“You need a favor from me?” He lifts his head and his hand holding his beer, pointing at himself with his index finger.
Fuck.
My jaw clenches, and it takes everything in me to stay seated and to not walk away from him. If this didn’t have to do with my woman’s safety, I would walk away, but only after laying his ass out.
Gritting my teeth, I lean forward in my chair. “There’s a doctor at the hospital who makes Harmony uncomfortable. Rumor is he’s gotten a couple of nurses fired. I don’t know if those rumors are true, but I do know all rumors have a little bit of truth to them. He asked her out, and she turned him down. Yesterday, she got into the class she wanted to take. He got her in by giving a recommendation. She tells me that it’s not a big deal, but seeing how drama is constantly swirling around the Mayson family name, I’m ignoring her and following my gut. My gut says this guy is bad news.” I lean even closer. “I came to you, because you’re her dad and a cop. Personally, I don’t mind dealing with him myself, but I figured you might like me even less if I’m in prison for beating the shit out of a motherfucker. So yeah, I’m here asking you for a favor.”
“Jesus,” Wes mutters, but I ignore him and keep my eyes locked on Nico’s.
“He makes her uncomfortable?” Nico questions, and I lift my chin. “Fuck.” He lifts his free hand, running it through his hair. “Who is he?”
“Last name’s Hofstadter. He drives a G63 Mercedes. Besides that, I don’t know much about him.”
“Fuck,” he clips again, shaking his head. “She didn’t tell me about this.”
“She wasn’t exactly an open book when I found out about it,” I mutter, taking a pull from my beer, and his eyes change, causing me to brace.
“How close are you two?”
“Close.”
“How close?” he presses.
“What exactly are you asking me?”
“Do you love my daughter?”
Studying him for a long moment, I make a decision then lean forward once more. “No disrespect, but the first person who’ll hear that information come out of my mouth is not fucking you.”
“Fuck me.” He sighs, shaking his head. “I knew it. Fuck.” He looks away.
“Look at us, one big happy fucking family,” Wes mutters, and I fight back a smile.
“I hope you both have daughters one day, so you can experience the pain I’m feeling right now,” Nico says, looking between Wes and me, and an image of a little girl with lots of golden-brown hair and eyes just like Harmony’s fills my mind. Until Harmony, I never thought about the future. I always lived one day at a time, not putting much thought into where I was going. But with her, I want that. I want to make plans, I want her to be my wife, to have my ring on her finger, and my last name attached to hers. I want to have kids, at least a couple of them. I want to wake up early on Saturday mornings and run out for doughnuts then lounge around all day in our pajamas like I used to do with my parents before I lost them. Fuck but I want that with a hunger that is almost unbearable.
“You marry my girl, you better not even fucking think about taking her to the courthouse.”
I raise a brow at him, and ask, “You givin’ me your blessing to marry your daughter?”
“Would you even ask me?” he counters.
“Probably not,” I reply, and his eyes narrow.
“I see I should have laid off the kid she was dating a few years ago. At least he knew when to back the fuck down.”
“You’d want that kind of man for your girl?” Wes asks. Nico looks at him, and Wes shakes his head, holding up his beer in Nico’s direction with his finger out. “You wouldn’t. Him”—he points at me—“having your girl’s back means you don’t have to worry about her going it alone, carrying the weight a man should help her carry. And in the future, if I do have a daughter, I pray to God she finds a man who’s a man, not a fucking pussy that leaves her to deal with all the shit life throws her way on her own. Your daughter might be able to find someone you like more for her, but I guaran-fucking-tee you she won’t find anyone better than the man she has right now.” With that, Wes pushes back from the table and stands, not understanding the blow he just dealt. “Now, I need another beer. Either of you want one?”
“I’m good,” Nico says, and Wes nods at him then looks at me.
“I’ll take one.”
He lifts his chin and heads for the bar.
“He’s right,” Nico grumbles, and my eyes go to him. “I don’t like it, but he’s right.” He takes a pull from his beer, sets the half empty bottle on top of the table, and stands. “I’ll let you know what I find out. In the meantime, take care of my girl.”