Bullet ✔️

Chapter 26

Dad stood cross-armed and frowning on the porch when Damian and I came walking up to it, hand in hand. Damian said he'd wanted to meet him, since we somehow became exclusive in the span of a few days, and he wanted to know the other man in my life. He said it like a joke, but his tone and eyes made it seem like he was at least a little serious as well.

Damian held his hand out, sporting a charming smile as he introduced himself.

"Damian, huh," dad said, nodding as they shook hands. "I'm Mr. Hansen, and I own a hunting rifle. I think that's important for you to know, should you hurt my little girl."

"Dad," I warned, even though I was the only one of us that knew he was threatening a member of the Datoches mafia.

"I understand," Damian said, "but if I hurt her I might beat you to the trigger."

I swallowed. It had already gone south, and I wasn't sure how much I liked that revelation. But dad only laughed, and he put his hand on Damian's shoulder with a big smile. "I can like this guy, little one, he's got humor," dad said, and stepped aside to let us in. I wasn't sure whether he meant he'd shoot dad, or himself—but either way the thought made me nauseous.

After that first bump in the road, in my opinion, the rest of the lunch was good. Dad and Damian bonded over sports, both of them followed Formula 1 pretty closely, so they kept discussing the upcoming races, while I ate my salad and felt pretty good about the situation.

"We can't stay too long, we've got plans later," I said when dad pulled me aside after the food was all gone. I briefly saw Damian gather the dishes from the kitchen table before we rounded the corner, and dad looked at me for a good few seconds without saying anything.

Then he glanced around the corner and looked back at me. "You really like him?" he asked, his voice lowered. I nodded. "He's tattooed, he's muscly, his car is...damn, that car...I mean, he's everything your mom hoped you'd steer clear of, but..."

He trailed off, staring up at the ceiling as if he was trying to solve a hard problem. I tried to move around in front of him to get his attention back, and asked, "But what, dad?"

"But," he started again, running his hand across his face, "I like him, despite the fact that he seems a little...I don't know, wild? Just...be careful, little girl. I don't want you tangled up in some stuff you can't get out of."

I avoided his eyes and nodded. I put my arms around him in a hug, just to keep from lying to his face, as I said, "Of course I won't do that."

If only he knew how right he was.. I wouldn't be going back out of that house with Damian, if dad knew the whole truth. I wouldn't even be going back into the depths of the city. But he knew nothing, so Damian and I said goodbye and promised not to be strangers. Dad mentioned his hunting rifle again, Damian promised he wanted me to be happy, and we were off to our next date.

Dinner and lupines, he'd promised me.

I'd packed a small bag with some clothes, shoes and makeup, because it would take twice as long for him to drive from dad's to mine to Damian's, and then back to mine to pick me up; and Elina had volunteered eagerly to get me ready anyway. So Damian dropped me off at her house, and kissed me so deeply I could feel his need in my toes. I was flushed when Elina smiled knowingly at me and pulled me inside her house, to get me ready.

She dismissed my bag of clothing and shoved a very revealing, red two-piece at me. It had bands around the arms, and a slit so high it almost revealed my underwear, but as I looked in the mirror I understood why she wanted me to wear it. It was gorgeous. I paired it with my own shoes, a pair of black, strappy high heels, and Elina did my hair.