Empire of Desire by Rina Kent

He loses it then and starts punching me. I punch him back and we roll to the ground, hitting and kicking each other until we’re both bloodied, him more so than me. I can tell he’s holding back.

In the past, Nate was never the type to hold back, not for any reason. But right now, he’s lessening the blow of his punches, no matter how much I hit him, and I don’t think it’s because I’m still recovering from the accident.

The same damn accident that caused me to leave Gwen alone with him and the fucking woman who gave birth to her.

When we’re finally spent, I roll to sit against the chair while Nate winces and leans against the wall, his legs outstretched in front of him.

He wipes his face and grunts. “Fuck you, King. Fuck you for being a goddamn motherfucking dick.”

“And fuck you for stabbing me in the back. She’s a fucking kid. She hasn’t lived yet and you ruined everything.”

“She’s not a fucking kid. She stopped being that a long time ago, but you keep overprotecting her to keep her with you forever. She’s strong and knows how to take care of herself, and you need to start getting used to that.”

“Shut the fuck up. You don’t get to tell me how to treat my own daughter. You will stay away from her, you hear me? I’m going to file a restraining order.”

“You can’t do that on her behalf. And stop being a fucking dick. I care about her, okay? I care about her like I’ve never cared about any woman in my life. Hell, like I never cared about any person. This is serious. I’m serious about her, King.”

Fire like never before rises in my veins and images of him with my beautiful little angel, my Gwen, nearly cuts me open. Nausea clogs my throat and I want to fucking kill him.

So I stagger to my feet and grab the gun, then point it at him. “You shouldn’t have touched her, Nate. Best friends don’t touch their friends’ kids.”

“Don’t you think I tried not to?”

“You should’ve tried fucking harder.” I approach him with the gun and put it to his forehead.

“Put it away, you idiot. If I die and you go to prison, she’ll have no one.”

When I don’t make a move to comply, he grabs the gun and throws it on the sofa.

“I’ll find a way to kill you without getting caught then. Now get the fuck out of my house and don’t ever show me or my daughter your face again.”

“That’s impossible since you’re my partner and she’s my wife.”

“Like fuck she is. You will divorce her.”

“No.”

“What the fuck did you just say?”

“Unless she wants the divorce, it won’t be happening.” He staggers to his feet, grabbing his ribs that I fucked up—good, maybe that way, he can feel a sliver of the pain I feel from his betrayal.

Maybe that way, he can understand what it feels like to be a horrible father for leaving my only daughter on her own.

If I hadn’t had that fucking accident, if I hadn’t made that call, I would’ve stopped this. I wouldn’t have allowed him to prey on my daughter.

Or allowed him to be near her.

I would’ve prevented this whole mess.

He pats my shoulder. “Get some rest. We’ll talk later.”

“You get some rest and sort out your will, because I’ll kill you later.”

He says nothing as he struggles to open the door, then steps out. I follow after him because Gwen is waiting right outside. I saw the shadow of her feet as she kept pacing.

As soon as she sees him, she gasps, hands covering her mouth and tears glistening in her colorful eyes.

“Oh my God, Nate.” Her voice is brittle, chin trembling as she reaches a hand out for him.

“Gwyneth, come here. Now.” I don’t usually order her this harshly, and she knows that, too, because she startles, her hand falling to her side.

Nate nods at her and waits until she comes to me while he uses the wall for support to remain standing.

Gwen keeps staring at him, but I pull her inside and slam the door in his face.

Her gaze is shifty and she’s clinking her nails manically. Kids avoid their parents’ gazes when they’ve done something wrong, but Gwen has never been like that. She tells me head-on about her wrongdoings. She only ever avoids eye contact when she’s in pain and doesn’t want to show it.

Because it’d hurt me, too, and she’s said she never wants to be the source of my pain.

Until that fucker Nate played with her mind.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“Hurting you. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want to, but it’s not like I could choose, you know?”

“This isn’t your fault. It’s his for using you.”

Her head snaps up and the green in her eyes rushes forward. “No, Dad. No. He didn’t use me. Never. If anything, I made the first move, okay? I kissed him on my eighteenth birthday because I had this major crush on him that wouldn’t go away, no matter how much I told myself it was wrong. I even wrote the word crush on my list, but I couldn’t desensitize myself to him. Still, I tried, I really tried, Dad. I dated and went out. I forced myself to think of him less, but it became more. My feelings were unrequited for such a long time that I hated myself for having them. But you know what? I’m not going to apologize to you or him for the way I feel. I love him and it’s none of anyone’s business. It’s mine and I choose to have these feelings, Dad. I chose to love him. No one made me do it.”