“I’ve got you covered, man, and so does Sebastian, Torin, Suzanne, Jade, and the guards. And whenever Ed gets his butt home, he’ll be here, too.”
Vince’s head spun as he followed Zach outside. He wasn’t mentally prepared to meet his father, but even if he was, he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet a man who had low enough morals to beat up a pregnant woman.
But he also guiltily wanted to see him in person. He’d dreamed so many times about meeting him, though that was before he knew who he was. He had a brief moment of panic because if his dad really was outside, he didn’t want him to see him like he was now. Not as this weak, shaky mess. But it wasn’t like he could back out.
It was late in the day, but it was still light out. Light enough to clearly see Min-chul. Vince stopped where Zach gestured, in between the alphas and guards. He was smack dab in the center of everyone, staring straight at his father. If that was really him. He was Korean and looked like he could be a relation, but his mom had lied and kept so many things from him throughout the years. Would she lie to him even now about who his dad was?
Deep down he knew it had to be him, and his heart hammered at the sight of the man he’d been wanting to meet for so many years. Would he recognize him as his son? Would he welcome him with open arms? Seeing him somehow helped validate Vince’s existence in a way he’d never thought about before. He finally felt real standing here staring at the other half of the creator of his world. There was now one less person that he wasn’t invisible to. Here in Brookhaven, in Anthony’s home, he was more free to be himself, but not fully. He was still hiding the fact that he wasn’t fully shifter. But now, seeing his father… it felt like the man was looking straight at Vince’s soul and knew everything about him. A comforting feeling, even though Vince knew it was a lie. It was a nice fantasy, though.
Min-chul looked stiff and calculating in his tailored suit, a definite regal air about him. Something changed in his gaze when he saw Vince, though, and it made him nervous.
Without preamble he said, “What’s your name?”
Vince startled at the sound of his voice. It felt familiar even though he knew it wasn’t.
“Vince.”
Min-chul said something to him in a foreign language, probably Korean, and when Vince frowned in confusion, his father seemed unimpressed and turned his attention to Zach. “I’d like to speak to Vince alone.”
“Hell no.”
His face showed no emotion at first, but the more Vince concentrated, the more he could tell that Min-chul was getting mad. His expression was cold, emotionless, and becoming more so as he talked.
“Chaperone us, then, but this is jaguar business, not your entire family’s business, especially with how loose lipped they are. We hear about what’s going on in Brookhaven all the way down in Savannah. That is not how Yi family affairs are handled.”
Zach glared at him, then snapped with an evil grin, “This family isn’t a prison. Not like your family.”
Min-chul puffed up a little, but Zach put his hand up. “Vince, come on. Jade, join us. Everyone else, hang back a little.”
His father flicked an irritated look at Jade as she stepped forward, but after a quick pulse in the air, he sharply nodded in agreement. He straightened his jacket in a look of peevish irritation and locked eyes on Vince as they walked.
Vince was more than a little disappointed that Min-chul didn’t have a stronger reaction to seeing his son for the first time, until he realized he might not know. He decided to keep his mouth shut for now. His father was a dangerous man, but it felt unfair that he was right here and didn’t even know who Vince was.
And he knew better than to try to open up his already weak senses, especially since he was still recuperating after full moon, but he did it anyway because he wanted to get a feel for his father’s aura. He felt disgusted with himself for wanting to know more about him, though.
Min-chul seemed solid and self-confident, and as soon as Vince pushed his senses open wide, a wave of strong, sure energy surrounded him. His father immediately flicked him a glance up and down, but he kept walking, still looking unimpressed.
When Zach finally stopped in the greenway behind the basketball court, Min-chul faced all of them, his shoulders wide and his chest puffed out, though Vince didn’t think it was on purpose. He was just a large built man, like Vince, except stronger and healthier.
Jade hung back a little as Zach kept himself between Min-chul and everyone else. His father’s eyes were dark and sharply focused on Vince, though.
“What are you doing in Atlanta?”
He didn’t like how cold and clinical the man sounded, but he answered him anyway. “I live here.”
“Since when?”
“Since I was born.”
Min-chul sniffed the air and frowned. He flicked a look at Zach, then back to Vince. “Who’s your mother?”
Vince’s heart thumped harshly as he stared him down. If he told him the truth, would he try to kill him? Here and now?
Zach broke the silence. “Go ahead Vince.”
He tried to calm his racing pulse, and finally managed to say, “Charlotte LaRue.”
Min-chul’s oh so steady self-confidence evaporated instantly, and the barely hidden shock in his eyes left Vince feeling even more vulnerable.
He slowly shook his head, then snapped, “That bitch.”
The growl came before Vince had time to think about it. “So it’s true. You beat my pregnant mother. You’re a fucking dick.”
A slow, evil smile spread across his father’s face. “I did. I hit her until she bled, and then I hit her again.”
Zach grabbed him before he could slam into the asshole. “Vince, no!”
Min-chul snickered. “It’s all right. Let him come at me. Let’s see what he’s got.”
Zach snapped, “Fuck off. You know he’s no match for you.”
He casually removed his suit jacket. “I swear on my family name that I won’t hurt the boy. Let him go.”
Zach said, “Vince?”
“Let me go, dammit!”
Zach seethed, “If anything happens to him, I’ll rip you to shreds. Got it?”
His father looked excited by the violence in the air. “I understand and agree to your terms.” He waved his hand in the air in a come and get me gesture.
Vince should’ve been nervous about his father’s lust for a fight, but his head was a mess as he struggled against Zach. He wanted nothing more than to beat the living hell out of this poor excuse for a human being that his mother once thought she loved.
Zach finally let him go and he plowed into his father. He barely staggered backwards, taking Vince’s blow as if he did this every day. Maybe he did because he somehow managed to fling Vince away from him, but he pivoted around and came at him again.
His father kept taunting him, obviously way more experienced at fighting than Vince was. And every time Vince got near, he’d say something nasty. “Your mother cried that night. She cried and I just kept hitting her. Even when she bled, I hit her again.”
“Fuck you!” Vince punched him and the bastard just took it with a smile.
“She begged me to stop. She was on her knees and I just kept going.”
Vince roared and hit him again and again. The bastard took each punch in stride, his eyes bright and wild, looking ready for a whole lot more.
Vince was insane with fury. He refused to believe a man so evil could be his father. How could someone do that to a woman, let alone to the mother of his child?
He went after him again. “You sick bastard! If that’s what the Yi’s are all about, you can all go to hell!”
The smile disappeared from Min-chul’s face and the next thing Vince knew, he was trapped in a headlock. He struggled to get free, but it was no use. His father was too strong and too well trained for this.
He jerked Vince closer and whispered in his ear. “She wouldn’t leave. I needed her to leave. She thought she could get my father’s sympathy by telling him she was pregnant with my child. He would’ve killed her instead, just like he killed my brother’s mistress. The Yi’s are a proud family, and disobeying my father’s wishes only brings misery.”
He shoved Vince away, and he took his time before facing him again. When he finally did, the evil smile was nowhere in sight.
“I saved your lives that night.”
Vince curled his lip. “You beat a pregnant woman.”
He frowned uncomfortably. “I made sure I didn’t hit her near… you. She’s shifter. I knew her physical pain would heal quickly enough.” He scoffed and said more emphatically, “I needed her to be scared so she’d leave town and never come back.”
Vince clenched his fists over and over again as he panted. “You beat a pregnant woman!”
“I kept you alive! Both of you!”
Vince was so blind with rage, and frustrated at the way of his hellish life that he snapped, “Maybe I don’t want to be! Not like this!”
That shocked Min-chul and Zach both. “What?”
Vince fumed at this man that was supposed to be his father. “Did you ever love my mother?”
“We were nineteen.”
“Did you love her?”
His father was silent a time, then said, “I didn’t know what love was until that day. When Charlotte told me the news, I knew I had to decide if I would let my father find out about you both and kill you, or go behind his back and save you.”
“You’re a liar.”
“I’m many terrible things, and sometimes I lie, but I’m not lying about this.”
Vince felt dizzy, still tired and exhausted from full moon. He was panting too fast, but he was too furious to walk away.
“You’re not well. What’s wrong with you?”
Vince barked out a laugh. “What’s wrong with me? You beat my mother while she was pregnant with me! I’m crippled because of you!”
“What?”
Min-chul frowned and slowly looked to Zach, who seemed almost ashamed when he said, “He can’t shift. He’s never been able to.”
The horror on Min-chul’s face only enraged Vince even more.
**
Vince couldn’t shift? He was crippled? Penny’s heart sank to her toes as she stood back with Suzanne and listened as carefully as she could to the conversation going on across the lawn from them. They were all being pretty quiet, though with the heated yelling Vince and his dad were doing, it wasn’t hard to hear what they were fighting about.
She exchanged a confused look with Suzanne, who just shrugged, looking like she didn’t know anything more than Penny did. She flicked a look at Sebastian next, who had a strange, sorrowful expression on his usually stoic face. He mostly looked ready to race over there and help, and she wondered how he held himself back.
Memories of asking Vince about his shift and where he went to run came barreling back to mind. Oh hell. He’d immediately changed the subject every time she brought it up. And was that why he’d started talking about having kids and a family? That bastard. He was just trying to distract her. He hadn’t meant any of those things he’d said, he just didn’t want to be honest about himself with her.
Fuming, she focused on the conversation again even though none of it mattered any more.
**
Vince shook with the need to keep beating on his father as Zach said, “We’re not sure what’s wrong with him. He’s only been with us about a month. The doctor thinks it’s malnutrition, but nothing we’ve tried seems to help.”
The conflicted look on Min-chul’s face only made the fury inside Vince all the more bitter.
“Oh now you’re sorry.”
“No, I’m not sorry. I’ve never been sorry for saving your mother’s life that night, and yours as well. You may not believe the truth of it, but my father’s ruthless. He’s a traditionalist and has always done whatever’s necessary to preserve our family’s bloodline. Your mother isn’t pure Korean, and she isn’t from a family my father would approve of for my wife or for the mother of my children. I saved her life by scaring her away from Savannah.”
Vince stared the man down, angry that he’d never been in his life, and now angry that he was here. His head was spinning and he was mad about things he couldn’t even put a name to.
“Perhaps some of the vampire blood in this family would help him. It appears to do wonders for you, Mr. Johansen.”
Zach hissed at him, which only made his father laugh.
“Not much is hidden in your family.”
“Like I said, we’re not a prison… like your family.”
Min-chul cocked an eyebrow. “Touché.” He reached down to the ground for his jacket and pulled something out of one of the pockets. He handed a business card to Vince, and one to Zach, though he looked at Vince as he spoke. “Text me your number when you’ve cooled off. I don’t want to see something happen to you, not after years of being unknown by my family. Now that the gossip has started, let me know if you see anyone sniffing around you or your mother. I’ll do what I can to help keep you safe.”
Vince snapped, “Did you ever love her?”
“Your mother?”
He glared as he nodded.
“Like I said, I was nineteen.”
His temper rose. “She loved you.”
“She was nineteen, too. What do teenagers know about love?”
“You forced her away from everyone and everything she knew.”
His father was quiet for a time, then said, “I regret that. I regret that my irresponsible ways caused her, and you, harm. I tried to make it right by not allowing her to go to my father, which would’ve been her death sentence. I did my best. For both of you. I did the best a nineteen year old in the Yi family could do. Believe me, I grew up quickly that night.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll send word to her family, and if Mr. Johansen allows it, they can travel here to visit.”
Vince’s heart squeezed hard in his chest. He wanted to hate this man. He wanted to blister his ears with all the awful things they’d had to endure in life, but for all their hard times, his father’s life didn’t sound a whole lot better. Still…
“Are any of the rumors true that you’ve killed women and children? That you’re the Yi family’s attack dog?”
He straightened his spine and said, “My reputation depends on those rumors.”
“So you’ve killed pregnant women?”
His father stared him down for a time, then more quietly said, “I won’t answer that question.”
“Why not?”
“Because your family can’t keep their mouths shut, and word spreads quite easily, all the way to Savannah. All the way to my father’s ears.”
He shook his head. “You’re a bastard.”
Without hesitation, or even acting like the accusation upset him, he said, “I don’t deny that.” He turned to Zach. “Please teach my son some fighting skills. Or better yet, do you have a place I can work with him? He needs help in more ways than one.”
Zach sneered, “You’d go against your father’s wishes and leave him alive?”
He turned back and looked Vince squarely in the eye as he answered. “Why would I extinguish something good that I had a part in creating? He’s the only one of my children that seems to have any morals, any compassion. The world needs more of that. The Yi family needs more of that.”
Vince blurted out, “You have other kids? I have brothers and sisters?”
His father’s expression didn’t change, but his hesitation spoke volumes. “I married the woman my father arranged for me to marry. I did my family duty, and yes, I fathered two children. A boy and a girl. They’re younger than you, obviously, and rotten to their cores. They unfortunately embody what the Yi name has come to mean over the years. They’d be your brother and sister by my blood, but I warn you against reaching out to them. It wouldn’t go over well. Not for anyone.”
He ran his hand through his thick hair, then noticed blood on his palm. He found a handkerchief and wiped it away. To Zach he said, “Get a hold of me if there’s anything I can do to help with his illness, or if you need resources for his care.”
“Anthony has plenty of resources.”
His father’s expression soured and Vince couldn’t help getting a little chill when he said, “Mr. Foster is a vampire. I am the boy’s father.”
His mom’s voice suddenly rang out loud and clear. “Min-chul, you dirty scoundrel! Get away from Vince!”
His father turned and actually stifled a smile as Ed paced close beside her. When they were within twenty feet away, he said, “Charlotte. So lovely to see you. The years have been kind to you.” He flicked a look at Ed, then turned back to Vince.
“You have my number. Don’t hesitate to use it. You or your mother. Gossip has already spread so it’s only a matter of time before others are curious. I’ll do what I can on my end.”
He inclined his head and walked unhurriedly away as everyone stared after him.
**
Penny jerked when something heavy coalesced in the air less than ten feet from her. A man’s form took shape, the ends of his long, dark hair batted around by the cool night breeze. He stood barefoot in a pair of plaid pajama pants, his pale, creamy flesh marred by a scar across the back of one of his lean, muscular arms, and another one on his lower back.
He was still, facing the lawn behind the basketball court. By his posture he looked ready to charge in for whatever was needed of him, though. Unable to see his face, she assumed it was Anthony, but his energy didn’t feel like a vampire. In fact, he felt like there should be blank air where he stood, which meant she was either out of the loop with weird vampires being in the family, or it was definitely him. If it was him, it awed her that he’d be out here ready to defend a shifter that was just one of the rank and file at Brookhaven.
She tensed when Min-chul approached their small group, not quite sure why she was nervous. He curiously didn’t give Anthony much attention until he was almost right in front of him. He stopped and stared in confusion, maybe sensing the same thing Penny had about him, which was that he felt like dead air.
He tensed in shock, then cautiously said, “You’re Anthony Foster, aren’t you?”
“I am.” He hesitated before saying, “All in this family are under my protection.”
Another vampire quickly appeared out of thin air and stood next to Anthony. More long black hair, but not quite as long, and he had a pajama top on as well as pants with his bare feet.
Min-chul startled and took a step back, then quickly frowned and stepped forward again, lifting his chin in defiance.
Anthony gestured and said, “My father. Isaiah Foster.”
He gave them both a brisk head nod, and it wasn’t hard to see Vince in his father’s features. That hurt. Vince had kept important parts about himself from her, making her feel insignificant in his world even though everything else he’d ever done made it seem like she was the only one for him.
Min-chul gestured behind himself. “My son needs help. If you’re claiming responsibility for him, then I implore you to make him well.”
Penny couldn’t see Anthony’s face, but she clearly heard him say, “We’re looking into it.”
He kept his eyes on him as he pulled a card out of his pocket. “My number. In case you need anything.” He quickly added, “For Vince.”
Anthony’s arm moved. He must’ve taken the card because Min-chul gave another head nod, then didn’t waste any time heading to his Mercedes parked by the curb. They all watched him get in and start the engine, and then watched him scan past them all, probably searching for Vince before he finally sped off.
The crowd eventually thinned out, but Penny waited right where she was. Vince had some explaining to do, or at the very least he needed to break up with her to her face, but it was a few more minutes before he finally wandered back to the front stoop with Zach, Charlotte and Ed in a loose group behind him. She was of course furious by that point.
He stared angrily at the ground, looking lost in thought, until he finally noticed her standing there. He snapped, “I don’t want your pity.”
“Pity?” She stomped up to him and slapped him. “You son of a bitch. You kept everything about yourself from me. All those things we talked about…” She was so frustrated all she could do was let out a clench jawed scream. “You’re a jerk for stringing me along when you had no intentions of getting serious with me.”
He frowned and reached out for her. “No, Penny−”
She stepped out of his reach. “Screw you Vince LaRue. If you didn’t want to be honest with me, fine. That’s your deal. But I’m not playing your game anymore.”
She stormed off before she said any other mean things, not because she was worried she’d hurt his feelings, but because the more she screamed the madder she got, and once her temper really got going… ooh boy. Besides, she tried to tell herself that he wasn’t worth the heartache.
**
Vince stared at Penny as she angrily marched back inside. Once her sexy ass disappeared behind the dark glass door, he let out a bark of a laugh. It was either that or scream in frustration, which he still might do later.
Penny was mad at him, but it was better than her being resentful when she realized just how much he wasn’t the man she’d expected him to be. He wanted to be seen as a protector and a provider, not a feeble invalid that needed everyone’s help. Even his father, a man he’d never met before, could see he was sick and wanted to help him.
If one more person offered their help, he swore he was going to punch them.
**
Vince shut himself in his room, then sat on his bed and slumped back against the wall as he closed his eyes and listened to music. Or tried to. He’d finally met his father for the first time in his life, yet Penny was the one on his mind right now. She still hadn’t seen him at his worst, on full moon night. She’d said once that she didn’t date humans because they weren’t strong like her. They couldn’t run around as their animal with her and didn’t understand shifter things because they weren’t supposed to know about their kind.
Vince couldn’t run with her, and was just now starting to learn things about shifters that he should’ve known all along. That didn’t make him much better than a human. And being sick every month wasn’t something he wanted to burden the woman he loved with. Or burden a future family with…
His heart felt heavy in his chest as he hung his head in hopeless misery.