Page 93 of Broken Daddy

“Jesus, got a weak stomach, huh?” Fury said, coming over to crouch in front of her.

“This . . . this is a lot of work for t-twenty grand,” she said. She couldn’t believe her father had lost that much. “How did he lose that much?”

Fury shrugged. “Interest is a bitch. And this isn’t about the money. Well, not fully. It’s about sending a message. See, your dad has been boasting about how he’s not going to pay us back. How he’s not scared because the Scorpions will protect him. That he’s untouchable. Things like that start to piss off our boss. And it makes all of the sheep think that they can pull the wool over our eyes. Do you like what I did right there?”

Devi nodded even though she wanted to tell him that he was an idiot. And an asshole. But she did none of those things. Because he’d just had her father stabbed, twice, for mouthing off about them.

What a dumb fuck. And why would he say that they were under the Scorpions’ protection?

The Black Scorpions had abandoned them since Rohan went to jail. She was too upset to tell her brother about his ‘family.’ He fucking worshipped Lucan and Freddy. She knew that he’d often wished Lucan was his father.

If it hadn’t been for her he’d probably have abandoned them a long time ago to live with Lucan and Freddy.

“We don’t like people who don’t pay their bills. Like your father. He was given a chance, but I can see that I was too kind and lenient. He thought that meant he could take advantage. We know you don’t have no money, Derick. So now we gotta make an example of you. Take him out of here, boys.”

Her father was only half-conscious as they dragged him from the trailer. She couldn’t just sit here. Not without doing something.

“I have some money! I . . . I can pay off a bit of his debt.”

“Yeah? How much you got?”

“T-two thousand.” She needed that money. It would hurt like heck to lose it.

But she also thought it might break something inside her to just sit there while they took her father away to . . . to . . . God, she didn’t even want to think about what they might do to him.

“Yeah? Where is it?”

“I’ll get it. I’ll get it.” She somehow managed to stand and then she stumbled her way into her bedroom.

Her breathing was coming fast and shallow as she reached up her bed to where she had carved out a bit of the wooden post of the bed and stuck some notes in.

“That . . . that’s four hundred,” she told him.

Then she moved to her next hiding spot, beneath a corner of the frayed carpet under her dresser. It took a bit to pull it out and then she lifted up the carpet.

“That’s a thousand.”

“Jesus, girl. Guess I don’t have to ask why you had to hide this.”

She shook her head and moved to the bathroom. There she drew out a packet of sanitary pads. She’d opened the packaging of one carefully and taken the pad out, replacing it with a wad of cash.

“The last of it.”

“Well, that’s an interesting way to store your cash. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to save your old man. That’s interest payment for a week.” He turned away, walking into the living room.

“Wait, no, you can’t take him, please.” She got to her feet and stumbled after him, grabbing his arm.

Spinning he shoved her and slashed his knife out. Her cheek suddenly burned, making her scream in agony.

Oh God.

She stumbled back, falling on her ass.

“No one touches Fury. No one!” Rage filled his face.

What was she thinking? Why did she do that? She should have just let him go.

A whimper escaped her as he loomed over her. He shoved her down and then his knife swung out again. She raised her arms to protect herself and his knife slammed into her forearm and he dragged it along her arm.