Page 22 of Navy Daddy

“What the—” he starts, but Arthur doesn’t let him finish the sentence before Arthur’s hand wraps around his neck and drives his face into the trunk of the BMW he crawled out from.

“I asked you a question,” Arthur snarls. “It wasn’t rhetorical. You fucking answer me.”

Toby instantly starts sniveling as the same fear I felt a moment ago transfers to him. He mumbles a few words behind the tears already streaming down his face, and the few I manage to catch are him begging not to be hurt.

“Doesn’t feel good, does it?” Arthur asks. I can hear his knuckles crack as his grip tightens around Toby’s neck. “Feeling helpless and scared when someone bigger than you starts making threats.”

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” Toby sputters, pain visibly twisting his face into a pathetic mess.

“I don’t want your sorry,” Arthur spits, pulling Toby by the scruff until he’s standing face to face with me. “Give it to her.”

“Eva, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. Please, please, don’t let him hurt me.”

Only a few weeks ago, I might have pleaded for Arthur to let him go, even with how Toby treated me. I believed that behind the bad in everyone, there had to be a tiny flicker of light. Of good.

But they were right. Arthur and my father. That was naive. Some people are too fucked up to try saving.

“Ah, come now. I’m not going to hurt you,” Arthur says with a somewhat lighthearted tone. But his cold, dead eyes don’t reflect as much. Hurting Toby isn’t enough. If I weren’t standing here, he’d have killed him.

“Thank you, sir,” spit flies with Toby’s reply.

“But she is.”

My eyes widen. “I am?”

“Yeah, come on. It’ll be fun.” Arthur releases his grip, and Toby buckles to the ground. “This is what we’ve been working towards, right? Having the power to fend off your assailants.”

I’m not upset. This is exactly what I wanted when Toby stepped out of hiding. I’ve been dreaming about this since he approached me in the clothing store. It’s a dream come true. A way to get rid of five years of the aggression Toby Anderson shoved into me.

“Up you come,” Arthur says, grabbing Toby by both arms and pulling him to his feet.

“You don’t have to do this, Eva. I’ll go away. You’ll never see me again. Please.” Toby’s fully crying now. He isn’t even pretending to stand strong.

“Let me see what you can do, Princess,” Arthur says. His voice is the only one I hear.

“Anything for you, Daddy,” I answer, holding my shoulder back.

My eyes are stuck on Toby, but from the corner, I can see the grin on Arthur’s face. This is what we’ve been training for, after all. A way for me to stand up for myself when he isn’t there to jump in for a rescue.

I throw my first wild swing, and it connects square with his chin. His sputtering comes to an end, and he blinks his dazed eyes over and over again.

“Ow, shit, that really hurt.” I look over at Arthur and clutch my aching hand against my chest.

“Should’ve warned you.” He clears his throat. “The gloves go a long way in softening the blow. But do it again. Show me the fire I saw this afternoon, and remember, punch through your target.”

I nod as if it was an instruction in my backyard. A small crowd has formed at the entrance of the bar, all staring directly at us while I gear up for my next punch.

And this one does what Arthur instructed. I connect with Toby’s jaw, but my arm keeps moving long after his face took the main impact. He stumbles back, but Arthur catches him before he drops to the floor.

That one hurt a hell of a lot more than the first one, but the rush of pain vanishes in an instant at the feeling of pride coursing through my body.

“Not bad, baby girl. Not bad at all,” Arthur praises with a half nod. “But let’s make sure this animal doesn’t pull this shit with another helpless girl.”

“Huh?” Toby mouths, but Arthur’s already spinning him around.

My behemoth pulls back his fist, and with the same thunderous clap I saw the first day he taught me how to punch, he connects. Toby crumbles like a sack of potatoes, and Arthur sinks down to him, knee pinned against Toby’s chest with a massive finger wagging in his face. “If I catch you fucking around again, son, you’ll wish I finished the job tonight. Are we clear?”

Toby coughs, and a mist of red follows. But he nods in acceptance of the heavy threat bestowed on him.

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