Give the Devil his Due

Chapter 26

"Dad, take a deep breath." I ordered, holding my hands towards him as though I were trying to calm down a rabid animal. And that's exactly how he looked, with wide furious eyes and a jaw clenched so tightly that I feared he might shatter his teeth. If we were in a cartoon, steam would be flying from his ears by now.

    My father looked back and forth between me and Lucas who was smirking by now. This only angered my father more, "Kimber, you do realize that Thanksgiving is this weekend right? This is extremely last minute, have you even talked with your mother about this?"

    "Yes I have and she thinks it's a wonderful idea." I responded.

    His eyes widened even further, "Why am I the last one to know?"

    "Because I knew you would act like this." I told truthfully. I gave him my best sympathetic smile as I grabbed onto his arm, "I know you and Lucas don't exactly see eye to eye but mom really wants to meet him. This weekend would be the perfect time!"

    "Except for the fact that I'd be stuck on a plane with the boy for hours. He's an insubordinate, arrogant freeloader and I don't want him anywhere near my home." My father ground out, glaring at Lucas who was lounging on the couch in the living room of his house.

    I shot Lucas a pointed look, signaling that he should defend himself against my father's accusations but Lucas only shrugged, "Come on sir, it'll give us some time to bond."

    I slapped a hand to my forehead. How dumb could this boy be?

    "If I'm stuck in a confined place with you for longer than ten minutes, the only thing time will be allowing is for the opportunity in which I will comprise a list of different ways to get you locked in jail for the rest of your life." My father hissed towards Lucas, his words slapping the smug grin right off Lucas' face.

    With wary eyes, I watched as Lucas pushed to his feet and stood before my father, it was like witnessing two storms on a path of collision, "Like you could ever find enough concrete evidence to put me away for even one day."

    "Don't test me, kid."

    "I'm not testing you, sir. I'm simply stating a very evident and truthful fact." Lucas fired back, crossing his arms and holding his ground. I had to give Lucas credit, he had no problem standing up to my father. Unfortunately, my father trumped him in every sense of the word.

    "If only you knew the kind of dirt I had on you. I could put you away for a double lifetime sentence if I felt the urge to." My father took a step closer until his nose was basically touching Lucas', "You think you're untouchable but my people could take you down faster than you could possibly imagine."

    "Go ahead and prove it."

    "If your father weren't a good friend of mine, you would have been in chains years ago." My father growled, bumping his chest into Lucas' which caused my boyfriend to stumble backwards, and yes I did in fact say boyfriend, "So I suggest you drop the cocky attitude and show me a little respect."

    Lucas' gaze narrowed, "I will when you do sir."

    "You are in no position to be demanding respect from me, boy." The death laced into my father's tone was enough to cause my heart to skip a beat, "When you have sacrificed as much as I have, then you can talk to me about respect."

    I rolled my lips into my mouth, this conversation was going downhill fast and I was the only one who could divert it. I stepped between the two men, pushing them each backwards and away from each other, "Both of you are acting ridiculous. It's only one weekend and it was bound to happen sooner or later."