19– Kayden

“What are you doing here, Kane?”

“Kane?” My father laughed, a gravelly sound that smelled of stale nicotine. “Are we on a first-name basis now?”

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here?”

His brow twitched and his features morphed into his usual smug look. “Maybe you should tighten your security if you want to continue keeping me away.”

“Quit fucking around and tell me what you want!” I roared, the pulse hammering against my temples. “It’s always one thing or another with you. What is it this time?”

“Mmm… my little boy grows more feisty every time I see him.” He retrieved a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his jacket. He flicked the flame, popping a stick between his lips, charring the paper, and dragging a lungful of smoke deep into his chest. “I already told you. I’m here to meet my daughter-in-law.”

My chest shook, my hands growing clammy. I blinked, trying to steady myself before speaking. “I’m not married, Kane.”

“Yeah? But recently you’ve been photographed a lot with this beautiful girl.” He exhaled a gray cloud into the cold air. “Are you not planning to marry her?”

“Marriage is taking it too far.”

“So why flaunt her around?”

“You have something to say, Kane? Go ahead and say it.”

Before the words could even settle, my father’s hand swept across my face. The slap crackled through the driveway, sending me stumbling backwards. I couldn’t even make a full step back when he gripped my face, his calloused fingers digging into my cheeks.

“You disrespectful little fucker,” he hissed, his face inches from mine, his breath hot and sour. “What did I say about talking back to me?”

My breathing came in sharp, shallow heaves. I didn’t bother struggling to break his hold. This was a pattern. My father’s face wasn’t one I saw often, but whenever he showed up, destruction followed.

“Get the fuck off my property before I get the cops to take you in, Kane,” I gritted through clenched teeth. I winced as his blunt fingernails dug into my skin so hard that I was certain it’d leave bruises.

He landed another heavy slap against my cheek, shaking my head back. “Where is she, huh?” Slap! “Where are you hiding the bitch who thinks she can leech off my son’s money?”

A breathless laughter suddenly bubbled up my throat. My chest quaked with the sound, and I bared my teeth into a rigid grin.

“This is what it’s about, hm?” I mused, rolling my tongue over my bottom lip. “Money. My money?”

“Listen here, boy, you’ve where you are today because I allow it! Me! This flashy house,” he looked around, gesturing to my property, “the flashy cars, and everything you get to enjoy is all thanks to me! So everything you think you have is all mine! Don’t even think about settling down and making a family of your own. I will not share!”

In that single second, that fragile string holding my mind together snapped. The gravity of the situation crashed over me. 

The venomous words Gabrielle had thrown at me just minutes ago—telling me I was a manipulative user, that she was ashamed of me—collided with my father’s screaming voice. 

The rejection and the violence fused into a single, agonizing weight. 

I lost my grip, my mind fracturing under the pressure. 

Tears pricked my eyes and started pouring down my face, mixing with the sweat on my skin as the overwhelm took over.

“You’re truly shameless,” I murmured.

“What did you just say to me?”

“Your money?” I snorted out a bitter, wet laugh. “And you wonder why I refuse to take on your name.”

“Hey—”

“My name is Kayden Alvarez! I took my mother’s last name because if there’s anyone who deserves credit for my success, it’s her! But you killed her, didn’t you? You turned your back on your family and chose to live like a fool! Your money?” I snickered, aggressively wiping the tears from my face with the back of my arm. “You mean my money that you beg for on your knees like a dog!”

The smirk vanished from his face, leaving his features dark and lethal. “Is that how it is?”

“Oh, yes, that’s exactly how it is!” I shouted, matching his fire. “If I choose to marry, I’ll do so! I’ll fall in love with a woman of my choosing, marry the fuck out of her, and show her the beautiful things in this life! And that is something you will never be able to achieve!”

My father went dead silent. He dropped his cigarette, twisting his boot over the embers to crush it into the ground. A devilish smirk curved his mouth back out.

“If you say so, son.” He chuckled, the sound quiet, almost lost to the air. And it made my skin crawl. “But first, let’s see how you continue to have more success.”

Before my brain could process the movement, he charged. He hit me hard, tackling my body down onto the hard stones of the driveway.

My driver bolted out of the SUV, rushing toward the scuffle. I threw a hand up, stopping him in his tracks.

This was regular business. This wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. I wanted my father to take his anger out on me as long as he wanted.

If he was hitting me, he wasn’t looking for the door. 

It was okay. 

It was normal. 

I was okay.

No one ever died from getting hit by their father every once in a while.

He scrambled up, reaching into the open trunk of my car, and pulled out my spare hockey stick. He swung it down, targeting my ribs with heavy, dull impacts, hurling insults at me with every strike. 

It was still okay. 

Just a dull, familiar ache. 

The physical pain was easier to manage than the thoughts inside my head.

It could have been all right. I could have taken it until he got tired.

But then the heavy click of the front door echoed through the yard. The frantic sound of Gabrielle’s footsteps tore across the air, running straight into the chaos.

Her voice vibrated across the compound.

“Stay away from him, you asshole!”