Page 71 of Mistletoe Missus
“Pitiful.”
My eyes shot open.
I raised my head and hissed, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Slowly, footsteps moved behind me, and I didn’t budge. I wouldn’t risk leaving Tinsley’s side and exposing her unconscious body to a threat. I’d shield her from the storm and protect her from all the danger the blizzard could bring. All the ice pellets, snow, and high winds, even the bitter cold.
“I heard about my daughter-in-law’s unfortunate accident and grew concerned about her well-being,” my father said.
“Bullshit,” I breathed in anger as my nostrils flared, and I let go of Tinsley’s hand.
“Such a dreadful thing to witness, and it’s too bad she has to live through the pain of recovery,” Cyprus added and lowered his voice to a bone chilling tone. “But what’s even more awful is the love you have for her.”
My blood ran cold. My father knew. He had heard my confession of affection for Tinsley, and there was no way to turnback time. I couldn’t rewind into the past, close the damn door and shut my father out. He had welcomed himself into our love story, and he’d destroy everything. I had to put a stop to him because my wife’s life depended on it.
I stood up and turned around. “Leave my wife alone.”
Cyprus walked further into the room with his head down and a hooded glare targeted directly at me. “I can’t. She’s made you weak, Son.”
“The only weakness isyou.” I glared and grabbed him by the collar, forcing my father out into the hallway. “Stay away from Tinsley.”
Rage clouded my better judgment, and I pushed my dad up against the wall. The force only made Cyprus grin wider as he grabbed my fists holding his collar and wouldn’t let go. His evil eyes darted into the depths of my soul and wouldn’t let me loose.
“I thought you learned your lesson from all those burns I gave you?” Cyprus questioned as he glanced down at my chest and back up at my eyes. “Or do you need more, Son?”
“Hurt me, Dad,” I pleaded through clenched teeth. “Just don’t fucking hurt her. I want to be with her.”
“Cut your losses and divorce her while you still can.” Cyprus glared through heavy breaths and pushed against me, but I held him in place. “Or attend her funeral and bury her with the dead.”
“Ruthless bastard!” I spat in my dad’s face and shook him. “You fucking did this to her! Didn’t you?”
I was desperate to hear the words of his deadly intent. Cyprus Morgan wasn’t an alleged criminal to me. He was a fucking lunatic, and I wanted to make him pay for all his sins. He had messed with the wrong person, his flesh and blood.
A crowd formed around us with the commotion I had made. I was livid, and nothing would stop me from making my father wish he had never been born. Cyprus was dangerous, but I could be just as lethal, too.
I flung my fist back, ready to punch my dad square in the face, but someone said, “I’m going to call security!”
Alarms bells went off in my head as my father continued to grin as if he were a mother fucking maniac, and he provoked me to hit him. Locked up behind bars and unable to protect her, I wouldn’t be any good to Tinsley. I’d make the one mistake I had vowed to my wife not to do. I’d never leave her side.
“Son of a bitch!” I glared at him.
I punched the wall beside his head. Damn near close to beating in his sorry ass skull. Gasps sounded from the crowd, and I pushed my father away from me. The further away he was from Tinsley, the fucking better.
Cyprus fixed his suit jacket and grumbled, “There’s no need to call security. This was all a misunderstanding. Right, Son?”
I wanted to scream from the top of my lungs, to hit my father and never stop. He deserved all the pain before I ended his miserable life and threw him into the depths of hell, but his death wouldn’t justify all the destruction he had caused. A lifetime sentence would with his mother fucking ass behind bars for the rest of his miserable existence.
“Right,” I sighed, hoarsely.
I held my place in front of Tinsley’s door as the crowd murmured and departed. My eyes never wavered from the one person I should love, but I completely despised him with every icy fiber of my being. His love should build me up and not shut me down. Only there wasn’t love there, only the need for control. His need to abuse me and use me to his greedy, heartless benefit, but I was done.
I stared my father straight in the eyes and spat, “You’ll pay for this. I promise.”
“Not if I make you pay first,” Cyprus threatened and vanished from sight.
I turned my full attention back to Tinsley as I made my way back into the room and closed the door behind me. I’d hire round-the-clock bodyguards for her. I didn’t care how much it cost me. She was mine to protect, but I wouldn’t let my love destroy her.
I dialed my lawyer’s number with my mind made up, no matter how much my heart ached to be with Tinsley. I’d give her the one thing she had been wanting for weeks. Divorce papers.
