The Doctor Who Has No Chance - Victoria Quinn Page 0,34

him, Mom.” I hadn’t wanted that exchange to happen, but I couldn’t help but be proud that my dad could open up a can of whoop-ass like that. Just on the fly. With no preparation at all. “I didn’t know Dad knew how to fight.”

She sighed. “That man knows how to do everything.”

We took a seat and waited until they were ready to lead us back to his cell and get him out of there.

Mom kept rubbing her temple, like this incident gave her a migraine. “What the hell happened?”

I told her everything, but it didn’t make much sense, because Dad was so calm and composed all the time, thought through every action before he made it. It was completely out of character for him to get into a bar fight. I pulled out my phone and checked to see if someone recorded it on their phone and posted it online.

Yep, it was there.

I played it for her.

Mom watched the video, slightly shaking her head as she listened to their exchange, and then she watched her husband beat the ass of a guy half his age. She gave the phone back to me and sighed.

“Mason came over to say hi, and I hoped Dad wouldn’t figure it out…but he did.”

“Because he figures out everything.” She kept glancing at the front desk, anxious to get him out of that place as soon as possible.

“Has Dad ever done anything like that before? I’ve never seen him lose his shit like that.”

Mom was quiet for a long time, glancing at the counter then the opposite wall. “Maybe once…”

“Really? What happened?”

“Before you were born, a guy I used to see said something to your father, so your father broke his nose.”

“Wow, go Dad.”

Mom ignored what I said. “I knew this whole thing bothered him, but I didn’t realize how much.”

“I’m not surprised, actually.” There was no line he wouldn’t cross, not for Daisy. “You have to admit, Dad was pretty badass. Gotta be proud…at least a little bit.”

She shook her head. “Your father could have gotten hurt.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t. Maybe his knuckles are a little sore from breaking Mason’s face, but that’s it. And I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty satisfying watching Mason get his ass handed to him like that.”

Mom didn’t say a word.

Eventually, we were led into the back, past cells full of drunken men who had made some wrong decisions that night. I made sure to walk between her and the front of the cells so the guys wouldn’t stare at her.

When we reached his cell, he was alone, sitting on a bench up against the wall, his eyes still dark and furious like a few hours behind bars wasn’t enough to dim his rage. He didn’t even look at us.

“Free to go.” The guard unlocked his cell and opened the door before he walked off.

Dad didn’t move.

Mom stood in front of the open doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.

I stepped aside and tried to give them some kind of privacy.

Dad still didn’t make eye contact.

Mom gave a loud sigh. “This is going to be on your record for the rest of your life. You know that?”

His dark eyes shifted to her. “Then it’s a good thing I’m a billionaire and my own boss.” He still wasn’t himself, responding with rage when Mom did nothing to spark that anger.

“What will your patients think—”

“They aren’t going to give a damn because I save lives.”

“You could have gotten hurt, Deacon.”

“But I didn’t. I reminded that asshole that I’m a man and he’s a boy. Fucking boy.”

Mom took another deep breath because there was no reasoning with him right now. “Daisy is perfectly capable of—”

“Nobody hurts my daughter and gets the fuck away with it. I don’t care about the consequences or the repercussions of my actions, nor am I sorry, nor will I ever be sorry. I would put that motherfucker in his place over and over again. He can sue me for damages, and I don’t give a shit. Money will never replace the dignity and respect I took away from him. Money will never fix the embarrassment, the sheer humiliation I caused. He betrayed my daughter and humiliated her in front of her own family. Now we’re even, bitch.”

Damn, my dad was a fucking gangster.

Mom had said her piece, and there was nothing more to say. “Let’s go home.”

Dad lingered for another moment before he got off the bench and walked out of the open cell. He