Page 27 of Truths

“I really can't take any more disappointments, and not only are you unreliable, you're just an ass. I have enough flaky people in my life, and I really don't need another.”

She walks out, and Nelson stares, slack-jawed as the door shuts behind him.

“You were dating my daughter?”

“Uh... kind of. Did something happen?”

“She met Ryan Hennessey,” Cannon says, the words coming out like he spits out teeth.

Nelson looks up at the ceiling and groans. “Fuck.”

“What happened with the two of you?”

“We were hanging out while avoiding this place, and we were friends. Then we were more than friends. Until I got pissed, and she pushed like she usually does, which is actually a good thing for me. But then I said something, and here we are.”

“What'd you say?”

His eyes widen as he looks at Cannon. “I don't really wanna tell you 'cause you got the whole 'angry dad' face going on right now.”

“Spit it out, or I'll use you as the punching bag I really need to hit.”

“I told her not to talk to me about moving on until she meets her real father and stops... uh, using me as a distraction.”

As much as Cannon wants to punch him with the fists clenched at his sides, he doesn't. No matter how much Nelson may deserve it, he won't hit him. “Idiot.”

“Yeah,” he says, turning to leave when a man walks in, not wearing the Drifter leather. “Who the fuck are you?”

Cannon recognizes him immediately and almost laughs at how much his looks have declined since his latest mug shot. “That's Ryan Hennessey.”

“Jesus fuck, you're a damned druggie, aren't you?” Nelson asks. “Meth your drug of choice? Bet it is based on those scars you got goin' on.”

Sutton was right, though. They do have similarities. It doesn't sit well with Cannon.If I break his face, he won't look so much like my daughter.

“Marvin Cannon,” Ryan says and smiles. “Long time no see. I met our daughter, although she didn't introduce herself as such when we talked. She here?”

“Nope.”

“I realized who she was as soon as she hightailed it out of the restaurant. I knew Grace was fucking around with biker trash, but I never expected her to let him raise my kid.”

Snarling, Cannon glares at him. “Stay the fuck away from her. She already has a father, and you're not needed. She hasn't needed you for twenty-three years, and she doesn't need you now.”

“She's got my DNA, buddy.”

“DNA don't mean shit. I'm her father, and that doesn't change because her mom's a lying bitch.”

He smirks. “At least we have that in common. But it does mean something; otherwise, you wouldn't be so angry, Marvin. You see, my sperm made it all the way to the egg and stuck. Yours didn't. That kid's mine.”

Walking up, he gets in Ryan's face, using his four-inch height difference to his advantage. “I'll kill you if you do anything to hurtmydaughter. And I got an army waiting to back me up. You ain't got shit, so turn around and crawl back into whatever fucking sewer rats like you live in. It won't be long before you're locked up again anyway, which seems to be more of a home for you than any place out here, huh?”

“Biker trash telling me to go live in a sewer... that's rich. You know, you should be the one to leave Sutton alone, Marvin. Because guess what? Daddy's home.”

The smug look on his face won't last long if Cannon ever runs into him again, and Ryan makes the smartest move he's likely ever made by turning around and walking out the front door.

“Jesus, that's her father?” Nelson asks.

“And you pushed her to meet him. Such a good little boyfriend, you motherfucker.”

Chapter Eleven

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