Dad would kill Tatz for doing that. Hell, he would hurt Brad if he knew the truth.
“Tatz wouldn’t touch me.” I frowned. “He is a friend. A friend with no benefits.”
“He’s a young, bloodthirsty, trigger-happy dickhead. He isn’t the type of person I want you around.”
“Cause everyone here is a stand-up citizen,” I scoffed. “If you want me to stay away from him you need to come up with a better excuse.”
Tatz was just like them. Lived and breathed the club. He wouldn’t hurt me. If anything, he made me laugh. He wasn’t afraid to be seen with me, either.
“How about how he goes through women more than your brother does?” Dad’s eyes hardened. “I’ll kill him, Hannah, if he touches you.” He would do that. Kill a man for touching me. I had put up with it but I was suddenly getting over it. I was sick of hearing it.
I didn’t even flinch as Dad glared at me. “You said you would be reasonable when it came to men and me.” It was the one thing he had promised me. “Killing a man for touching me isn’t reasonable.”
“I thought you would pick a boy, not a fucking biker!”
“Does it really matter who it is? You’ll hate him regardless.”
“I’ll kill him. Hear me. The first thing I’m doing now is riding over there and telling him to stay the fuck away from you!”
“I dare you to do that.” I hissed at him. If he wanted a reaction, well, he was getting one. “You so much as threaten him and I’m gone.” I would move out. And Dad knew that. I didn’t need his money. “I, unlike my sister and brother, have nothing keeping me here.”
“You’d move out over a boy?” Dad got up, he had passed angry. He was deadly calm. Which usually came before he pulled his gun, or got his fists involved. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. So I wasn’t scared.
“Nope.” I tilted my head, looking up at him. “I’d move out if you didn’t trust me.” Which is what this came down to: him trusting me. “And clearly you don’t trust me if you’re scaring away males from my life.”
Tyson’s, Brad’s, and Cameron’s eyes were on Dad, waiting for his reaction. Brad was now standing behind my chair and looked ready to block Dad’s path of getting to me.
Dad wouldn’t hurt me. He wouldn’t dare. Because then he would really lose me. I didn’t tolerate violence. Especially if it was directed at me. I didn’t have to put up with it.
“What’s going on down here?”
I turned, looking over my shoulder, and smiled. “Hey, Granddad. Nothing. Dad thinks I’m falling in love with a biker.” I looked back at Dad. “He doesn’t trust me.”
Granddad laughed. “Well, now he knows how I felt when he took my daughter.” Granddad walked closer to us. His eyes were on Dad. “You promised to be reasonable to anyone she dated, Reaper.”
I bet Dad hated ever saying that now.
“I’d be reasonable if she was dating a boy. Not a biker!” Dad shot a glare at Granddad.
“Who’s the biker?” Granddad crossed his arms. “Which bastard has a death wish?”
I grinned. “I’m not even dating him. And this is Dad’s reaction.” I waved a hand at my fuming father. “I just said we had tea and he looks after me, and Dad reacts like this.”
“She has a mark on her neck. They’ve been doing more than having fucking tea!” Dad’s fists pounded the table, causing me to jump.
“Hannah wouldn’t lie,” Granddad said firmly. I felt automatically guilty because I was lying. Not about who marked me, I was just keeping that to myself, but about the cancer. I was lying every time I said I was fine.
Dad’s eyes were back on me, his eyes locked with mine. “No, she wouldn’t.” And just like that the tension in the air was cut in half. “Fine. I’ll stay away from him. But if he touches you in front of me then I will not be held responsible for what I do.”
I smiled. That was Dad’s way of trusting me. I got up. There was no need to say anything else. Dad trusted me. And he should. I wouldn’t fall in love with any man. I was dying young and I wasn’t planning on leaving someone heartbroken over me.
Which was the main reason why I was going to make sure that Brad and I weren’t alone together again. I didn’t want him hurting after I die. He already looked at me as a friend and that was enough. A friend’s death you can move on from, but a girlfriend’s death leaves a different scar.
Heck, not that I’d ever be his girlfriend. He saw me as a young child who currently, according to him, was rebelling.
I was positive he was going to ignore me. So I was surprised when he stood in my way.
“Hannah, can I have your phone?” he asked, way too nicely.