The Day He Kissed Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 3)

Mackenzie arched an eyebrow. What the hell did that have to do with anything? “And?”

Becca’s eyes slid from his, and he took a step forward.

“She was talking to a lawyer.” Becca still couldn’t meet his eyes and suddenly Mackenzie got it. He got it loud and clear.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, eyes swinging toward the door that led to the kitchen. “He’s getting out?” His tone was hard and cold.

Becca finally met his gaze and nodded. “He might already be out. I don’t know. I didn’t…Mom hasn’t said anything to me and I…” She visibly shuddered. “I just didn’t ask. Maybe I don’t want to know, but if he’s out and he comes back here…”

Mac turned on a dime and pushed past his sister. “You might have a problem asking her, but I sure as hell don’t.”

His face was a cold, hard mask when he walked into the kitchen. It must have been, because when Lily glanced up with a smile, it faltered and then left her completely.

“Mackenzie?” she asked carefully.

He didn’t hear it. Just like he didn’t hear his sister come in after him, begging him not to cause a scene. His mom had just placed the cobbler onto the table, and Liam was already digging in when Mac rounded on them.

“When is he getting out?”

His focus was on his mother. On the way her fingers trembled slightly as she pushed the cobbler into the middle of the table. On the way she moved back, her eyes never meeting his.

And on the way her shoulders slumped forward, as if the weight of the entire universe was on them.

“Mackenzie,” she said with a hint of warning in her voice. “Now isn’t the time.”

“Are you kidding me?” he exploded. He glanced back at his sister. Was their mother crazy? Did she think that this wasn’t a big deal?

“When the hell is Ben Draper getting out?” He barely ground the words out because his jaw was clenched together so tightly that pain shot up the side of his head.

Lila Draper squared her shoulders and faced her son. “He is your father, Mackenzie.”

For a moment he was speechless. He glanced at Lily, into her clear blue eyes, and he knew that this wasn’t fair to her. She shouldn’t have a front-row seat to the ugliness that was his family.

But he couldn’t help himself.

Because the anger that boiled inside him wasn’t going away. In fact, the longer that he stared at a mother—who was looking at him as if he was the one with the problem—the more the anger inside him festered. It twisted and turned because it wanted out.

“Ben Draper is not my father.”

“How can you say that?” His mother’s face flushed.

“He’s nothing more than a sperm donor.” Mac clenched his hands together, wishing he could hit something. “He hasn’t earned the right to be called a father. He’s a bully who blames all of his problems on everyone else. He’s a man who gets through life using his pretty face and his fists. He’s a lazy bastard who can’t hold a job because he doesn’t want to. Shit, the only form of exercise he gets is lifting a goddamn bottle of Jack to his mouth.”

“Mackenzie,” his mother said again, her voice rising.

But there was no stopping him now. Something broke open inside Mac. Something dark and dangerous. Something that had been festering longer than he could remember.

“Ben Draper likes to beat the shit out of his wife. You laid down like a fucking dog and you let him beat you.”

“Mackenzie!” His mother looked horrified, her eyes wide and her bottom lip trembling. All of which would normally make Mac feel like a bag of shit. But tonight? Right here, in that moment, it did nothing.

“And then you let him beat us.”

His mother’s lips moved, but he didn’t hear anything.

Liam scrambled up from his chair and disappeared, no doubt the anger in the room brought up memories the kid would rather forget. Lily shot a glance between Becca, Mackenzie, and his mother before following Liam out of the kitchen and leaving the three of them alone.

Happy. Fucking. Family.