showdown

“You—!”

Kelly screamed, filled with pure rage. She charged straight at Alex, ready to strangle him with her bare hands—until he pulled out a gun.

What no one expected: he locked his arm around his daughter’s neck.

“Don’t move,” he growled, the gun now aimed at Kierra.

“Dad—what are you doing?” Lil K stood frozen, unable to understand why the man who protected her now turned on an innocent woman. Her father—the man she once idolized—now looked like a thug from a nightmare.

“Sweetheart, turn around,” Alex ordered gently, the contrast chilling.

Before Kelly’s eyes, he flipped from monster to caring father. Kierra obeyed.

“You asshole!” James screamed from the floor, still doubled over in pain, with Sebastian by his side. The boy didn’t know what to do.

“You’re going to be okay,” James said through trembling breaths. Swallowing his pride, he pulled Sebastian into a hug.