Page 21 of Fall to Me
“Carter Graham, sir.”
He continues to stare . . . no, more like glare at me, disregarding the gesture. Slowly, I lower my hand. To be honest, I’d be pissed off too if I had a daughter and someone married her without having the decency to even have a conversation with me beforehand. Can’t blame the man for being angry.
“You know, I find it odd that my daughter’s never mentioned you.” He pulls a flask from his suit pocket and gives me a silent offer. I find the gesture confusing, given he just shrugged off my greeting. I shake my head, refusing the drink.
Chuckling, he unscrews the top. “Suit yourself.”
He tilts the steel container back, taking a swig. “The groom has good taste. Great Scotch. You really should try it.” He smacks his lips together, holding the flask out again, this time, shaking it in my direction.
“No, thank you, sir.”
“You know who else has good taste?” he asks.
He’s taunting me. Toying with me like a cat does a mouse—batting and pawing. I can tell by the gleam in his eyes he’s ready to pounce. If he has something on his mind, I wish he’d spit it out, but I keep my mouth shut. Being a smart ass won’t do me any favors here.
“Well, obviously you do. You married my daughter. She’s my pride and joy, and in my eyes, she’s damn near perfect.” He takes another drink, then twists the cap back on before stuffing the flask into the inside pocket of his blazer. “I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume that since my River felt comfortable enough to marry you, that she’s also filled you in on her history.”
He raises an eyebrow, and I swallow the knot in my throat, still staying silent. I don’t want to lie to River’s father by saying yes. His eyes narrow in my direction as he studies me. Now I see where River gets that look.
“I respect her, sir.”
He needs to know that, because after last night, I know he’s talking about what someone did to her, and I would never hurt her.
“Yourespecther . . .” He shakes his head with a mocking chuckle. “The last one claimed toloveher, and now the fucker walks with a limp. Want to take any guesses as to why?”
I can guess why. I’ve pieced together what might’ve happened to her based on some of River’s mannerisms resembling my sister’s, and when I find out who that motherfucker is, I might just finish the job myself . . . but still, I continue to keep my mouth shut, allowing her father to say his piece.
“Let that little tidbit of information be a reminder that if you so much as hurt a hair on her head, you won’t have to worry about me killing you. See, killing you would be too easy . . . too quick. What I’ll do is make your life a living hell. Not only willI torture you very slowly, I’ll shoot your kneecaps off and leave you alive. Then I’ll watch your hopes, dreams, and your hockey career melt away.”
He stands, gripping my shoulder, clasping it tightly, before leaning down next to my ear.“And I’ll do it with a smile.” Then, he slaps me on the back hard enough to make my teeth rattle. “Good talk . . . son.”
Cal rounds the doorway. Nice timing, dick. Couldn’t you have shown up five minutes ago?
His eyes volley back and forth between us. “Oh, good. You’ve met your new father-in-law,” he says, grinning.
Cheeky fucker. Yeah, I’ve met him alright.
“We had a good talk, didn’t we, boy?” He fucking winks.
“Yeah. It was nice meeting you,” I say.
A lady comes into the room. “Rhett, I told you not to terrorize the poor man.”
Rhettgives Cal a couple of love pats on his shoulder. “The good thing about us being divorced is she can’t tell me what to do anymore,” he says as he leaves the room, tossing her a wink.
The lady I assume is River’s mom gives him a flirtatious look and laughs as she walks over to me. I stand to greet her.
“You must be Carter. I’m Marcy, River’s mom. Don’t mind him, he’s always had a stick up his ass,” she teases.
I laugh as she gives me a hug. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too, sweetie. Just . . .”
She cast her eyes to the side before peering back up at me. “You know what? I think you’ve heard enough out of that one.” She hikes a thumb at River’s dad, then continues. “Welcome to the family.”
She gives me one more hug, then places a cool hand on my cheek before turning and walking out the door.
“By your facial expression when I walked in, I’m guessing the chat with Rhett didn’t go over well?” Cal asks, looking at me through the mirror as he adjusts his tie and fixes his hair.
