Page 109 of Branded
Alec Henderson.
Kailey’s dad and the asshole who’d screamed at her in the hallway outside her apartment. Considering my mood and the past few nights, the last fucking thing that I wanted to be doing at that moment was to speak with the prick who’d hurt his daughter, made her have to fight to do all the things she wanted because she was so fucking terrified of the bastard that she physically shut down.
But I did have a few things that I needed to set straight with the man.
And I wouldn’t put it past him to find his way to the team’s floor, to start banging on doors—which was so not the banging that most of the guys wanted to deal with.
So, I said, “I’ll drop off my stuff, meet him in the bar in ten minutes.”
That made Shitty Suit’s eyes narrow.
But I just shrugged my shoulders, added, “He wants to meet with me, he can wait.” A shrug. “Otherwise, he can schedule time with my assistant.”
A long pause.
Then the elevator alarm sounded, and Shitty Suit replied, “I’ll inform Mr. Henderson.”
The panels closed; the car rose. “Mr. Henderson?” Theo asked quietly.
“Kailey’s asshole of a father.”
The air in the elevator tightened. “What’d he do to her?” Marcel asked quietly, and the soft volume didn’t mean it was any less deadly.
“Shitty father. Emotionally abusive.” My teeth clinked together. “But nothing physical.”
“That’s just as bad,” Marcel said.
Yeah. It was.
But I didn’t have time to get into it with them.
I needed to drop off my shit, deal with Mr. Alec Fucking Henderson, and depending on how it went, I might have to wake Kailey up, warn her that her father was on the warpath.
“It’s Kailey’s story to tell,” I said. “But it’s not a great one, and having to deal with this bastard now, without warning, at this time of night, tells you enough about how considerate he was of his daughter over the years.”
My cell buzzed, and I started to pull it from my pocket, but then the elevator doors dinged and opened, and then I wanted to find my room, get the confrontation—and I had no qualms that the coming interaction with Alec was going to be anything but a confrontation—over with. Plus, I needed to make sure Raph was in his room, wouldn’t be going out and doing something stupid.
Not that he had.
But I was half-convinced it was because I’d bribed Claire with a new Breakers jersey to put us next to each other.
I was a light sleeper.
I’d hear any shenanigans.
We walked down the hall, peeling off for our rooms until I was swiping my card, watching Raph go into his before I actually opened the door.
“I got him,” Theo murmured as Raph’s door shut. “You do what you need to do.”
“Thanks, man.”
Theo went inside.
I pushed open my door and?—
“Oof!”
A body collided with mine.
