Page 101 of Double or Nothing

“Grandma raised me. You tolerated me and weren’t even good at doing that.” My fists clench at my sides. “How much do you want? How much will it take to get you out of my life?” The man can have every damn dime I’ve got if it gets him out of my life for good.

“We’ll get to that,” he says, his dirty fingers running along the back of the couch. “You know, Sut, me and you, we’re not that different.”

“Like hell we aren’t.” I’m nothing like him. I’ve made sure of it. It’s been my sole mission to be anything, anyone, as long as I’m nothing like him.

“You think I haven’t watched you? Seen what you’ve been doing? All the women? The booze? The partying?”

“That’s not who I am.”

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree… son.”

“This one did.”

He waves me off.

“I was just like you when I was your age, young, full of life. Then your momma came around. Fucked everything up. And you?” He laughs. “You made it worse. Piece of shit kid didn’t give a damn about nobody but yourself. Ran your momma right off.”

“Thanks for the reminder, but I’ve heard the story before.”

“Ain’t no getting around it, kid.” His hearty laugh fills the room. “It’s in the genes. My dad, me, now, you. You spent your whole life thinking you’re better than me, better than what you had. Well, you ain’t.”

I’ve had enough of him and the doubt he’s filling my head with.

“Get out.” Grabbing the door, I yank it open.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he says, standing firmly in place. “That’s the beauty of you being back. We can have some good old bonding time.”

“Fine. I’ll go,” I say as I step into the elevator.

As I walk through the casino, desperate to find Kat, I can hear him shouting behind me. Stopping dead in my tracks, I face him.

“I give up. What? What is it you want?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of Kat and pray to God he doesn’t. I’ve kept them separate for a reason. Kat doesn’t need to be subjected to the man, and I didn’t want her seeing that side of my life or the man I fight so hard every day not to become.

“What you owe me.”

“Which is?”

He turns his head to the side, a smarmy smile on his face.

“Your pathetic life.”

My eyes keep darting back to Kat to make sure she stays away and stays safe, but he catches me. He sees her and smiles even broader.

“Don’t. Don’t even look at her.”

“Never understood what that pretty little thing would want with a piece of shit like you.”

His question reiterates the same thing I’ve always wondered myself. Why in the hell would my sweet Kitty Kat want a guy like me when she could have anyone in the world? Someone who is good… and not fucked up.

“Shut up!”

“She reminds me a lot of your momma, smart, pretty, good in bed.” A sinister chuckle falls from his twisted mouth.

My hands clench at my side, and the only thing keeping me from pummeling him is Kat and the fear I see in her eyes. I focus on it and try to blur out his words.

“That’s how I know you’ll do the same to her I did to your momma. You’ll break her. Destroy her. Hell, you already did once.”

---