Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War (20 page)

“He didn’t sound frightened,” Kyle stated. “He didn’t seem it either.”

“Carter says he’s a sweet guy, innocent …”

Lucca chuckled. “Innocent my ass. The way he was looking at you said he was anything but innocent. I’m sure Carter told him about you. He didn’t give a fuck who you were, he’s not afraid of you, and he just threatened you.”

“He threatened me?”

Smirking, Lucca nodded. “Yes, cousin, he did.”

“He did,” everyone called in agreement.

“Don’t worry,
brat,
” Freddy said through a chuckle, a smile of amusement lighting up his blue eyes, “when my sister got married, I threatened her husband, too. It’s a man’s job to protect his sister.”

A thoughtful silence fell over the room for moment, before Nathan frowned and looked at the loud television.

“What the fuck?” He picked up the television remote on the coffee table in the middle of the room, and clicked it off. “Why in the hell is the television so loud?” he asked, irritated by the noise.

“Yeah … Ummm … by the fifth moan, I think Spook knew what you were up there doing to his daughter,” Freddy said with a smirk. “He came in here, turned the television up to high-heaven, and walked out the front door.”

Shit
, Nathan thought.
Fuck
these thin ass walls
. Nathan had been so caught up he hadn’t remembered that the walls here weren’t soundproof like the walls at home.
Fuck!

“When he’d stormed in here with a knife in his hand, I thought we were all about to die.” Mickey shook his head and fell back on the couch. “Spook Steele is a notorious fucking hit man Nathan, and you married his daughter. He’s going to beat the shit out of you, and I’m not helping your ass. Not because I don’t love you—because I do—but simply because I’m a fan of Spook, and that’s his daughter. I myself plan on having a daughter one day, and when she gets married, I’m beating the living shit out of her husband.” He shrugged. “Spook Steele has been inactive for a long time, so I don’t know if he’s still got it, but from the look in his eye I think …”

“He’s still got it,” they all said simultaneously … again.

Nathan frowned. Why the fuck did they keep saying the same thing at the same time? Fuck it, he had no time to figure it out. He looked around before glancing over each shoulder. There was a hit man on the loose, and Nathan was his next target.

“You look terrified,” Freddy chuckled.

Nathan glared at him. No he didn’t.

“You’ll be fine. Spook will just slap you around a little. We won’t let him kill you. If it goes too far, we promise to save your needy Italian ass.”

“Oh. So now, all of a sudden, I’m Italian.” Freddy had never once referred to Nathan as Italian. Now Nathan was an Italian just because Spook Steele was about to murder him.

“An Italian that’s about to be in a world of pain.”

Nathan’s eyes darted around the room, but the enforcer was nowhere in sight. The guys laughed uproariously at his obvious nervousness.

“Don’t be so fearful, Russian,” Freddy said. “I’m sure that being with your wife is more than worth it.”

“You’re damn right it is. I have no regrets.”

Freddy nodded. “And you shouldn’t.” He turned his head to look over at the guys and they all nodded.

Nathan frowned. “What the hell was that?” he asked.

Had they been having a secret conversations down here without him? Were they helping Spook?

Freddy turned his gaze back to Nathan. “Here’s the deal, Russian. You only get to run once, but that’s only because we feel this should take place outside, out of respect for your wife that is.”

Even as his stomach began to tighten with nerves, Nathan nodded.

Freddy continued. “After that, you must take your beating like man if you still want our respect.” He and the guys laughed once more.

Nathan let out a deadly growl and glared at his traitorous friends. “You fucking bastards—”

“There you are, Nathan.”

His deep, deadly—yet oddly pleasant—voice caused terror to shoot violently through Nathan’s body.

Fuck!

Never in his life had he ever thought he’d have to face off with Spook Steele like this, but Nathan had made his choice and he didn’t regret it. Spook had given him two options when he’d advanced on him with a knife in the kitchen. Option number one: go out the same way he came in … just leave, abandon Carter, and end the relationship without words. Hell fucking no. Nathan had turned that option down with a quickness. There was no way in hell he was deserting his wife, or his child. So that left him with option number two, which was something Nathan could work with. It allowed him to go to Carter, have some private time with her, and then return back downstairs for a one-on-one talk with Spook Steele. Although a one-on-one talk with the man didn’t sound terrifying to most, Nathan knew different. Carter had always told him from day one of their relationship that “
feeling talk
” wasn’t something that occurred between her and her father. She told him that the majority of their talks took place during combat training.
Combat training
.

“Spook, I—”

He cut Nathan’s talking off with a deep chuckle. “Oh, young Nathan,” he said with a menacing glint in his eyes. “No more of that Spook nonsense. I’m your father-in-law now. You will call me Robert. Spook Steele is a killer, not a father. Robert is a killer and a father. There’s a difference.”

“What’s the difference?” Nathan’s voice cracked when he noted the eerie, bright smile that spread across Robert’s face. It was the same smile that Carter had on her face the day she made Giovanni Mancini stab himself.

Fuck.

“So, Nathan … are you ready to have a talk with your father-in-law?”

Nathan opened his mouth to answer, but before words could come out, Robert took a huge leap forward.

One run.

Swiftly, Nathan turned before he could hit him and shot out the front door. He heard the guys and Freddy’s laughter, just as well as he heard Robert Steele’s heavy feet hitting the ground in pursuit of him. Nathan quickly made a plan in his head. He knew he shouldn’t fight back—it wasn’t a part of the agreement—so he would just have to do what the guys had said. He needed to be strong, and take his beating like man. Nathan wanted to show Robert that he wasn’t afraid, that he didn’t shrink back from a fight. He wanted to earn the man’s respect, trust, and blessing for his marriage to Carter. He knew without even asking her that it would mean a lot.
So here’s to loving his wife.

Nathan came to a stop when he reached the open backyard, and before he even saw it coming, Robert’s fist connected hard with his face. He knew the guys had come outside to watch when he heard them shout “Oh!” He silently cursed the bastards right before Robert hit him with a left hook. Nathan had no time to recover. The right hook was swiftly followed by three uppercuts to the body and a knee to his face.

Nathan was floored. Literally floored! He fell to the ground more shocked than hurt. Never in his life had he seen a man move so fast. It was unbelievable! He’d heard things about the man kicking his ass right now, but he’d had no fucking idea that the rumors of ‘Spook Steele’s quickness’ were true.

Nathan spit out the blood gathering in his mouth and let out a loud, painful laugh. “Holy, fucking shit,” he chuckled.

Robert stalked back and forth above him. “You find this funny, boy?”

Nathan shook his head. “Not funny,” he replied. “But it’s … surreal, that’s all.” The guys were right. The old man still had it.

The questions began right out the gate. “What do you want from my daughter?”

Nathan immediately responded, “I love her— Ah!” he bellowed when Robert delivered a piercing kick to his abdomen.

“Love is not enough!” Robert roared. “I don’t want to hear that you love my daughter, I already gathered that when you chose to stay. Do you find me stupid?”

“No!” Nathan answered quickly.

“Then stop giving me bullshit answers and give me the right one. What the fuck do you want from my daughter?” he shouted before delivering another kick to Nathan’s side, right where he’d been shot.

Nathan bit his bottom lip to prevent the loud howl of pain threatening to burst free from his lips. “I don’t want anything,” Nathan yelled once he finally got his voice back. “I just want her.”

When Robert didn’t hit him again, Nathan knew he’d said something right.

“Why did you marry my daughter?” Robert asked. “And if you answer with
‘because I love her’
then I’ll kill you and everyone you came here with. Give me a real answer to my question!”

Resisting the urge to pass out from the pain, Nathan stood to his feet. Once he stood, he locked eyes with Robert and tried to think of the mushiest shit he’d ever said to his wife in private. Nathan knew that when it came to Carter he was a lost, love sick puppy, and didn’t care that the guys were outside listening, he was going to tell Robert his true feelings about Carterina. “Because she’s the missing piece—”

“Of what?” he interrupted.

“Of me,” Nathan finished. “I wasn’t whole until I found her. I married her because I need her. She’s everything to me. I can’t imagine my future without her in it.”

“Did you make vows to my daughter?”

Nathan nodded. “Yes, sir, I did,” he said, holding his now bloody nose.

“Tell me.”

“I vowed to love her, respect her, and protect her with my life, never take her for granted, be faithful to her, and put her above everything and everyone else.”

“Did you mean all of this? Are you keeping the vows you made to my baby girl?”

“Yes, sir. Every word.”

“And your marriage to her has nothing to do with the money and power she will inherit from her mother.”

Nathan shook his head no. “I didn’t even know Anastacia Stone existed until almost a year ago. Even then, I had asked Carter to marry me before I had knowledge of her inheritance.”

Robert didn’t speak for a long moment; he just glared at him. Nathan wasn’t frightened by the stare. In fact, he was used to it because it was the same glare Carter would give him whenever she searched his eyes for truth. Robert was putting everything together in his head. He was piecing together every bit of information he’d collected thus far in effort to pass an accurate and well thought out judgment on the situation he was in. Carter also did that, and each and every time it never ceased to amaze Nathan how incredible she was. It was becoming clearer to Nathan, with each passing second, how much Carter truly resembled her father.

“Nathan Salerno,” Robert’s firm voice obliterated the silence, making Nathan’s attention snapped to him, “I have thought it over, and decided that I will give you a chance to prove to me that you are worthy of my daughter.”

Nathan had the oddest urge to jump for joy.

“Not so fast,” Robert said quickly, seeing the sense of accomplishment in Nathan’s eyes. “This comes with conditions. I am making adjustments to my world for you, and you shall do the same for me. I am not used to sharing my daughter with anyone. She is my baby, and my world revolves around her. I will be watching you very closely from this day forward, Nathan. Married or not, in my presence you will behave like the perfect gentleman when it comes to my daughter. Keep it PG.”

Did Nathan like that he was being told how to behave with his own wife? Hell no. But would he try to do as Robert asked? He supposed so. He’d never done this whole
pleasing the father-in-law
shit, but he’d do it for Carter.

Robert continued. “Your private life is yours, I will not interfere, but that is only because I am trying to repair my relationship with my daughter. Trust me, if I thought she wouldn’t hate me for it, I’d make her live apart from you and only allow you visits supervised by me. My daughter is accustomed to a certain way of life, and I will be making sure you are competent enough to provide it for her. She is to be respected, loved, and put above everything else in your life. She comes first. You will be good to her, you will be faithful to her, and you will never—
never
— disrespect or hurt my baby girl. Do you understand me?”

Nathan did not hesitate to give his response. “Absolutely,” he answered firmly. “I promise you, I’d never do anything to hurt Carterina. She’s the love of my life.” Nathan placed his hands on his hips and dropped his head forward, “Plus, I’m afraid of what she’d do to me if I ever did hurt her,” he confessed, and he wasn’t lying either. Carter was the only human being on the face of this earth that Nathan truly feared.

Robert’s laughter was loud. It actually startled Nathan because he’d never heard the man laugh before.

“You fear my baby girl?” Nathan nodded yes in reply, and Robert arched an eyebrow. “So I hear you’ve accomplished quite a bit in the past six years …”

Carter must have filled him in on my accomplishments
. He’d done all right.
Unsure of how to respond, Nathan simply shrugged.

“Just a shrug, huh?” When Nathan shrugged again, Robert chuckled and extended an arm to embrace him. “Well it’s nice to see that you haven’t changed too much.” Nathan smiled and embraced him back.