“Steven,” James waded in. “You had too much whiskey playing golf. Let your son call a car for you and go home. Sleep this off.”
“Oh, yes. Breeding.” Mr. Quinn’s smile turned into a leer. “You know what I’m talking about, James. I bet she’s like Analise in the sack—”
No. No. No.
I was rooted in place. I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t even lift my hand to cover my ears. So I closed my eyes.
“Steven!” James yelled.
“Dad!” Adam screamed at the same time.
“Hot…writhing…” Quinn’s tone was warm, gushing, and I felt sick again. He kept going. “She can buck you like a wild mustang, if you know what I me—”
My eyes flew open as I heard a punch.
Quinn would’ve fallen if Mason hadn’t been holding him up. After a second punch from James, Mason let go. Adam grabbed his father, and Mason moved to shove his own father back.
“Dad,” he said. “Stop.”
“When did you sleep with her?” James strained against Mason’s hold. “When?!”
Quinn looked oddly calm. He wiped his mouth and looked at the blood on his hand. Then he laughed. “Wow. I can’t believe—James, you punched me.”
“When did you sleep with Analise?”
Adam held his dad back, but he didn’t need to. Steven Quinn wasn’t moving. Adam looked over his shoulder, his eyes closed in pain at James’ question.
“Not when she was with you,” Quinn said.
I heard another set of footsteps behind me. I knew those steps. I’d been listening to them all my life, and I reached out when the man who raised me drew near.
“Dad,” I said, my voice a hoarse whisper. “Don’t.”
“It was when she was with Strattan,” Steven continued. “She was with almost all of us. You had to have known, James.”
James was shaking. If Mason hadn’t been holding him back, he would’ve been on Adam’s dad again. Adam and Mason looked strained and tense, alert for any other attacks. No one was paying my dad or me any attention.
“I don’t care if it was when she was with David. You don’t talk about her like that!” James yelled.
My dad turned and left, as silently as he’d come.
I looked back, and Mason met my gaze. When he saw David’s retreating back, he nodded. That was all the permission I needed. I hightailed it out of there, hurrying after my dad. I ran across Nate on my way, and ignoring what he started to say, I pointed to where I’d come from.
“Mason needs your help. I gotta handle something of my own.”
“But—”
I was already gone.
I found my dad in the parking lot, weaving through the vehicles to find his. He wasn’t even waiting for the valet. “Dad! Wait.”
He was close to his truck when he turned around, keys in his hand. “Honey, I’m okay.”
I searched his face, unsure if that was true or not. I saw some strain, but for the most part, he looked like his usual loving self.
I swallowed a knot in my throat. “Are you sure?”
“I made my peace with what your mother did long ago. I left because that fight isn’t mine anymore. Whatever Analise did in the past, it’s in the past. I have you, and I have Malinda. That’s all I need.”
“And Mark.”
“And Mark.” He nodded. “You’re right. I’m proud to have him as a son.”
David Strattan wasn’t my biological father, but he was my dad in every other sense of the word. I realized now that neither of his children was biological.
I frowned. “Dad…” Could I ask what I wanted to ask? Was it even my business?
“Sam?”
“Can Malinda still have children?”
“Oh, Sam.” He pulled me in for a hug. “I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t need children of my own. Your stepmom and I have talked about children, but if we decided to have them, we wouldn’t go the biological route. We’d adopt. She went through menopause early. She can’t have any more children.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head. “It’s not for you to worry about. It’s not even for you to think about. There was a time I wanted my own child, but I had you, and those were the days when I worried whether Analise would even let me keep you as a daughter. You were enough for me. Then I was lucky and got Malinda and Mark, too. I have a daughter and a son, and two more stepchildren with Mason and Logan—four if you count Nate and Matteo. I’m very blessed.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.” He hugged me again. “You should go make sure Mason’s okay. Steven’s a nasty drunk. I have no doubt he’ll start ribbing Mason about you. That’s what he does. He searches for a person’s weakness and pushes on it. He already knows Mason and James’ weaknesses: the women they love. That was another reason I left. If Quinn had started in about you, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”