Page 82 of Savage

I felt all the blood drain from my face as I heard my mother’s voice. The tone was high-pitched and I knew immediately that she was under duress. “Please leave, if Marcus sees you, he’ll kill you I’m sure of it.” A frigid touch of fear ran along my spine.

“Don’t threaten me you little bitch!” What I recognised as my father’s voice boomed. I heard what sounded like a fist slamming onto the counter and this forced me to move quicker. “I want my daughter!”

“Wynter, wait,” Jaxon called as I set off running for the kitchen. As I rounded the corner, I saw them. My father had Daisy pinned back against the island and had caged her against it. She had been crying and my temper sparked.

“I’m not threatening you, please just go,” she whispered, turning her head to one side to avoid eye contact. My mother then saw me and released a sob. “Wynter, run. Go!” This pulled my father’s head around, his angry eyes like slits.

I ignored her and strode further into the kitchen with determined steps, Jaxon moving to the side of me. “What’s going on? Dad?”

I heard Jaxon’s intake of breath as he digested the scene before us. “Where’s Marcus mum?” I shot out not waiting to hear Jenson’s reply.

She released a sob and pushed against her ex-husband. “He’s dropping Molly off with Chris,” Daisy wobbled out in a panicky voice.

My father pushed away from her and turned towards me, his face changing from one of aggression to surprise. “Wynter. You look so grown up.” His voice was deeper than I remembered it and he looked so very different; like he’d aged beyond his actual years. I suppose guilt did that to a person if the monster felt any. Looking at how he had restrained my mother, I doubted it.

The entire room seemed to shrink. I inhaled, folding my arms across my chest. He didn’t scare me. I wasn’t that lost little girl anymore. “I told you I didn’t want to see you,” I stated in a cold tone.

His brow threaded and he took a step forward. “I know but please, give me a chance. Just come with me, for a drive in the car so I can explain. Things are different now. I’m different.”

I felt Jaxon moved closer toward me. His upper arm brushed my shoulder.

“Really, when I just heard you threatening my mother?”

“She deserves it, she stole you from me!” Jenson yelled, the veins in his neck standing out.

“Let’s all just calm the fuck down,” Jaxon advised in a harsh whisper, placing his arms out in front of him in a movement meant to placate. My dad was a big fucker at the end of the day.

Jenson dashed a hand down his unshaven jaw and shot me a frustrated look. Totally ignoring the large man standing beside me. It was like I was all he could focus on. Yes, well, too little too late. I now saw him as the monster he was. His tone switched as he instructed firmly. “Please Wyn, just get in the car. Just for a minute.”

Jaxon intervened then, shifting his bulk so his shoulder and part of his torso were in front of me, like a protective shield. “Look, there’s no way she’s going anywhere with you mate, so I suggest you leave now,” he growled, his voice low as he pointed towards the exit. His chest was puffed out and his stance screamed aggression. Jaxon was my boyfriend; my love and I knew at that split second that he would do everything in his power to protect both me and my mother.

The two men started to circle each other, like boxers in the ring Shit, this was so not good.

The younger man’s bravado had all the attention now and it felt like the air had been sucked from the room. “Who the fuck are you?” my father belted with a scowl. I noticed his black hair had grey at the temples and it made him look even older. Fear clawed at me as my mother slowly pushed off the counter, her entire body shaking.

“Mum,” I cried, motioning for her to go around the other side of the island and come to me.

Jaxon flexed his arms and took a step forward, getting in my father’s face. My dad was taller and just as broad and those alarm bells jumped up into the next, terrifying gear. If he got hurt, I would never forgive myself. Jaxon didn’t seem to notice the differences in their sizes as he barked. “Your biggest nightmare if you don’t do one. Daisy told you to leave, so jog the fuck on.” He said with a thumb towards the door.

My father lowered his face so they were almost nose to nose. “I don’t think so you little prick. I came to see my daughter and that’s what I’m going to do.”

My mother appeared beside me, grabbing my arm and I shot her an ‘it will be OK’ look.

As I watched the painful scene before me, misery bled from me like a sliced artery. Was I really part of that man’s genetic makeup?

I took a deep breath, feeling so helpless. “Stop, both of you. Please, Dad, if you care about me. You’ll go,” I begged appealing to my father’s better nature; which he probably didn’t have.

Jenson pulled back and tried to move around Jaxon, but he sidestepped, blocking him.

“You have to give me the chance to explain Wynter, or has she been poisoning your mind against me?” he sneered over Jaxon’s shoulder.

“Just stop,” I whimpered with a shake of my head.

“You heard her. Stop and get the fuck out,” Jaxon snarled.

I took my father’s distraction to question my mother who was now beside me, falling to pieces “Are you OK?” I whispered to my mother. She attempted to smile and nodded. My quick scan of her body didn’t see any injury, at least none on the surface. Who knew what mess he had caused again mentally?

The two men were now fully squared up for a fight and my breath lurched. “I think you need to get the hell out of my way lad,” my father threatened.

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