Chapter 203

The Father

“That little piece of shit was gonna die.”

That was my first thought of the day, every day lately.

I’d done everything for him. Built him from the ground up. Gave him opportunities no one else in this world would’ve handed him. Opened doors for him that should’ve stayed locked. Pushed him toward the spotlight he was too stupid to reach on his own.

His fame? Mine.

His career? Mine.

His rise as the big sports phenomenon everyone drooled over?

All thanks to me.

I invested in him—time, money, effort, discipline.

He was valuable because I made him valuable.

And now, that ungrateful bastard thought he could just shove me aside?

Pretend I wasn’t the reason he was untouchable?

Lie to me?

Play fucking games with me?

He was wrong. So, so wrong.

He’d run from me long enough. Hidden long enough. Humiliated me long enough.

Now it was time to pay.

Time for me to get back every cent, every hour, every ounce of power I poured into him.

I wasn’t about to let him slip away—not after everything I’d given him.

Not when he owed me so goddamn much.

I’d been following him for over a week. Every step, every move. He had no idea. Of course he didn’t—idiot was too wrapped up in his own problems to notice the world around him.

I watched him from my car while he pranced across campus like life was perfect. Like he wasn’t scared shitless underneath. But he was hiding something—oh, he definitely was. Maybe it was just his fear of me, that twitchy uneasiness of a life about to collapse… Maybe it was that Goodie-Two-Shoes wasn’t doing it for him. Wouldn’t shock me. Kid was a damn queer anyway.

Didn’t matter. He had a secret. And I could smell it.

The guilt.

The desperation.

The neediness.

After all he had—after everything he’d been handed—he still wanted more.

Still wasn’t satisfied.

But that was about to change, because I would show him what it meant to have absolutely nothing.

I’d been watching all of them too—his friends, that stupid team of his, sweet little Lexie, always strutting around like sunshine came out of her ass. They all thought they were untouchable.

But I knew better.

Tonight was his first real outing in a while. First time alone with her—no bodyguards, no escorts.

Just two happy little birds, enjoying a night they didn’t deserve, enjoying things I could never have again.

My jaw clenched so hard at the memory, it cracked.

Being humiliated in front of the whole damn town… kicked out of the engagement party like I was trash… losing my family, my house, every connection I had left—

Yeah.

That was enough to make a man reconsider the meaning of revenge.

People forgot who I used to be.

I had a future once.

A real one.

I’d been a hell of a football player—maybe better than that sissy boy. Scouts watched me. Coaches begged me. The future was right there in my hands.

And then Margaret got pregnant.

Surprise.

Guess who had to give up his entire life because a woman couldn’t keep track of her birth control?

Marry her.

Feed her.

Feed the brat.

Work forty hours a week for a paycheck that could barely cover the damn diapers.

By the time I could breathe again, my prime was over, I was too old for the big leagues and too pissed off at life to play nice. Best I could get was a high school coaching gig. A joke. A dead-end excuse of a career.

Then came the health problems.

Then the drinking.

Then the bills.

And every time I saw Noah, every time I heard him breathing in my house, eating my food, using my electricity, sleeping in a bed I paid for… all I could think was:

You ruined everything I could’ve been.

But I stuck around, didn’t I?

I stayed.

I didn’t leave when I should’ve.

Didn’t walk out when I had the chance.

And for what?

So he could grow up and repay me by turning his back on me?

Stealing opportunities that should’ve been mine?

Letting someone else claim the success I built?

He owed me.

From the day he was conceived, he owed me.

And now that he finally had something worth taking, he decided to stab me in the back?

Oh no.

No, no, no.

He had just taken everything from me, the mother-fucker… and It was time I took everything he had.

Every friend. Every chance. Every breath… Tonight, Noah was in for a surprise.

I’d been waiting eighteen years for my payback, and this time, I wasn’t going home empty-handed.

I tailed them from a distance, keeping my headlights off whenever I could. They drove like they were on some secret mission—turning weird corners, switching lanes, checking mirrors.

Cute.

They thought they were being smart.

They had no idea I’d been doing this longer than either of them had been alive.

Less than an hour later, we hit some residential part of Houston I’d never stepped foot in.

Money everywhere.

Expensive restaurants, hotels, buildings that looked like they were built just to remind poor people they’d never get inside.

They pulled into a side street—quiet, modern, spotless.

One long black building sat at the end of it, no windows, just sleek walls and a tall set of black double doors with a tiny brass plaque:

D.

That was it.

No club name.

No signs.

No menu.

No music.

Nothing.

What the hell kind of place had no damn windows?

A cult?

A drug ring?

Some rich man’s brothel?

Maybe, this was his little secret and maybe I had just hit the jackpot…

I parked half a block away, watching them get out.

The girl—Lexie—looked nervous as hell.

Noah kept touching his neck, looking around like someone was going to jump him.

I leaned forward, narrowing my eyes as another guy approached them.

Some tall, loud, flamboyant kid in a jacket that could blind an astronaut.

Oh, well wasn’t that interesting.

So that was the type of people he hung out with now. Weirdos and whores and whoever the hell this character was.

They talked a second, the girl kept glancing at the door like she was scared, and then the three of them went inside.

Just walked past the bouncer like royalty.

I waited ten seconds.

Then I stepped out of my car.

The bouncer spotted me before I even opened my mouth.

Huge guy.

Neck thick as a tree trunk.

Expression blank, like he’d seen men like me a thousand times.

“Evening, sir,” he said in a tone that already pissed me off.

“This is a private facility. Members only.”

I snapped, “I’m here for someone.”

“I'm sorry, Sir,” he said, voice like a damn brick wall, “as I said, members only.”

I tried to shove past him. He didn’t even budge.

Instead, his hand clamped down on my shoulder, iron-tight, and he forced me back so fast I stumbled.

“The door is not an option,” he said.

My blood boiled. “Do you know who I am?”

“No,” he said bluntly. “And I don’t care.”

I felt rage creeping in before I realized I was yelling. “Open the damn door!”

He stepped into my space, expression still flat. “Leave. Now. Or I will be forced to call the police. And trust me, you don’t want that.”

I froze—not because of him, but because I couldn’t risk attention. Couldn’t risk cops being involved. Couldn’t risk anyone asking questions I legally couldn’t answer.

Slowly, I backed up a step.

The bouncer didn’t even follow. He just pointed down the street. “Get off the sidewalk.”

Humiliation burned through my skull like acid.

I spat on the ground near his shoes and walked away, face hot with rage. I got back into my car and slammed the door, the echo rattling in my teeth.

Fine. I didn’t need to get inside. I could wait.

I jerked awake to the sound of voices and car doors slamming.

Shit—did I doze off?

By the time my eyes focused, their car was already pulling out of the lot.

I followed, keeping my distance, pulse steady as a loaded gun.

Somewhere between one streetlight and the next, I made up my mind.

If he wouldn’t give me the respect he owed me, I’d get his attention another way—by removing the first person standing in his damn life.

Just before the bridge, I took a side road and prepared to cut them off.