Page 61 of Born Daddy

And anyway, he remembered Lenny from the few times he’d been at the house. The guy had always struck him as friendly and mellow. That, combined with him being close to Rogan for many years, gave Tate the courage to answer the door.

His misplaced bravery plummeted to the floor at the sight of Lenny and another of Rogan’s friends’ expressions of shock. Then a disturbing shadow clouded the face of the other friend—Mitch?—and Tate regretted his brash move.

“Wait,” Mitch snarled. “You’re that guy. You’re Cam’s fucking low-life boyfriend!”

He jabbed a finger at Tate and Tate stumbled back, fear coiling in his gut as his brain shorted out, any discernible thought replaced by a knee-jerk, primal urge to flee.

I fucked up.

Lenny jumped between him and Mitch, who’d begun advancing into Rogan’s apartment. The smaller man faced Mitch, slapping his hands on Mitch’s chest in a next to futile effort to slow his progress forward.

“Whoa, hold up, Mitch. We don’t know what’s going on here, and this is Rogan’s place.”

“Yeah, so what’s this little piece of shit doing here, huh? What, did you put the moves on Rogan to protect yourself, keep him focused on his dick instead of the investigation? Lure him in with that freaky shit you’re into so you don’t get caught? Huh?” He lunged, almost knocking Lenny over. “Answer me!”

“Rogan’s not part of the investigation,” Tate squeaked out, the stupid answer all that came to mind when Mitch had barked the order.

“Like hell he isn’t! I’m gonna fuck you up.”

Mitch snarled, the expression filled with so much hatred that Tate knew he might not survive what the guy was about to do. His lower lip trembled, and he cursed inwardly at his own weakness. But the man was built like a steamroller and physically defending himself would be futile.

“Mitch, please!” Lenny pleaded. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret!”

Lenny and Mitch struggled, with Lenny quickly losing the battle to keep Mitch from making it all the way inside. Tate jumped behind the sofa, the large piece of furniture perhaps giving him a false sense of safety, but he needed enough of a barrier to give himself a chance to think.

What he actually needed was his Daddy.

Mitch gave Lenny a hearty shove, and he crashed into the coat rack in the entryway, tumbling to the ground and taking the wrought iron object with him. Mitch launched himself at the sofa and Tate yelped, falling backwards over the coffee table and landing on his ass. He banged his head against the TV stand, stars dancing in his vision as he stared up at the behemoth looming over him, the man’s face scarlet, his teeth gritted.

Mitch balled his fist, pulling back his arm as he got ready to strike Tate. “The only thing I regret is not stopping you before you ruined Cam’s life, before you infected him with your sick perversions until he couldn’t stop himself from doing those disgusting things!”

Tate screwed his eyes shut and flung his arms over his face, his body tensing as he braced himself for the first punch.

A loud grunt followed by another crash rent the air and Tate’s eyes flew open. Rogan and Mitch were wrestling on the floor where the counter stools had been knocked over, Lenny grasping at them and yelling for them to stop as they rolled around and banged into the furniture.

Tate pushed himself up and got his feet under him to rush forward, gasping at the sight of Mitch slugging Rogan repeatedly in his side. Rogan furiously fought him off, appearing as if he was trying to roll Mitch while also defending himself.

Tate couldn’t believe what was happening. When would he ever stop being the source of chaos and trouble in people’s lives? Was Mitch right, had his relationship with Cam somehow triggered a hidden disease lying dormant inside which had then caused him to commit such horrible acts? From the moment he’d been informed of Cam’s sins, that was the awful truth he’d feared, the reason he’d sought out Rogan in the hopes of gaining some clarity.

Now, his decision had disrupted Rogan’s life, his friendships and his work relationships. Tate covered his face. He was a fucking scourge who shouldn’t be allowed near anyone.

“Jesus Christ you two! Stop!” Lenny appeared to have given up on trying to break them apart and was leaning against the kitchen counter, clutching his hair in apparent exasperation. “If you guys don’t fucking knock it off, I’m calling the police!”

Lenny’s words must’ve cut through to Mitch, because he paused long enough in his fury that Rogan was finally able to roll him onto his stomach and yank one of Mitch’s arms behind his back.

A string of cursing and homophobic slurs poured from his mouth as Lenny continued to threaten to call 911. At last, the yelling ceased, with all three men struggling to catch their breath. Lenny had sagged against the counter and Rogan was straddling Mitch in a clear attempt to keep him under control. His grasp on Mitch’s wrist still seemed strong, as if he didn’t dare ease up in case Mitch started up again.

Tate shook, adrenaline coursing through his body and weakening his knees. Tears threatened, but he refused to cry. From what he already knew of Rogan it would distract him, and he couldn’t bear the thought of causing him to lose the upper hand, of him getting hurt anymore.

“Are you done?” Rogan growled out in a hoarse voice. Mitch didn’t answer and Rogan shook him. “I said, are you fucking done?”

“Yeah, I’m done. I’m done with your ass for good. Go ahead and ruin your fucking life with him like Cam did.”

Rogan released Mitch, pushing off him as if he were something rotten. Lenny rushed to get between Rogan and Mitch, Rogan walking backwards a few steps to give him room. Lenny reached down to offer Mitch a hand, but he batted it away as he rolled onto his side before rising to his feet.

Mitch wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes as he put two fingers to his split lip, wincing before drawing them away. Tate’s gaze darted to Rogan and he noted his Daddy had a dark spot on his cheek that would probably bruise up pretty bad, and he was holding the side Mitch had been punching.

“Lenny,” Rogan gritted out. “Please get him the fuck outta my house.”

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