Page 63 of I've Got You

“And you knew about this, you stupid girl. Allowing my grandchildren to stay in the same house as a faggot. Stan will be able to file for cu—”

“Enough.” My voice was strong, loud, but not a shout. “Leave Jenna alone and stop with your pointless threats.” I could handle every vile slur he threw my way, but by threatening Jenna, he’d taken it once again a step too far. “Rather than the usual divorce proceedings that have been started, Jenna is more than prepared to state the real reasons for the marriage dissolving.” I stepped further into the room, wanting to be closer to Jenna. Davis remained by my side the whole time, a silent support. “You saw the stitches, right? Brushed it aside? Pretty much allowed it to continue to happen. Hid the affairs.” Disgust swept through me, and I pushed every ounce of that emotion in his direction. “You facilitated this, helped make this happen.”

“And where the hell were you?” he sneered. “Out here being a pansy fag taking it up the—”

“Watch your mouth.” Davis’s voice was low, threatening, and I swallowed thickly at the sound.

“I warned you what would happen if this continued. Well, it has. It’s over. You think you can stay here in fantasy land living this disgusting life, disgracing me and our family name? You’ll be cut off, fired, kicked out—”

My sharp burst of laughter interrupted his tirade.

“You think this is funny, think I can’t—”

I was already shaking my head at him, my eyes wide, anger and amusement at war in my chest. “You’re standing inmyhouse. The clinic I work at is mine,mypractice. I own it all. I don’t need shit from you, I never have. And honestly, if you don’t cut me out of your will, let me tell you now that if I receive a single cent from you, every penny will go to gay-friendly charities.” I wanted to fist pump as the idea came to me, but instead, I fought hard to control my need to vomit. I was exhausted, and scared, and my body started to tremble with repressed rage and emotion, all of the pain inflicted on me by this worthless human in front of me.

“Now you need to get out of my home, off my property. Take those papers back with you, and tell Stan unless he wants Jenna to share with the courts the abuse he rolled out, and I’m assuming at some point he’d like to see his children again, then he has forty-eight hours to get them signed and returned.” I paused and looked at my sister. We’d previously discussed how she would handle Stan if he chose to be difficult, thank Christ. “Anything else?”

Her eyes stayed on our father. “I’m not coming back. The boys and I have started a great life here. I want you and Mom to know them, see them grow up, but not like this, not if all you can bring to them is hatred. That’s up to you, Dad.”

My dad gritted his teeth and pulled a face as if he’d smelled something bad. “You’ve made your choices. You’ll live with the consequences.”

Jenna grinned. “Happily so.”

He narrowed his gaze at her and then picked up the envelope that I assumed contained the divorce papers. He didn’t even look in my direction as he walked past me and left the house.

Chapter Nineteen

DAVIS

Barely restrainedanger made my head throb. I had no idea how Scott had done it, kept his cool like that. He’d owned every single word. I gave him space to comfort Jenna, who was crying. I was certain Scott cried right alongside her. Once outside, I made my way over to Tanner.

“Everything okay?”

I shoved a hand in my pocket and rubbed my head with my other hand. “Yeah, but fuck, that was intense.”

“I saw the asshole storm out here. He looked pissed.”

I grunted, my jaw clenching. “He was lucky he came out in one piece.” I shook my head, disgusted that human beings could be such pieces of shit. There were not enough cuss words in the world to even begin to describe what I thought of Scott’s dad. All I could do was shake out my anger and marvel at how Scott, despite the bullshit upbringing he’d experienced, had ended up intact. Yeah, he’d had what I imagined was all the material crap any kid could ever want, went to the best schools, and never once had to ever worry about money, but I firmly believed it meant nothing in comparison to love, respect, and support.

But he had that now. I’d make sure he knew how important he was for the rest of our days together.

Tanner eyeballed me. “That bad?”

My lips turned up in a sneer. “I know you have your reservations about Scott, but fuck, if you’d heard the bullcrap spewing out of the guy’s mouth, his fuckingdad’smouth, knew everything he’d been through….” I shook my head, not able to carry on as my fury resurfaced. I really had to get myself together. Above all else, I had to be strong for Scott, and that meant being able to think straight.

Tanner’s jaw ticked. “I hate that for him. I do.” He sighed, blowing out a breath. “I do think he’s a good guy. He’s taken all of my surly-ass comments, is great with Libby.” He shrugged. “I think he’s good for you. You’re happy.”

I nodded. “He makes me happy, yeah. I love him.”

Tanner snorted and groaned. “Okay, I don’t need to hear any mushy shit. Just know I’ll get off his case. I think he’s proven himself.” He grinned. “Doesn’t mean I won’t kick his ass if he hurts you or Libby though.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah, you can take care of yourself, but the truth remains.” He looked toward the door and gave a nod. I followed his line of sight. Scott. “I’ll leave you to it. We’ve got the kids as long as you all need.”

“Thanks.”

Tanner squeezed my shoulder and headed back home while I turned my full attention to Scott. Despite his red-rimmed eyes, he managed a small smile as he stepped over to me. He looked exhausted, but there was also something else evident in his eyes. I searched them, trying to figure it out.

“Hey.” He stepped into my open arms, and I held him close. Scott’s nose pressed against my skin and he inhaled, causing goose bumps to travel up my arms. “What do you need?” I whispered the question next to his ear.

He shook his head. “Just this.”

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