Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 628(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 628(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
“If you’re trying to scare me, save yourself the effort. Anything you could do to me would just be a favor at this point.”
“You must be scared of something I could do, or you wouldn’t be sending text messages to frighten your daughter away from me.”
“How’d you find out it was me?” Tink’s father didn’t bother to deny the accusation.
“I read the text messages the women you tried to frame supposedly sent.” Doom gave him a twisted smile. “I claimed Tink as my woman. They aren’t brave enough to cross me.”
“It could’ve been several other people.”
“It could,” Doom agreed. “At first, I thought it could be Mama, but Mama is more the type to tell me to my face to stay away from Tink. For a while, I thought it could be your wife since the messages claiming to be from Margarita came from her phone. The messages from Haven, however, came from yours. Most of the messages came during the day when Luc was in school or when he was with some of The Last Riders.”
“You’re not stupid. At least that’s a plus.” Tink’s father snorted sarcastically.
“No, stupidity has never been a fault of mine,” Doom concurred. Glancing around the bedroom, he noticed several pictures scattered around the front of the bookcases lining two walls. Wandering across the room, he studied several of them.
“The Navy SEALs don’t admit dumbasses.”
“No, they don’t.” Doom stared at one picture. “You were a Marine.”
“For a few years. After Arden was born, when my time was up, I didn’t reenlist.”
“You miss it?”
“No. I enjoyed being with my wife and Arden more. I missed being at Arden’s birth. She was six months old before I could make it home. She cried every time I picked her up. I knew I wasn’t going to reenlist when she let me hold her. I could handle not being a Marine, but I couldn’t deal with my daughter being afraid of me.”
As Doom listened, he reached for a picture frame. Tink’s father was in the prime of his life in the picture, his body similar to his own. He was a sitting on a motorcycle, wearing a leather jacket and jeans, with Tink as a toddler sitting in front, holding the handlebars. The gaping smile as she stared up at her father spoke volumes of her adoration for the man holding her.
Swallowing down the unexpected lump in his throat, Doom placed the picture back.
“There was no need for you to go to the trouble of frightening Tink away from me. I’m leaving Ohio.”
“I know.”
Tink’s father reply surprised him.
“Then why put yourself through the trouble?”
“Kept her away from you this week, didn’t I?”
He walked to the foot of the bed. “Her not seeing me has nothing do with the texts you sent. She stopped seeing me when I told her I was leaving in the morning.”
“I bet you didn’t like that.”
“I understood.”
“Bullshit.” Tink’s father narrowed his eyes on him. “It pissed you off. You think I haven’t been where you are? I married right out of high school. I still thought I could have Mary and have my cake on the side. I was overseas; how was she going to know? I didn’t get it when I left, but the first time I went to a motel room with a hookup, I found out the truth. Jesus… As soon as it was over, I hated myself. I called Mary, somehow thinking it would make it better. I was going to tell her; I just thought I wouldn’t feel so shitty about myself if I could pretend to be a good husband over the phone. It just made me feel worse. That was when I found out I was going to be a father. I was so sick I cheated on my pregnant wife that I didn’t even look at any women because I was afraid I would be tempted to cheat again.
“When I made it back stateside and came home, my kid cried anytime I walked into the room, and my wife somehow knew I had cheated. She never said a fucking word about it, but I could see the hurt in her eyes. I would rather have taken a bullet to the gut than see how badly I hurt her. When I left her, I told her when I came back, I wouldn’t leave again.”
“And how does this pertain to me? Like I said, I’m leaving. I’ve made no commitment to Tink. I won’t be coming back to start over with her. When I leave, I’m gone for good.”
Tink’s father gave him a pitying look. “Then why are you here? You knew the texts were from me, you knew she was in no danger, so what purpose could you have to come here?”
Doom’s hands clenched into fists. He had walked into a trap.