Page 21 of Hurricane
My mother-in-law offers her own head bob and hesitant smile. “What are you two up to?”
Colby releases me and sits down next to her mother. “We wanted to let you and Daddy know that we’re finalizing everything for the wedding.”
True but neutral statement. She saves the battle for her father.
Betsy finally sets down her reading material and drink. “That’s good. You’ll make your father very proud.”
Colby sits straighter from the praise. As much as she despises him and what he does to her, she’s still his child and longs for his approval.
“He’s in his office. Lucian can talk with him.”
That directive, of course, angers my bride, and she shoots up from the cushion. “I can speak for myself.”
The older woman sighs and shakes her head before retrieving her alcohol. “He’s already in a bad mood. Don’t make it worse.”
While she takes a long gulp, I slide my hand to Colby’s lower back, helping to steady her anger. “We’ll go together.”
She relaxes under my palm and nods her agreement. Betsy doesn’t say a word as we depart. I guess she’s used to Colby’s annoyance and her husband’s irritability.
At his office door, Colby pounds on the wood. I hide my smile. She’s got balls since most people fear him—almost as much as people fear me.
Nothing.
She hits the door with the side of her fist again. “I need to talk to you.”
Still nothing.
She’s badass but understands the rules. I obviously have no rules to follow and turn the knob.
I expect to see Alonzo snarling at us for entering without permission.
I’m wrong.
The bastard’s sprawled face down on the floor.
Fuck!
Lucian
Colby’s delicate hand trembles in mine while we wait on this small bench in a private waiting room of the best hospital in the city.
I’m not sure what is going through her head since she hasn’t said a word to me since she called nine-one-one, and we watched as the paramedics loaded her father in the back of an ambulance.
The entire car ride here she consoled her mother, the older woman surprisingly beside herself from her husband’s state despite seeming to detest the man.
Now we’re alone, and I accept her silence due to the circumstances. She’s too fragile to push right now.
“Is it possible to love and hate someone at the same time?”
My wife’s loaded question makes me chuckle despite the grim circumstances. “Yeah, precious. It very much is.”
She snuggles into me with a new familiarity I welcome.
“I wasn’t talking about you.”
I kiss the top of her head. “Didn’t think you were, pet.”
“He’s my father and I’m supposed to feel bad he’s sick but I don’t. Not at all. That’s fucked up.”
