Unbeautifully (Undeniable, #2)(57)

“Whatever,” she said, and just as he was about to punch a hole in the wall behind the couch, Cage was suddenly up in his face, pushing him backward.

“Dad, leave her alone.”

He shoved his son in the chest and glared at the twenty-two-year-old version of himself. “Leave her alone? She’s my f*ckin’ kid, not yours, and I ain’t leavin’ her alone.”

Danny burst out in humorless laughter. “Why not, Daddy?” she sneered. “You’re so good at it.”

Before he could explode, Cage was up his face again. “Dad, I’m askin’ you to leave it be. She doesn’t need this bullshit right now.”

? ? ?

Cringing, Eva watched Deuce and Cage stare each other down, both of their expressions murderous, wondering who was going to throw the first punch. They were the same height now, both big and broad, Cage only slightly leaner than Deuce but equally as strong.

The club was silent, unmoving, waiting for the father/son explosion they all knew was about to happen.

The two of them didn’t disappoint. They tore into each other, shouting insults, both of them trying to out-bellow the other. And through it all, the entire club was forced to listen to Danny’s life story as the two men closest to her violently rehashed everything Cage had decided Deuce and Christine had done wrong over the years. And it was a lot.

From her drunk of a mother slapping her around, to cheerleading competitions and gymnastics meets no one had gone to, and even a salt map, her third grade social studies project that Deuce had promised to make with her but never had. Cage kept firing, sparing no details, even bringing up that Danny had gone to him, her brother, when she’d gotten her first period because she hadn’t had anyone else.

Every woman inside the club flinched and Deuce, who’d gone rigid hearing this, lost his mind.

“You’re in my f*ckin’ club, you little f*ckin’ shit! You need to reel your bullshit in before—”

“I give two f*cks about your club! You do whatever you gotta do, Dad, and if I gotta, I will take Danny far away from you and your f*ckin’ club!”

Appearing beside Eva, Blue whistled under his breath. “Gotta hand it to the boy,” he said quietly. “He’s got balls talkin’ to Deuce like that.”

“I HATE YOU!” Danny screamed, on her feet, pushing in between the two of them. “I HATE YOU BOTH AND I HATE OUR FUCKED-UP FAMILY!”

“You hate me?” Cage demanded, grabbing her arm and roughly bringing her nose-to-nose with him. “You f*ckin’ hate me?” he growled.

“You hate our family, Danny,” Deuce yelled, “you can get the f*ck out of it!”

Looking up at his father, Cage’s eyes went wide with rage. “How about you get the f*ck out of your bullshit club!”

Eva sighed. This was quickly spiraling out of control.

“You little shit,” Deuce yelled, reaching around Danny to slap the name patch on the front of Cage’s cut. “Talkin’ shit to me is one thing but talkin’ shit about the club? This is your f*ckin’ club too!”

“Fuck you,” Cage spat. “I had a f*ckin’ club long before this one! It was called the Dad ain’t never home, Mom’s drunk and cryin’ in her room, and Cage and Danny only have each other club!”

Okay, this was no longer spiraling, the West family was now well past any sort of control.

“Mick,” Eva called out, quickly crossing the room toward the chaos. “Grab one of them.” She pointed at Bucket. “You, grab another! And someone please grab Danny!”

“Let your sister go,” Mick said, grabbing Cage’s arm.

“This ain’t your business,” Cage growled.

“No,” Eva said, stopping beside Deuce. “It isn’t his business but it’s mine, and Cage, you need to let her go.”

“Not until she takes that bullshit about hatin’ me back!”

“What are you?” Eva yelled. “Five years old? This isn’t helping!”

“Fuck you, Eva!” Danny screamed. “We are not your business!”

“Shut your mouth!” Deuce bellowed just as Cage jerked out of Mick’s hold and slammed his fist into the guy’s face.

“I said this ain’t your business, Mick!”

“You little f*ckin’ shit!” Deuce roared, lunging for Cage.

“Someone get Danny out of here!” Eva yelled, scrambling backward as father and son went barreling into each other.

ZZ got to Danny first, swept her off her feet, and tossed her up over his shoulder.

“Take her to her room!” Eva demanded. “And keep her there!”

She waited until ZZ disappeared around the corner, then turned to Mick. “You okay?”

Rubbing his jaw, Mick snorted. “Foxy, you know it ain’t the first time one of those *s has punched me. Ain’t gonna be the last either. Runs in their blood.”

Sighing, she turned back to the father-and-son leather-clad ball of flying limbs and pained grunts. “Anyone want to help me out here?”

Not surprisingly, no one answered.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
For the second time, I slapped my palms against ZZ’s chest and tried to push him out of my way. “Let me out of my room!” I demanded.