“Kai –”

“Government contracts you got for your munitions plants, Dad, probably the Feds won’t be real thril ed to know your guns that are supposed to be in the hands of our boys in uniform are also finding themselves in the hands of not only enemy factions but seven terrorist sects.” Oh my God!

“APM Holdings have absolutely no dealings in munitions,” Preston replied.

“You’re right,” Mace agreed then disagreed, “But you do.”

Oh. My. God!

“Nonsense,” Preston returned.

Mace studied his father, he did this for several long beats, I waited while consciously breathing because I knew something had changed, something was not right, my man was struggling.

Then I knew why when he whispered, “They blew her head off.”

I pressed closer to Mace and held on harder.

Preston paled but his eyes narrowed before he replied,

“And whose fault was that?”

At that, Mace leaned forward and exploded, “They blew her f**kin’ head off! ”

The hand I had at Mace’s abs slid around so I was holding him close with both arms.

Preston leaned forward too and hit back, “You never should have –”

“Given a shit about Tiny?” Mace returned. “Is that what I shouldn’t have done? Because, Dad, I was wil in’ to go down for her and I almost did. You didn’t do shit and you were the reason she endured that f**kin’ nightmare before they blew her head off and you didn’t do shit. Except, of course, after they ended her life, you gave in and started trading arms with them again so the next time it wouldn’t be you direct they played with.”

Things had degenerated into a place I did not want Mace to go therefore I decided to intervene and I did this by declaring, “I think we’re at a stalemate, boys, why don’t you retreat to your corners –?”

“Mouth shut,” Preston ground out, eyes cutting to me.

“This is none of your concern.”

That was when, no matter how hard I was holding onto him, I lost hold on Mace as he moved, swiftly and purposeful y, tearing out of my arms and closing the distance between him and his father. He was three inches tal er and several decades younger but he got toe-to-toe and bent his head to get nose-to-nose with him before he commenced in delivering the death blow.

“I warned you know I’m tel in’ you, do not ever f**kin’

speak to my woman again, I don’t give a shit what comes out of your mouth, never again. I don’t even like you lookin’

at her, you never speak to her or my retribution wil be physical. Hear me and believe me, I am not joking.” Preston drew in a swift breath because even an arrogant, thinks his shit doesn’t stink dick like Preston could see that Mace was definitely not joking but Mace was could see that Mace was definitely not joking but Mace was far from done.

“You are dead to me. You treated me like shit, Mom like shit, Chloe like shit and Caitlin like shit and you got her dead. You know it. I’ve been itchin’ to let loose the shit I got on you, itchin’ to do it for… fuckin’… years. I got a new family now and you think you can f**k with them, piss in your goddamned corner, prove you’re the man with the biggest dick by playin’ with them, think f**kin’ again. I wil bring you down and I’l smile doin’ it. I know you found out where your guns were goin’, you found out your partner was f**kin’ you, you put a stop to it and the men who were gettin’ those guns didn’t like it. They pushed, you pushed back but you didn’t do it smart. Thought your f**kin’ money made you untouchable but you… were… wrong. You had no clue what you were dealin’ with and weren’t smart enough to learn. They pushed harder, took Caitlin and you let her swing in the wind for your f**k up. There are so many reasons you’re a piece of shit, it’d take me a decade to count them down. But from this point on, your shit does not encroach in my life. Not again. You took my sister and every f**kin’ day, I think of her and my mind bleeds for your f**k up. That’s all the shit you get to shove at me but that’s f**kin’ more than enough.”

Preston had straightened his spine and shoulders to face down his son and when Mace was done talking, he shot back, “You have no evidence to support those accusations, Kai.”

“You wanna try me?” Mace returned.

“That evidence doesn’t exist,” Preston replied.

“The only proof I’l give you that it does is to feed it to the media, Dad. There is no show and tel with this shit. You do not back down and slink away, I’l bring you down. You try to f**k with Eddie, Shirleen, Lee, any of them, I f**kin’

promise you, you’l have an indeterminate stay at some government facility no one even f**kin’ knows exists, courtesy of me and trust me, post-9/11, the people who’re gettin’ your guns, the Feds don’t care how much money you got. That’s a good deal, Dad, ‘cause just thinkin’ about you or thinkin’ about Tiny and what you did to her makes me lose hold on the control that keeps me from exposing you for the total, stinking piece of shit you are and always have been. And I think about Tiny al the time, every day, every hour, every minute she’s in my head, beautiful and whole then thin, broken and terrified and final y very f**kin’ dead.”

“You have no evidence,” Preston persisted, his face beginning to get red.

“You believe that, cal my bluff,” Mace invited.

“Your friends are on the line, Kai,” Preston reminded him.

“You think you got us by the bal s, cal … my… bluff, ” Mace bit off.

Preston glared at him.

Mace glared back.

Personal y, if you asked me, I thought Mace’s glare was a lot better.

This went on a long time too but I didn’t try to intervene and even Juno sensed she had to let this play out so, along with me, she remained silent.

Final y and suddenly, with some surprise, I watched Preston Mason’s face twist and he whispered so low it was nearly inaudible, “I had no idea Caitlin –” But Mace didn’t let him finish.

“I know you didn’t which makes your monumental f**k up a colossal f**k up because even after you f**ked up, you f**ked up again with those goddamned commandos then again when you didn’t come clean to the FBI and work with them to find a way to get her out of that f**kin’ mess then again when you let me walk in there and watch my sister die.”