Checkmate (Neighbor from Hell #3)(110)

“You son of a bitch!” Bryce shouted, reminding Connor that it probably wouldn’t take the brothers long to crack those doors open and kill him.

“I love you too, Connor, but what is going on?” Rory asked, shooting a nervous look past him at the closed doors.

“I need to tell you something,” he said, cringing when the banging behind him started.

“Yeah, looks that way,” Rory mused, shifting her gaze right back on him.

“Did I mention that I love you?” he asked, shooting her a nervous smile as he tried to figure out how exactly to explain the whole f**ked up deal without Rory going for his balls.

“Start talking, Connor,” Rory said, arching an expectant brow as she folded her arms over her chest.

Since time was a serious factor, he decided to get right to the point. “I f**ked up.”

“And…..”

“There was more to the deal than I let on,” he said in a rush. “I didn’t think it was worth mentioning because once I realized that I was still in love with you, I didn’t want it any longer.”

“What didn’t you want any longer?” she asked with a put out sigh, the same way she always did when he was telling her how he’d screwed her over. He felt himself relax, somewhat.

“The plan,” he said, searching desperately for the right way to explain his original plan to her without making her hate him.

“And why did Darrin and Reese attack my brothers?” she asked.

“Because of me,” Mr. James suddenly announced from behind him, making him curse when he realized that at some point during their conversation the doors had been opened.

At least the doors worked quietly and efficiently, he thought as several pairs of hands grabbed him and yanked him out of the elevator. As Craig pulled back his fist and let it fly, Connor hoped that they didn’t break his jaw so that he could beg Rory for a second chance. That’s if she came to visit him in intensive care.

* * * *

“Mother f**ker!” Connor gasped as Craig punched him in the stomach, causing his legs to give out, but before he dropped to the ground, Bryce and Sean were there, picking him right back up for more.

“Stop!” she cried, moving to help him, but her father blocked her and kept her in the elevator.

He kept his eyes locked on her as he told the twins, “She doesn’t get past me until we’re done and you make damn sure that no one interrupts us.”

“Sure thing, Uncle David,” Darrin said as he and his identical twin, Reese, stepped in front of the elevator and stood side by side, standing guard and blocking her view of Connor getting his ass kicked by her brothers.

“Shit!” she heard Connor groan a few seconds later.

“Dad, please tell them to stop,” she begged, panicking as she placed her hands on her face, struggling to keep it together.

“I’m sorry, Rory, but he has this one coming.”

“They’re going to kill him,” she said, trying to stay calm.

“Probably,” her father agreed with a shrug.

“Dad, please-“

“Why didn’t you call me when you were hurt? For that matter, why don’t you call me when you need help? And why the hell did you just get married without me there to give you away?”

“What?” she asked, taken off guard. “Why would I call you?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

“Because I am your goddamn father!” he shouted, losing his temper for the first time in her life. While her father could get pissed, really pissed, he never lost control, never shouted, never at her.

“When you’re hurt or need someone, I should be the first person that you call! Do you have any idea how f**king scared I was when I found out that you’d been rushed to the hospital by ambulance? I had to hear it from the f**king mailman that my daughter was seriously injured because no one called me!”

“Dad, I-“

“Do you have any idea how it feels to have to sit outside your child’s house, scared to death that they were in pain or worse that they might not make it through the night? Do you?” he snapped, looking angrier than she’d ever seen him before.

“But, you taught us to be self-reliant. I didn’t think that-“

“That’s bullshit your brothers shoved down your throat! You are my daughter and there will never be a time when I don’t worry about you or want to take care of you. You were stubborn and didn’t want to let your brothers think that you were weak so you tried to act tough. You were my little girl, my little princess and you used run into my arms crying my name every day when I got home from work until you turned five and your brothers decided to treat you like a little brother. From that moment on, you thought that you had to be as pigheaded as they were and you stopped being my baby girl,” he said, his voice softening, his expression turning sad.

“You are my baby girl, Rory. I love you more than you will ever know, but you are so damn pigheaded,” he said with a sigh. “You need to know that you can always call me,” he said, stepping aside only to pause and shoot a glare at her. “And the next time that you’re hurt, sick or you need help, you better call me, because if I have to hear it through the mailman again, you and I are going to have words, young lady,” he said, shooting her a wink to soften his words, making her relax as he stepped back.