The Penalty Box - Teagan Kade Page 0,14

know your father and your pack of bastard brothers.”

I make a fist under the table, but this isn’t the place. I’ve got more restraint than my brothers, know when to rein it in.

Easy, I caution myself. He’s looking for a rise. Don’t give it to him.

I tap the tabletop. “Funny,” I tell him, “because I’ve heard nothing about you. You sure you’ve got the right table? Perhaps you can go find some other person’s night to ruin, eh?”

He gives a low laugh. “You’re nothing,” he says, eyes winter cold. “Nothing but a jock looking for another life to ruin.”

He looks to Linnea. “You think this guy is going to support you, even stick around? I know his type, Linnea. He’ll fuck you in more ways than one and then take off, leave you high and dry.”

My patience is waning. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

“She’s my daughter, asshole, I’ll talk to her how I please.”

Fuck it. I’m about to get up and start swinging when Cherri, the diner manager, appears, looking to me to gauge the situation. “Everything all right here, Nol?”

“These gentlemen were just leaving, Cherri.”

She clues in fast. “You gents better get moving. I’ll call the police if I have to. Precinct’s just across the road.”

Rex nods once, tapping the table just like I did. “Wednesday night,” he tells Linnea, standing and doing up the top button on his suit jacket. “Don’t be late.”

I shake my head, cannot believe this arrogance of this guy. “She’s not coming, dipshit. What don’t you understand about that?”

I see the look of contempt he gives me before smiling to Cherri and dipping his head. “Ma’am,” he says with a click of his tongue, his bodyguards falling into line behind him.

I wait until they’ve left. “Thanks, Cherri.”

“Anytime, darlin’.” She winks, darting back to the counter.

I look over to Linnea. She seems seriously spooked. “You okay?”

“Can we go?”

“Sure,” I reply, already standing and collecting the burgers for Cherri to bag up.

Even when we step outside, I see the way Linnea checks and scans for Rex and his goons. I’m cautious myself, keeping a keen eye on the rear-view as we drive.

It’s only once we’re safely inside her apartment she relaxes.

“Mom?” she calls out.

There’s no answer.

She braces herself against the kitchen counter. “She must be out. Sorry about my father, by the way, but even calling him that is far more than he deserves.”

I place the takeaway bags down. “Hey, it’s all good. I just want to look out for you.”

“You showed impressive restraint back here.”

“Which I would have happily done away with had you given the signal.

She sits on a ladder-back stool, legs swinging. “Honestly, he’s not worth it.”

I move around beside her, taking a seat. “Your father?”

I can see she’s debating whether or not to tell me. “You can let me in,” I say. “I’m all ears.”

She nods to herself, scratching her shoulder. She seems unable to look at me directly. “My father’s wealthy, well-connected, but like I said, he’s a terrible person.”

“You don’t say.”

A slight smile. “I don’t want to get into the gritty details, but it was bad growing up. He’s got this real power complex, this thing about control that just drags everything in his orbit down. So, my mother and I spent a lot of time lying low, evading him until I was an adult.”

“Shit, I had no idea.”

“He found us again six months ago, started popping up unexpectedly. At first it seemed harmless enough, that maybe he’d changed and wanted to be part of my life again, but now he’s pushing me to a life he wants for me, not the life I want for myself.”

“You don’t seem like the type that scares easily.”

“If you’d seen what he can do, what I saw growing up… He’s not someone you want to mess with.”

“Neither am I,” I reply.

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Nolan.”

I start to unpack the burgers. “I’ll be fine.” I hand her burger across. “Should we eat?”

She places the burger down and stares at it. “Honestly, I don’t know why he’s suddenly trying to play father after ignoring me for so long. Mom and I even changed our names when we ran. We settled nearby and he never found us then, but now…”

“You changed your name?”

“Yeah, I always liked the name Linnea, thought it was different and kind of quirky-cool.”

I’m curious what her birth name was, but I don’t want to push. “I take it you don’t want anything to do with him, Rex?”

Now she