Page 84 of Inked Daddies

Dad presses both palms onto the scarred wooden table, bending over it as if bracing for an impact. “Marie, did they pressure you into this?”

“Pressure me?” The anger swelling in my chest explodes before I can stop it. “I made my own decisions! I’m not some clueless teenager.”

“I know that?—”

“I’m a grown woman, and I get to choose who I’m with—whether that’s one person or three people, or more if I want. I don’t cave to pressure. I’m pretty sure you remember that from when Mom left you, and I went to live with her. Ichoseto go with her because Boston had more opportunities for me than Auclair. It was a hard choice, but I made it myself, even though you said I hurt you by making that choice.” My voice shakes with the intensity of finally saying it out loud to his face.

He stares at me like I’m someone he doesn’t recognize. “You’re my daughter. I love you. But I can’t watch you throw your life away on three men who?—”

“Who love me?” I bite out, finishing his sentence my way. My throat feels tight. “Why is that so hard to believe? Do you think I’m unlovable? Is that how you see me?”

“Of course not?—”

“Then why can’t you see that we make each other happy?”

Dad’s gaze flickers over to Trick, whose leg is still bleeding lightly through the bandage. “You think this is real? They’re high on adrenaline. You’re high on some romantic fantasy. Once that wears off, you’ll be left in the dust, and they’ll move on to the next skirt.”

Trick’s brow furrows as if Dad’s words finally hit him. “Hey, man, that’s not?—”

Dad’s voice rumbles from deep inside. Pure anger. “I will not let my daughter be subjected tothis.”

“Oh, that is it!” The words come out of me somewhere between an angry laugh and a snapping shout. “I am finally sticking up for myself, and you can’t handle it. Youhaveto think I’m the victim in this situation, because you’re so used to me being meek and quiet and a good girl.” I laugh at the thought. “Well, guess what, Dad. I’m not any of those things.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that.”

“I chose this. They didn’tdothis tome. I like being with them. They don’t treat me like I’m a fragile thing that’ll break if the wind blows the wrong way. They treat me like an equal. So, I choose to be with them. Ichooseto be with three men who make me feel like I can do anything. I’m not their victim, Dad. I’m their partner.”

A brittle silence stretches between us. Finally, Dad pushes off the table and squares his shoulders. “So that’s it? You don’t care about what I think at all?”

My heart clenches. “Of course I care about what you think, Dad. But I’m the one who has to live my life. I can’t just…pretend I don’t feel what I feel. I won’t be miserable to make you happy.”

Sam steps in. “Perhaps after all that’s happened, sleeping on it would be the best remedy?—”

“Not happening, Sam,” Dad snaps.

“You’re angry. You’re going to say things you can’t take back,” Sam cautions. “So why don’t you get cleaned up and go to bed, and we can talk in the morning.”

“Don’t tell me not to be angry,” Dad grinds out. “You’re supposed to be the levelheaded one, the leader. But apparently, that doesn’t extend to controlling your impulses.”

My stomach tightens. I see Sam stiffen at that remark. He doesn’t lash out. He doesn’t raise his voice. But the tension in his jaw suggests Dad’s barb has struck a nerve.

Hugo pushes off the counter, stepping away from the bloodstained table. He folds his hands in front of him, gaze earnest. “Preacher, we respect that this is hard for you. But could we not talk about Marie like she’s some…commodity we stole from you?”

Dad’s attention snaps to Hugo. “Do not lecture me. You don’t have the moral high ground here. Not when you’re messing around with my daughter.”

I open my mouth to defend Hugo, but Trick beats me to it. He half limps, half lurches a step forward, wincing as he puts weight on his injured leg. “Hold on. Hugo’s not messing around with anyone. None of us are. Marie is…she’s important to us. We’d never do anything to hurt her.”

That boyish sincerity of Trick’s hits me in the chest. It’s one of the reasons I fell for him—he has a genuine heart that wants nothing more than to make me happy. He’s not good at reading the finer points of a tense situation, but he cares so deeply that it sometimes leaves me breathless.

Dad’s gaze flicks over Trick’s battered leg. His expression darkens, like the sight is a painful reminder that Trick and his friends are dangerous company. “That’s rich, Trick. Protecting her by bringing her into your chaos? By putting her in the crosshairs of your old enemies? She wouldn’t have been in half this mess if it weren’t for?—”

“No.” My voice splits the air, louder than I intended. My heart drums. I can feel it in my temples. “Don’t you dare blame them for what happened tonight, Dad. Those traffickers have been sniffing around Auclair for weeks—Sam, Trick, and Hugo did everything they could to keep me safe. They saved you, for God’s sake. Where’s your gratitude?”

A muscle in Dad’s jaw twitches. He looks at me for a moment before he speaks. “Yes, they saved me, and I’m thankful for that. But that doesn’t erase the fact that they’re endangering your life by living in the shadows and pulling you into them. Don’t you understand what you’re doing to your reputation, your future? You’re going to be known as the girl who sleeps with three men.”

Something in me breaks. “Who cares? I’m a grown woman, and I shouldn’t have to remind you of that every five minutes. I can be in a relationship with whoever I want. This isn’t the eighteen hundreds, Dad. Grow up!”

He slams a fist on the tabletop, and we all jump. The table rattles, leftover surgical tools clinking ominously against the wood. “In this town? Reputation matters, Marie. You thinkI didn’t face enough backlash when your mother left me for another woman? You think the church crowd didn’t talk behind my back every single Sunday? That my numbers didn’t dwindle for a year after she left me? It took me forever to get some of them back. They will jump on this like ticks on a hunting dog. The girl with three men at once? They’ll tear you apart.”

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