Not anymore. I should have cut her loose by now. That was my mistake. I’m just sorry that Serenity had to pay for it. It won’t happen again.
“Yep, she sure did,” I continue. “The man she was married to had just given the little girl a tiara for her birthday. When he placed it on his daughter’s head, he told her she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen.”
“Her dad was horrified when he came home from work the very next day to find his daughter not only with her hair horribly cut, but her body also covered in bruises.”
Serenity’s face falls, and she touches her own head.
That right there is what real empathy looks like.
Cub growls, walking up and lowering himself in front of her. “Maybe we ought to give her a few of those too.”
She tries to back away from him.
Cub is all cute and fuzzy until he’s not.
“My ex lied,” she whines.
“I’ve seen all of the videos and documents. Would you like me to pull them up for the others?”
She shakes her head feverishly.
“It doesn’t matter. We know who the liar is,” Cub says, slipping his brass knuckles over his fingers.
I know he isn’t going to hit her. We don’t hit women around here. Now if he had found her in the act of hurting her child, he’d pop her without hesitation. But she’s already been tried and punished. She did her time.
Her ex-husband has remarried. I’m glad he got what seems to be a fair shake in the system. That doesn’t happen often. According to his social media, he, his daughter and his new wife are living life to the fullest.
Cub presses the cold edge of his knuckles against her chin. “If I catch word that you’ve so much as touched a hair on any child’s head, I will come for you. In the dead of night. When you least expect it.”
She stares at him, the color draining from her face.
He slowly pulls his hand away. “I’ll be watching.” He points to his own eyes before pointing his fingers at her. He stands and then leaves the room.
Everyone is quiet.
I’m going to need to show him the pictures of Tiff’s daughter now, so he can let some of his anger go. Her hair has grown back, her bruises have healed, and she’s smiling in every photo. Cub didn’t get that. No one fought for him, just like no one foughtfor me. But Tiff’s daughter had her dad in her corner. He did the right thing.
“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I ask Tiffany as I brush hair off her shoulders and into her lap.
She lifts her hands, sadly letting it sift through her fingers.
Someone should have done this to her a long time ago.
I yank her to her feet. “What’s the message you’re going to deliver?” I ask her.
“Serenity belongs to you.”
Cole holds the door open, and I shove her out. “You have thirty minutes to pack your shit and leave.”
“But Rage …” She turns and stares at me.
I tap her forehead with my finger. “Go back to the swamp you came from.”
When she tears her eyes from me to throw a glare in Serenity’s direction, I push us both out into the hallway.
“Get Serenity something to eat and take her to the Cage. I’ll meet you there later,” I say over my shoulder.
I close the door quietly behind us before pouncing on Tiff. “On second thought, your times up,” I tell her. “Let’s go.”