Page 19 of One Quick Obsession

He glared at me for a moment before turning away. “Nothing. If you don’t need my help, I guess I’ll go back to my own property.”

“Good for you, for finally understanding that,” I said, confusion settling in.

“I was just offering to help, Scarlett.” He drew out my full name, and I rolled my eyes.

“And I don’t need your help.”

“Oh, look at this, a lover’s tiff.”

My entire body stiffened, and I tried my best not to hunch my shoulders and hide behind Hudson at that voice.

The voice of a man who wasn’t supposed to be in town.

Hudson immediately stepped forward, blocking me, and I resented him for it. But perhaps I resented the fact that I needed it in that moment.

I reached out and gripped Hudson’s forearm, grateful for the gloves so I wouldn’t feel his skin in that moment, and turned to face the man who had tried to ruin my life from the day I was born.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, embarrassed once again that a man I didn’t want to be near me was on my property and I hadn’t even known.

That’s when I realized that my watch was buzzing, and the cameras had finally picked up on the movement.

“I don’t know why you’re getting such an attitude when I’m just here to check on my baby girl. I was down in Denver but didn’t have a chance to see your sister.”

He smiled that perfect smile of his, and dread crawled down my spine.

Had he found Luna? It wasn’t as if her work was hidden, but we had done our best to make sure Dad could never find her home. Our father had never laid a hand on her and had only hit me once. It was our mother that he had broken down. It was our mother who had sent him to jail. No, that wasn’t right. He had sent himself to jail. But his fists on her body and soul had been what had finally pushed the authorities to take action. Because the old sheriff hadn’t cared as much. Probably because he had used his own fists on his wife.

The new sheriff cared. The new sheriff had done his job.

And yet here my father was, looking perfect as always.

Jail hadn’t changed him in any way from what I could tell. He still had the perfect coiffed honey-blond hair, that chiseled jawline, and bright white smile. He didn’t look like the drunk who used his fists to take out his anger on his wife. But that was the problem, wasn’t it?

You couldn’t always tell the monster beneath the façade. Sometimes they hid in plain sight. Dirt and grime didn’t cover my father, at least not physically. No, his soul was the shadowed part of him. And he hid it damn well.

“You need to get off my property.”

“And you need to learn some respect. I’m just here to check on you. Why do you have to be so mean to your father?”

“Maybe because you’re an asshole? I don’t have time to deal with you. Just go.”

I sounded far more confident than I felt, but I needed him gone. I needed Hudson not to be here. Why did he have to witness not one, but two men in my life trying to break me down? Why did the man who wouldn’t leave my thoughts have to be my neighbor? I just needed everybody to be away so I could just live my life and not deal with anyone.

But that wasn’t my life. And part of me was glad Hudson was here. Because my father would be on his best behavior if another man was around. He couldn’t be seen as anything but loving and doting. Even though most of the town already knew he had been in jail for assaulting my mother.

“Hudson, can’t you see that I’m just here to visit my daughter? Maybe you could have a word with her, set her right.”

I nearly hunched into myself, hating the idea that Hudson was here to witness this, but then Hudson stepped right to my side. He didn’t block me, didn’t let me block him. Instead, it was as if he was letting me know that he was on my side. He folded his arms over his massive and naked chest and didn’t say a damn word for long enough that my dad rocked back on his heels, looking uneasy.

I needed to learn that look. I tore my gaze from my father completely and looked up at Hudson. He just stared at my father, narrowing his gaze.

“I’m pretty sure Scarlett told you to leave. There’s a reason you’re not allowed on this property, Mr. Blair, and there’s a reason that you’re not allowed on any Cage property from what I can remember. I mean, didn’t you get that cease-and-desist letter from my brother? I can have another brother send it to you. It’s what we Cages do. Isn’t that what you said the last time that you yelled in my face and practically spit?”

I froze, wondering what the hell he was talking about. What had I missed? And what other secrets was this man keeping from me?

“You Cages. Just because you own a couple of properties you think you own this whole town. But you’re wrong. We residents know our rights, and you can’t tell me what to do.”

“On any property my family owns you bet your ass I can tell you what to do. Now, as for this property, your daughter already told you to leave. And we both know that if I took a step forward, you’d cower back like the little shit that you are. I could force it, or you could leave with your tail tucked between your legs and maybe act like the man you’re supposed to be. You don’t intimidate me, Blair. You sure as fuck don’t intimidate your daughter. Maybe for once in your life you should listen to a woman and go.”