had followed me.
“Control your daughter, Jacobson,” Scott barked. “She’s making a spectacle of us all.”
Instead of encouraging Carter to deal with Angie, however, it stopped him cold. He slackened his hold on her and she would have gone for Jillian’s throat if Caleb hadn’t stepped between them.
“You’re giving her exactly what she wants,” I heard my stepbrother grumble to his twin. He had to use his full strength to hold her at bay as she struggled against him with triple the strength her little body could possibly have had.
“I don’t give a fuck,” Angie snarled. “She doesn’t get to talk about Kin like that and continue breathing.”
While Caleb’s hold didn’t slacken, his eyes did narrow. “What the hell did she say, Ang?”
I didn’t care enough about what Jillian might have said about me to listen. My attention was pulled from the twins to my stepdad now standing toe to toe with my father. “Control my daughter?” Carter spoke in a voice so calm and collected I knew there was real trouble brewing. Carter only got that calm, dangerous look in his eyes when he was so pissed he was trying to hold himself back. I’d seen it a few times over the years and usually when dealing with business, never in a personal situation like this one was. “How about you control that bitch of a wife you have, motherfucker? Maybe if you grew a set of balls you could stand up for yourself for once in your life and take care of the important things.”
I heard Jace’s breath hiss out of him as he listened to Carter rip into Scott. “Burn,” he muttered with a low chuckle. “Fuck, I’ve missed your family, babe.”
I couldn’t find a reply. It was turning into a war zone around me, and while any other time I would have been standing right beside Carter and Angie throwing my own punches, right then I was picturing the outcome of what was happening. Angie arrested for aggravated assault if she got to Jillian. Carter’s name plastered on the front of stupid tabloids and ruining his business.
I wouldn’t let that happen. Not over me.
Stepping forward I wrapped my hands around Angie’s wrists. She jerked as if I’d electrocuted her, her head snapping back almost like I’d slapped her. Wild blue eyes met mine and some of the rage dimmed. “She said—”
“I don’t care, Angie. Whatever she said doesn’t matter. She doesn’t matter. Stop this before you get into trouble.”
Pain mixed with her anger, making her chin tremble ever so slightly. “She’s evil, Kin. You shouldn’t have to deal with her.”
I pulled her away from Caleb and into my arms, hugging her tight. “She doesn’t matter,” I repeated. “You’re better than her so don’t stoop to her level and give her what she wants.”
She went slack in my arms and I knew what would follow the storm that had nearly turned into an all out hurricane. I felt her tears on my bare shoulder. A sob bubbled up, but I held her head against me, drowning it out so the gossip-hungry vultures around us wouldn’t hear it.
I held on to her for a full minute before looking up at Jace. Behind me, Scott and Carter were still throwing insults at each other and I had to intervene quickly before Carter’s reputation was ruined. As if reading the question in my eyes, Jace stepped up next to me and I handed Angie over to him without saying a word.
Caleb was quiet beside us, his eyes accessing Jillian who was once again surrounded by her flock, which had grown by at least six women now. I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about him doing anything stupid, though, so I turned to my father and pushed between him and Carter. I shoved Scott back, and fuck, but it felt good when he stumbled back a few steps.
“That’s enough,” I told him before looking up at Carter. “Please, stop. You’re better than this, Carter. Don’t let them bring you down. Don’t let him ruin what you have. He destroys everything he touches. I don’t want to see you added to the trash pile that’s already a mile deep, Carter.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist when he lowered his eyes in shame. “Let’s go,” I murmured, my tone quiet and gentle like I’d heard my mother use when she had tried to soothe her husband in the past. “Let’s go get something to eat and chill out in your hotel.”
“I’m so