killed! I take it you forgot about the police raid, and you standin’ there seven or eight months pregnant—big as a house, Kage in your belly, with your wrists behind your back, in handcuffs, while the police tore up your house? You had to be rushed to the hospital. I had to pick up the pieces and make sure you weren’t charged for his crimes!”
“And how many times have you had my mama, and all of your ex-wives for that matter, some of them pregnant no doubt, too, in the line of fire because of some bad deals you made, or some enemies you excited? Or maybe none of our mamas were a real target, since most folks knew and understood you ain’t care about the majority of ’em, and would get rid of them at the slightest infraction.”
He refilled his glass. This time with bourbon. “Don’t try to switch this around. Your mother was never in peril because of me. I never put her in that position.”
“Well, maybe that’s true. If it is, that’s because you are incapable of lovin’ a lady, Daddy.” He breathed in shallow, rapid gasps. “As hard as that is for me to say, it’s true… I believe you, Daddy. Mama was never on the choppin’ block or in harm’s way, and I guess you’re proud of that, but the reason is because gangsters like you only go after where it hurts. Anything less would be a waste of time and resources. The guys you fucked with and fucked over knew snuffin’ out one of your wives or mistresses wouldn’t touch the surface of revenge when it comes to the likes of you. They knew what took me a lifetime to understand, because now I see that you would’ve never shed so much as one tear over Mama if she’d been killed on account of your affiliations.”
“Sarah, I, of all people, know and understand what love is.”
“Understandin’ what it is and being capable of acting on it are not one and the same. The devil knows who God is, too. The devil understands grace and mercy. It don’t mean a damn thing to him though… he wants no part of that. Now Daddy, I’ve been good to you. I’ve been respectful most of my life to you, and I didn’t even talk bad about you when I found out you’d been cheating on mama for most of your marriage. But this… this has to stop. We’ve both put Kage through enough. I’m older now. A senior, like you. I don’t have the strength to keep fightin’ you. Please leave Kage alone. Nothin’ good is going to come from this. If he did work for you, you could never trust him anyway. You’d be looking over your shoulder the whole, entire time. This contract? Please just let it go! There’s plenty of guys in this world who would jump at the chance to work for you, Daddy. Why don’t you just—”