Forbidden Fling (Wildwood 1) - Page 54

“Let go, Dad,” he ordered through clenched teeth. “Right now.”

Somewhere in his mind, he registered Delaney’s intense stillness. As if she were ready for battle. Her eyes were locked with Jack’s, and a dark fire burned there—something he read as part bone-deep fear and part bloodthirsty warrior. She never blinked. Not once.

/>

Ethan pulled at Jack’s arm but couldn’t release his grip, so he dug what little nails he had into his father’s skin and leaned close. “Get your hand off her right fucking now or your next stop will be the ER and my next stop will be Sheriff Holland, ordering him to arrest you for battery. And you can make damn sure I’ll be announcing it to every goddamned voting citizen of Wildwood on the six o’clock evening news.”

“I’m fine, Ethan.” Delaney sounded almost Zen. So completely opposite of both him and his father that he darted a look at her face. She never took those laser-sharp eyes off Jack. “Let Mayor Hayes say what he feels he needs to say. Best to get this out of the way.”

“He can talk without cutting off your blood supply.”

His father’s deep-brown gaze cut to Ethan, and he released Delaney’s arm. Air suddenly flowed in and out of Ethan’s lungs a hell of a lot easier, but he had to fist his hands to keep himself from shoving his father against the wall at his back. If there weren’t fifty people across the street watching, Ethan would have let his rage loose.

Instead he put himself between Delaney and his father, because he didn’t trust Jack. Ethan had stopped trusting his father the night he’d blamed Ethan for Ian’s death.

Delaney crossed her arms and stepped out of reach—of both Jack and Ethan. The bicep his father had grabbed was reddening before Ethan’s eyes. After being abused by his father for years as a kid, Ethan knew Delaney would have an ugly handprint bruise by morning.

“If you think you’re going to come back here,” Jack started with that parental shaming finger wagging, “open that bar, and pick up where that good-for-nothing excuse of a father of yours left off—”

“You’re not exactly a model father yourself,” Ethan cut in.

“Ethan.” She finally turned her gaze on him. “Let him talk. Sticks and stones . . .” Then she shook her head, a gesture Ethan took to mean, He can’t hurt me.

“That building has been condemned,” his father went on. “And it’s going down. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

“I’m following all the city planning guidelines—” she started.

“Fuck the guidelines,” Jack yelled, surprising Ethan. Delaney remained stoic. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what the guidelines say. What matters is what I say. And I say it’s . . . going . . . down. So don’t plan on getting cozy here. Don’t meet up with old friends or make Phoebe promises you can’t keep. And stay the hell away from my family. You don’t have a place in Wildwood. You’re not welcome here. So pack up and get out. Do you hear me?”

“You’re yelling, Mayor,” she said, her tone flat and serious, not even an inkling of attitude. In fact, she seemed detached. “I imagine everyone within two blocks can hear you.”

Her lack of cowering infuriated Jack, and his face burned red. “Then cut your losses, and get the hell out of town. Now.”

A moment of silence stretched. Still Delaney didn’t blink. She held Jack’s gaze in a battle to the end. “Are you done?”

He leaned back and tugged on his blazer. “Not even close. But it’s all I’m saying here.”

“Thank you for the advice. Have a good day, Mayor.”

She turned and strolled across the street, where she wandered into the melee of Scrub-a-Pup’s scrub-a-thon in full swing. She was greeted by three concerned women, who listened to something she said, broke into laughter, and embraced her in a group hug. As if Delaney’s presence pleased both humans and canines alike, the dogs barked louder, their tails wagging fiercely.

When Delaney broke from the hug, she went through another round of hellos from several happy dog owners. Others let their frowns of dismay linger on the mayor. Next door, at Finley’s Market, the lunch crowd filled picnic tables in front of the store, murmuring among themselves.

“That was a brilliant political move, Dad. Showing your small mind and short temper to the working class of Wildwood in living color six months before the polls—fucking brilliant.”

Caleb’s concerned gaze watched closely from where he loitered to chat with his customers and friends as they ate lunch. He lifted his chin and tipped his head, a get-the-hell-over-here-and-away-from-him gesture Ethan knew well.

“You’d better make sure that bar gets bulldozed Ethan,” his father warned. “Do you hear me?”

Ethan refocused on his father with a new sense of calm. Of control. Jack couldn’t make Ethan do anything Ethan didn’t want to do. The revelation was simple, but one he hadn’t been able to make until he’d watched his father’s bluster roll right past Delaney. Jack could have screamed until blood came out of his eyes, but that wouldn’t have swayed Delaney’s decision on when or why she left town.

Now he realized his father had just as little power over him. Ethan had only been giving Jack the power to manipulate his guilt.

“What I hear,” Ethan answered his father, “is the mayor ordering me to do something illegal out of vengeance for personal gain.”

“Don’t you fuck with me on this. That woman is the reason your cousin is dead. That woman and you.”

“No, Dad.” Ethan faced his father head-on. “Ian’s dead because Ian had no common sense. Ian’s dead because Ian liked to pick fights, do drugs, get drunk, steal, and carry weapons. That’s why Ian’s dead.”

Tags: Skye Jordan Wildwood Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net
readsnovelonline.net Copyright 2016 - 2024