Page 171 of Satan's Spawn

I definitely shouldn’t remind him that the last woman he thought was “his person” ended up telling her new piece of shit stepson that she left my Dad because he can only shoot blanks.

It was true but fucking cruel.

Even though the reason behind her cheating wasn’t exposed to the public, Rosalind’s infidelity was the talk of the hallways for a week straight, between the faculty and the students alike. It wasn’t until I put an end to it with Felix’s head against a wooden desk that the whispers stopped.

My dad still hasn’t gained his mojo back, but at least I saved his dignity.

Especially now that the bitch is pregnant.

“My offer still stands.” I shrug, inhaling again. “But you insist on being the ‘better person.’”

“Not allowing you to kidnap and torture my pregnant ex wife has a lot more to do with keeping you a better person than keeping me one.” He smirks. “Even if it does sound a bit enticing.” His eyes dart to my pocket, where he knows I always carry my knife. “All you’d have to do is slice some chunks out of those five-thousand dollar hair extensions I paid for. She’d be squealing like a pig.”

Our ideas of torture are poles apart. But if that’s what tickles his pickle, so be it.

“Just say the word, old man.”

He punches my shoulder. “Who the hell you callin’ old? I got more stamina than half those nitwits in there right now trying to get laid.”

I chuckle, flicking my cigarette.

My father and I go on like this for I don’t know how long, staring out into the city nightlife and talking in ways we haven’t in what feels like forever.

I won’t lie and say this amount of tête-à-tête doesn’t seem foreign to me, but after my third cigarette and my father’s rehash of the crazy shit he did as a kid, I start to become much more comfortable with the back and forth.

But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t use every scenario to my advantage.

“So, does this mean I’m getting Raven back?” A grin teases my lips as I turn to face him. “Or do I have to keep assaulting every body shop owner in the tri-state area until I find her?”

His eyes widen on me. “You better be joking, Crayton.” He pauses, contemplating. “You are joking, right?”

“Do you really want me to answer that question?”

He massages his temples. “No, please don’t.”

“So? What’s the verdict?” I push with a raised brow.

“And here I thought we were having a father-son bonding moment.” He mutters, adding, “I’ll give you your answer by the end of the night. For now, go find that pretty young lady and fix whatever it is you did to make her cry and run off the way she did.”

If I know Rebecca, she’s probably already in her dorm room Amazon Priming a voodoo doll in my name.

I clap my Dad on the back. “I’ll meet you at the dance in a bit.”

“Where you going?” he asks as I walk off.

“The dorms.”

“For what?”

For her.

Because it’s safer that way, less eyes, even if her spitfire- of-a-friend is there daggering me with her green ones.

“To be the gallant knight you insist that I am!” I mock him over my shoulder, and almost laugh at the visual of me on a fucking horse in armor when my father’s next words have my body humming with fury.

“Well, you better hurry up then, because it seems like that little asshole Felix already swooped in to play that role.”

I stop. “What the fuck do you mean?”