“Did Faith say something?”
“Did she tell you Bea called her a bastard child?”
My eyes closed and my heart sank. I hated them. Absolutely loathed them. Bea and Patty were vile, evil, spawned-from-Satan creatures that I wished with everything inside of me would go away and never return. “They’ve called her that, yes.”
Holden muttered a bunch of expletives that had me shrinking back. He was pissed. Super-pissed, and for the first time, I was worried about the Towlers’ safety.
“You can’t—”
“I’m going to destroy them,” he cut me off. “I told you, this shit ends. No more, Charlotte. Their days of terror are fucking over. Before, I was going ruin them, now I’m gonna blow their shit up.”
“Hold—”
“They called her a bastard child,” he whispered and my lungs seized. “They called her that to her face. Forget the shit they talked about you. I’m no expert but I’m not stupid so I’m sure that calling a child’s parent bad names has some sort of impact, most of which you can’t see because it might take years for it to come out. Obviously, this shit is weighing heavy on her mind because she brought it up. I didn’t ask, she straight-out told me they were mean to her and made her feel funny.”
He gripped his coffee mug so tightly I was shocked he hadn’t shattered it. “Now, I know you’re not down with that, having your girl get a stomach ache because those bitches talked that shit to her. But I know you’re a good person, a kind person, you’ll turn your cheek and take care of your daughter. Me? I’m a vengeful son of a bitch. No one calls my girl a bastard child. No lip, Leigh-Leigh.”
“All right,” I readily agreed.
I was so down with him destroying the lives of the women who’d harmed my child. Something I wish I had the means to do myself, but since I didn’t know how to ruin a person’s life, I wouldn’t stand in Holden’s way. As a matter of fact, I’d be glad for it. I needed Faith to be safe from them.
Before Holden could reply, his phone rang and I glanced at the microwave. It was just after seven in the morning on a Saturday—way too early for a friendly chat. Apparently, Holden felt the same way because he didn’t delay getting up and picking it up off the counter.
With a frown, he answered, “Rhode. Everything okay?” There was a pause and Holden’s relief was palpable. “Right. Yeah, I’ll talk to her and call Alec or Jameson. I’m sure one of them wouldn’t mind taking Faith for the day.” Another pause, this one longer. “No, it’s fine. I just haven’t talked to Charleigh yet. I didn’t think you’d be here until tomorrow.” Holden’s gaze came to me and I didn’t like the fear I saw. “Sure, see you then.”
“What?”
“Drink your coffee, baby, I’ll—”
“Oh, no.” Irrational panic started to well. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I will. I need to make a call first. Just—”
“Last time you left me, there was something wrong and I missed it and then you left and I didn’t know. I. Didn’t. Know. For years, I didn’t know, Holden. But now, I see it. Whatever this guy Rhode said, I see it—fear. It’s all over your face. You said you wanted me to fight. This is me fighting to keep my family whole. You’re not leaving this room until you tell me what’s wrong.”
All the color had bleached from Holden’s face. That was all I was concentrating on, the pallor of his skin as he stalked across the room. So, I missed the other changes—the sadness in his eyes, the deep lines on his forehead, his downturned lips. I missed it all until he was right in front of me. Then everything hit me at once. The sheer terror at the thought he’d leave me again.
“Jesus, fuck.”
Everything happened at once. My heart pounded and anxiety rushed through me. I was breathing heavily, yet I couldn’t breathe at all. I felt hot and cold at the same time. My muscles were taut but I felt them twitching.
He was going to leave me. I knew it. This was the beginning of the end.
“Christ, Leigh-Leigh, look at me, baby.” I was looking at him—right at him and I saw it. So much fear in his beautiful brown eyes. Then I lost sight of the fear, the worry, the trepidation when his lids closed.
Had he done that before? Simply closed me off from his pain