Mazzie leaned over slightly, shoulders hunched, small hands fisted at her sides. “I told you we were done over a year ago. What don’t you understand about women not being your property? If you ever come near me again, I’ll cut off your dick.” Her voice was icy and unyielding.
I was grinning with pride at how she was handling herself.
“Lucas,” my dad said, obvious surprise washing over him as he smoothed a hand over his thinning brown hair.
Mazzie whipped her head in my direction, strands of her onyx-black hair falling forward. Whatever she was about to say was cut off by Josh pushing to his feet as he grabbed his Stetson that had fallen off his head.
But it was my turn to add my two cents. Ryker tried to hold me back, but I shrugged out of his hold and got in Josh’s face. “If you ever touch Mazzie again, I’ll be the one slicing off your dick. You feel me?”
Security converged on the scene.
“Is there a problem here?” The shorter of the two guards asked.
“Everything is fine,” Kurtis assured the guard as he tried to pull me away from Josh. Tried being the operative word. “Son, ease up. You have a lot at stake.”
Josh’s nostrils flared. “That’s right, wide receiver. Listen to Daddy. It would be a shame if you broke an arm or a leg.”
“Are you threatening me?” I spat.
Ryker grabbed me that time, and a guard hovered near Josh.
“We’re cool,” Ryker said to the linebacker-type guard. “We don’t want trouble.”
“I’ll have your job, Mazzie,” Josh threw out over me then set his hat on his head, stomping away.
Kurtis addressed the guards. “Tell Mr. Blackwood it won’t happen again.”
Interesting that my father knew the owner. Then again, Kurtis probably gambled at this very casino before he’d been incarcerated.
The guard nodded at Kurtis then strode off.
I turned in an attempt to make sure Mazzie was okay, but she was gone.
“I think she went into the ladies’ room,” Kurtis said. “Lucas, you shouldn’t be in a casino.”
I ground my back teeth together. “What did I tell you? Bring Mom and me into another gambling situation, and you’ll never become part of the family. But here you are. You haven’t changed.”
“It’s not as easy as you think,” he fired back.
Ryker was standing at the ready to make sure I didn’t lash out.
“You know something, Kurtis?” I shook my head. “You want to end up in prison again? That’s your decision. Stay away from Mom and me.” I’d lost enough time worrying about Kurtis’s release from prison. No more. “Oh, and thank you for helping Mazzie.” I owed him at least that.
I regarded Ryker. “I’m going to talk to Mazzie.”
My best friend gave me a nod. “I’ll be outside the front entrance. I need to call Haven.”
I rolled back my shoulders, knocked on the ladies’ room door, and pushed it in. The bathroom smelled of industrial disinfectant and harsh air freshener that stung my nostrils.
“Mazzie, are you in here?”
“Go away, Lucas,” she said. “You can’t be in here anyway.”
Don’t give a fuck.
I found her hunched over the sink, splashing water on her face.
A toilet flushed before an elderly woman came out of a stall. She took one look at me in the mirror then at Mazzie but didn’t say a word as she quickly washed her hands and scurried out.
