“I bet she does. Come here!” He pulled her back into a hug, and Rachel fell into him with ease.
I had to force back the feelings of jealousy that roared through me. He was her dad, for fuck's sake. But that didn’t stop me from clenching my fists and gritting my teeth.
Are you really jealous of an old man?
Yes. Yes, I was.
Because Rachel had never once been that way with me. She had never once come over and cuddled me, just because. She had never once willingly shown me any form of affection outside of sex. And even that could hardly be called affection.
“Areyouokay?” She asked Chris, pulling away just enough to lift her head up to look at him, but not enough that her arms fell away from him.
“All the better for seeing you, love,” he sniffed loudly, a flush creeping over his skin. “Are you okay?” He scanned her, noticing the old bruises around her neck, the burn marks on her arms, and the bags under her eyes.
Here we fucking go.
Rachel just nodded in response.
“And who is this?” He asked, shaking his head and looking at me, as though he had only just noticed me.
“Oh,” Rachel said, turning around to face me. Her face looked puzzled, as though she had almost forgotten I was here. Once again, I had to suppress emotions I hadn’t expected to feel. This is the first time she had seen her dad in years. Of course he was going to be her focus.
Of course he was. That was just pure logic.
It didn’t mean I had to fucking like it, though.
“Dad… This is Dante,” she breathed as I walked over to them and pulled her to my side.
“Dante,” her dad repeated, holding out his hand to me, a warm smile on his face. “Nice to meet you. Chris.”
“Chris,” I repeated, the same way he said my name as I took his hand and shook it.
“Nice handshake you’ve got there. Firm. Powerful.”
“Needs must where Rachel is concerned. I’m constantly on alert. You never know when she’s going to strike,” I laughed, pulling my hand away. Rachel flushed slightly and stuck her middle finger up at me.
“You can say that again,” Chris laughed back. “She was always my little tomboy. I could tell you story after story of the fights she used to get into as a kid.”
“I could tell you story after story about the fights she’s got into at my club.”
“I’ve heard about your club. Rebecca said it was full of ‘ungodly heathens who haven’t washed in a decade’,” he used air-quotes to show me he wasn’t judging without seeing.
I twisted my lips slightly. “Yeah… We’re a bit rough around the edges.”
“They’re nice guys, Dad,” Rachel said, almost flooring me out of shock. And then, when I thought I couldn’t be any more surprised, she wrapped her arm around my waist and rested her head against my chest. “They’ve looked after me.”
“So, I can see,” he said quietly, his eyes looking pointedly at her neck.
“If you have something to say, then say it,” Rachel said. Her arms dropped from my waist as she folded them, scowling at her dad. I almost grabbed hold of her and put her right the fuck back where she was.
Almost.
“What do you want me to say? The first time I’ve seen my little girl in years, and she’s got more bruises on her than when I left. Look at the state of your arms.”
“My arms,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Are because I rescued my five-year-old stepdaughter from an accidental house fire. My neck is because I like it when Dante chokes the fuck out of me when screwing my brains out. Is that explanation enough for you, or do I need to make things even more awkward?”
There was a long pause as Chris digested what his only child had just said to him, and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing out loud.
“You couldn’t perhaps wear a scarf next time? Maybe you wouldn’t bruise so easily, and you could always kill two birds with one stone and use it as makeshift handcuffs, too.”
