“I’m afraid,” I admit. “I don’t know what he’s going to do.”
Travis cups my face, forcing a smile. “It’s all good, baby. I’m not scared of Chief. We’ll be fine.”
But as he leads me out to a waiting car and opens the door, I catch a glimpse of his hand shaking.
Nothing ever scares Travis Phoenix.
But my father—my father terrifies him.
13
IT’S RAINING.
Of course it’s raining. It’s as if the universe knows what’s coming.
The flight home isn’t quite as enjoyable as the flight there. Travis and I sit the entire time, both of us staring out the window, lost in our thoughts. By the time we get an Uber to Chief’s house, we’re both swallowing way too rapidly, our breathing heavy. We know this isn’t going to end well, not when it comes to Chief. Not when he loves Travis the way he does.
This, right here, is my biggest fear.
The Uber slows at the driveway, and we both look out to see Chief already standing on the porch, arms crossed, black leather announcing to the world that he gives no fucks and will stand there all night if he has to. I swallow and look to Travis. “It’s going to be fine, we’ll work it out.”
I wish that were true.
The second we open the car doors, Chief is storming toward us.
Not a word. Not a warning. He barrels down the stairs, fist cocked. Travis barely gets two feet toward him before Chief slams him backward into the muddy grass. I scream his name, slip hard in the run-off, just as Travis’s back hits the ground with a sick, dull thud. Dad is a blur above him, face so twisted it doesn’t look like the man I love.
“You motherfucking—” Chief roars, each word a punch as he swings again and connects so hard I hear cartilage crunch.Travis doesn’t block it. He takes it, spits out a mouthful of rain and blood, and stays down.
I fling myself at Chief, all arms and hair and screaming. I claw at his shoulder, shouting, “Stop, you’re going to kill him.” But Chief is pure momentum, hurling another punch. This time Travis rolls to the side, pops up, staggers to his feet. He’s dazed, bleeding under one eye, but he grins. He spits again, red, then laughs, which only makes Chief wilder.
He’s goading him, which is a very bad fucking idea.
“You coward. Hiding behind my fucking back, around my daughter like a goddamn snake.” He lunges, grabs the collar of Travis’s shirt, rips him toward him. “This is how you repay me? I gave you everything, Phoenix. Without me, you’d never fucking be where you are.”
My chest feels caved in. I throw myself at them both, wedge between their bodies, press my palm to Dad’s chest, and push with all I have. Enough to slow him. “Stop, right now. I mean it. If I matter at all, you will stop.” The words are sandpaper in my throat, lost under the clatter of rain on the mailbox, the porch, the world.
Chief glares down at me. The fury is there, but so is the betrayal, deep as an open wound. “Get inside.” He jerks his chin toward the door. “Now, Violet.”
“No, I’m not leaving. You’ll kill him.” My legs are trembling, but I hold my ground, make my voice go cold. “You don’t get to do this. I love him.” The words come out huge, bigger than I planned. They ring in the air, echo off the driveway.
For a second, no one moves.
Chief drops his fist. Just lets it hang, loose, like the fight got wrung out of him in a single breath. The rain has plastered his hair to his head, made him look scarier. He takes a step back, just a small one. “You love him?” The words are nothing, not even a question.
It’s almost like he’s horrified.
“I have always loved him.” My voice cracks.
Travis is breathing hard, but he straightens, wipes the blood from his chin. “I love her too. I always have. I’d die for her, Chief.”
Chief just looks at him.
I can feel the weight of it, the years behind that stare, how many times I watched it freeze grown men where they stood. It lands on Travis like a chain.
“Bullshit.” Chief’s mouth is curled, split where his lip hit Travis’s tooth. “You lied to me. Played me both like I was just... nothing. Years in my house, at my table, and you didn’t even fucking flinch.”
Travis stands his ground, but I can see his hands shaking. “It wasn’t like that. I fucked up, yeah, but none of this was fake. Not for me. I never meant to—”