Rush Too Far (Rosemary Beach #4)(7)

“I don’t like your father. He’s a mooch. My mother always tends to find men like him. It’s her talent. But I’m thinking you may already know this about him. Which makes me curious. Why did you come to him for help if you knew what he was like?” I needed her to tell me something real. Or I needed to catch her in a lie. I couldn’t keep her here much longer. Those f**king long legs of hers and her big blue eyes were driving me crazy .

“My mother just passed away. She had cancer. Three years’ worth of treatments add up. The only thing we owned was the house my grandmother left us. I had to sell the house and everything else to pay off all my mother’s medical bills. I haven’t seen my dad since he walked out on us five years ago. But he’s the only family I have left. I had no one else to ask for help. I need a place to stay until I can find a job and get a few paychecks. Then I’ll get my own place. I never intended to be around long. I knew my dad wouldn’t want me here.” She paused and laughed, but it wasn’t real. It was filled with pain, which only twisted my gut. “Although I never expected him to run off before I arrived.”

Holy f**king hell. I was going to kill Abe Wynn. The motherf*cker had abandoned his daughter while she took care of her ill mother? What kind of sick monster did that shit? I couldn’t kick her out. I was, however, about to make Abe’s life a living hell. The ass**le was going to pay for this. “I’m sorry to hear about your mom,” I managed to say through the blood boiling in my veins. “That’s got to be rough. You said she was sick for three years. So since you were sixteen?” She’d been a kid. He’d left her, and she’d just been a kid.

She simply nodded and watched me cautiously.

“You’re planning on getting a job and a place of your own,” I said, wanting to remind myself that this was her plan. I could help her long enough so that she could achieve this. Someone needed to help her, dammit. She was f**king alone. “The room under the stairs is yours for one month. You should be able to find a job and get enough money together to find an apartment. Destin isn’t too far from here, and the cost of living is more affordable there. If our parents return before that time, I expect your father will be able to help you out.”

She let out a small sigh, and her shoulders sagged. “Thank you.”

I couldn’t look at her. It made me want to murder Abe with my bare hands. Right now, I couldn’t focus on Nan and her need for a father. The man she wanted as a father was a bastard. A bastard I was gonna make pay for this shit. “I’ve got some things to do. Good luck on the job hunt,” I said, before walking away from her. I had a phone call to make.

CHAPTER FOUR

I let the phone ring three times before hanging up and dialing again. I would call my mother’s phone until she answered. She’d better not f**k with me, or I would turn the damn thing off and cancel her credit cards. She’d be calling me then.

“Honestly, Rush, is it really necessary to call me incessantly? If I don’t answer, leave a message, and I will return your calls when it’s convenient for me.”

“I don’t give a shit about your convenience. I want to talk to the motherf*cker you’re married to. Now.”

Mom huffed into the phone. “I most certainly will not listen to my son talk to me that way, or to my husband. You can call back when you’re ready to speak with respect and—”

“Mom, so help me God, if you don’t put that man on the phone, your phone and credit cards will be shut down within the next ten minutes. Do not f**k with me.”

That shut her up. Her sharp inhalation was the only response I got.

“Now, Mom,” I repeated firmly.

There was muffled whispering before I heard Abe clear his throat. “Hello,” he said, as if he wasn’t ignoring the fact that he had abandoned his daughter.

“Understand one thing. I control it all. The money. My mother. Everything. It’s mine. You f**k with me, and you will be cut off. I brought you here because I love my sister. But you’re showing me that you’re not worth her time. Now, explain to me how you told your other daughter to come to my house and then just left the motherf*cking country.”

Abe paused, and I heard him take a deep breath. “I forgot she was coming.”

The f**k he did. “She’s here now, dipshit, and she needs help. You and my mother need to get on a plane and get your asses back here.”

“I haven’t seen her in five years. I don’t . . . I don’t know what to say to her. She’s an adult now. She can make her own way. I shouldn’t have told her to come to your house, but I needed to tell her something. She was begging for help. If you don’t want her there, then send her away. She’s a smart girl. She has a gun. She’ll survive. She’s a survivor.”

She’s a survivor. Had he just said that? For real? My head started throbbing, and I pressed my fingers against my temples for some relief. “You have got to be kidding me,” I managed to say through my complete, horrified shock. “She just lost her mother, you sorry piece of shit. She’s f**king helpless. Have you seen her? She’s too damn innocent to be walking around unprotected. You can’t tell me she’s a survivor, because the girl who showed up on my doorstep last night looked completely broken and alone.”

The hitch in his breathing was the only sign I had that he gave one shit about his daughter. “I can’t help her. I can’t even help myself.”