Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35194 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35194 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
To my surprise -- and to Dom’s if the expression on his face was any indication -- Calista let out a small giggle before clapping her hand over her mouth. Christ! The woman was a combination of hardass and innocence. How the fuck was I supposed to resist that?
Dom grumbled under his breath. “I suppose this is why Tina didn’t want me in your life. She knew I’d smother any girl child I had to within an inch of her life.”
Calista shook her head, amusement still on her face. “Actually, she told me she would have loved watching you interact with me. Said you’d have run off any boy I tried to date and would probably forbid me from dating until I was forty. And only then because you’d be too old to prevent it.”
“Oh, make no mistake, honey. You want to date when you’re forty, I might be going downhill in the fitness department, but I’ll still be able to pick up a gun and shoot with complete accuracy.” Dom said this as a reflex. By the time he finished, there was a look of abject horror on his face and Calista was grinning like a loon.
“Looks like Mom was right.”
“Ah, hell.” Dom laced his fingers behind his head and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he looked up again, there was a soft expression on his face. One I’d never seen on the big bruiser before. If this is what having kids did to a man, I wasn’t really sure I wanted to go down that rabbit hole. Which, I knew, is where I was headed. “I’m sorry, Calista,” he said, sounding very contrite. “But I just can’t stand by and watch you date that one over there.” He nodded in my direction. “He’s fuckin’ Army.” He said that last word like it left a bitter taste in his mouth. “Now, if he were Navy, or even Marine, I might be able to tolerate the thought. Not sayin’ I’d let him date you, just that he might get to live if he tried. But a fuckin’ Bullet Catcher? Ain’t fuckin’ happenin’, baby.”
That really got the giggles from Calista.
“Hey,” I said. “We all know Joe’s are better’n Jarheads.”
The banter between me and Dom seemed to defuse most of the tension. At least, Calista’s shoulders were more relaxed, and she no longer looked like she was afraid of stepping a toe out of line.
“No one said I was dating anyone,” she said primly, but her gaze slid to mine and she ducked her head.
“You’re not old enough to date,” Dom groused. “You’re barely out of your teens.”
“Dad, I’m twenty-one.” Calista smiled but I could see the exact moment she realized she’d called Dom “Dad.” An unsure expression crossed her face before she shut it down, her face going blank.
I gave Dom a hard look, wondering if he’d pick up on it and call her out or simply roll with it. I wasn’t sure either one of those options were great.
To my surprise -- and one I’d gleefully relay to Lemon later -- Dom sucked in a breath, his eyes filling with tears. The big, bad sergeant at arms for one of the most feared group of men in the world, sank to his knees in front of Calista and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face into her abdomen and sobbed like his heart was breaking.
Chapter Six
Calista
No one was more startled than me when I called Dominic “Dad.” It was really only a matter of time before I slipped up anyway. My mother always referred to him as my dad, so I’d always thought of him that way. I’d tried not to let that little girl who desperately wanted a father figure to protect and love her out for anyone to see. Even my mother when she’d been alive. The last thing I’d ever wanted to do was make her feel like she’d failed at giving me something I needed. It was because we were in such a desperate situation that she’d taken up with Borris in the first place. He was much older than my mother and told her he needed a caregiver in his elder days and that in exchange for her being his wife, he’d make sure I had everything I needed. I was beginning to think the reality was something far different, but I wasn’t about to say so. If these men found confirmation of what I suspected, then I’d believe them. But I wasn’t throwing it out there.
Now, Dom was on his knees in front of me, sobbing like his heart was breaking. I wasn’t sure what to do. I threaded one hand through his hair and held him to me, while patting his shoulder with the other and just… let him get it all out. Truth be told, I was close to tears my own damn self.