Tiny Dark Deeds: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Court Legacy Book 3)

December

“I’ll be over here, Mrs. Prinze,” Ronald stated, allowing me to move forward on my own. He took a nearby cafe table, and I proceeded onward, grateful for our old family friend. When my husband had suggested we hire a security detail for the family, I’d been a little unnerved. I didn’t grow up the way he had, and it was different, but back then, Royal had believed it necessary. Dorian had just been born, and Royal had stressed his father wouldn’t be in prison forever.

That, in the end, had been the final decision regarding hiring Ronald, who was ex-military. These days, he fell more into his role as butler and family friend, but today, he was keeping an eye over me and the situation. I didn’t feel I’d particularly need him for this meeting, but I had to admit knowing he was close allowed me to feel better.

I’d locked my nerves away in a black box a long time ago when it came to dealing with my husband’s father. Those first few years when he had been out of prison, I’d been more on edge, wondering if he’d be around the corner, waiting. There had come a time, though, when I decided I was going to take back my life, and that Callum Prinze wasn’t going to take any more away from myself or my family.

After all, he’d gotten enough, hadn’t he?

I held to that promise, steady in my strides as I approached his table. He sat inside the cafe, sipping a cup of something that steamed near one of the snow-encrusted windows. He was alone, but he hadn’t come alone. The dark sedan parked right out front basically had his name on it. There were two men sitting in the front, their windows down, and they had tipped their billed hats at me on my way inside.

Like stated, the vehicle had his name on it.

The man turned from the window the moment I stopped in front of his table, more than a few eyes on us. We’d missed the lunch rush, but this was a small town. Everyone knew me, and they definitely knew him.

How could this town forget?

He’d cemented his stamp on this city, my husband’s father. He’d struck fear and left a legacy. The tides may have changed after he’d gone to prison, but this town and I had never forgotten. He’d shattered so many lives, the first his own flesh and blood.

“I admit, I was surprised when your people reached out to me,” he said, placing his cup down. “And I have to ask… does my son know you’ve asked to meet with me today?”

Of course, he did. We didn’t keep things from each other. “I think we should just go ahead and get this started. I have something to say to you, so I’d like to say it so we can both move on with our days.” And Royal may have known about this meeting, but that didn’t mean he liked it. In fact, he’d been adamant about Ronald being with me if he couldn’t, and I hadn’t wanted my husband to attend this meeting with his father.

This was something I needed to do on my own.

Mr. Prinze opened his hands. “I have no problem meeting with you, but I’d rather not risk my son’s wrath. I want to respect him, and if he’s not okay with this…”

“We tell each other everything,” I stated, clipped. “So, if we could proceed?”

The man waved to the chair across from him, but I didn’t sit. We wouldn’t be here long.

Mr. Prinze nodded. “I know you didn’t come alone, but you can let your guard know I have no intention of harming you,” he stated, obviously mentioning Ronald. He frowned. “And any references made to do so in the past were a mistake on my part. I’m sure Dorian told you that I was very much desperate to get to know him.”

I did know that. I quirked a smile. “Yes, I know all about how you manipulated my eighteen-year-old son to get to know him better. I know all about that.”

Mr. Prinze’s frown didn’t leave him, his hands together. “I’m not a man without flaws, December. I know what I’ve done, and these are things I have to live with. I know these decisions have pushed me further and further away from my grandson and my own son, and what I did to you and your family all those years ago was—”

My hand lifted, really not wanting to hear anything of this. I came here to say something to him, and it had nothing to do with his “flaws” or things he “had to live with.” I put my hands on the table. “I want to start with saying, I don’t care what you have to say. I don’t, so you can stop it right now.”

He did, his lips coming together. He laced his fingers. “So, what is this meeting about then?”

It was about one thing and one thing only. I’d never forget what he’d done to my family, my father… my sister. He’d ruined all our lives back then, and what he’d done with Dorian recently only cemented what I felt for him even more. I’d lost enough because of this man, and moving forward, he wasn’t going to get any more.

My last year had been hell. I’d lost my little brother via signs I hadn’t seen. I hadn’t been able to save Charlie. I’d been too unaware about the situation, and had I been my sister Paige, things wouldn’t have been that way. She would have seen that Charlie had gone to someone he shouldn’t have gone to. She would have saved him.

I channeled her upon meeting with my husband’s father because today, I wasn’t unaware. Today, I was taking action, and this man before me was about to know. “I know you’re in contact with my husband,” I said to him, nodding. “I know he’s giving you a chance for our son.”

Mr. Prinze opened his mouth, but I raised my hand again.

“No, see. I’m not finished,” I cut, the older man’s lips closing. I put a finger to the table. “He’s doing this for Dorian, and he’s willing to put away all the hurt you caused him, the pain and suffering and everything else, because he’s a loving father and husband who gives everything of himself for his kid and his family. He’s a fierce provider, protector, and he managed to become these things despite, to put it bluntly, the complete and utter fuck-up his father was.”

Mr. Prinze said nothing, his back touching the chair. He started to speak again, but I shook my head.

“This meeting is about one thing and one thing only. My husband’s giving you a chance. He is, and that’s the only reason you get one from me. You got one chance at this, Mr. Prinze. One to be a decent person, and this is your warning to take advantage of that.”

He blinked, but just once. “Warning?”

“Yes.” I crossed my arms. “Because if you fuck this up… fuck with my husband or my child, I will come for you. You may have gotten an olive branch from this family, but you most certainly don’t deserve it. This is your warning and your only one. I will one hundred percent come for you personally if you mess with my family, and that is a promise.”

The man gave no emotional response to what I said, and I think that angered me the most, made me sad. This probably wasn’t his first threat.

But if he messed with my family, it’d be his last.

In the end, I didn’t wait for his response. I’d said what I had to say, said my piece. I strode toward the exit, and Ronald was already waiting by the door. He made no mention about what he’d most likely heard, and I knew he never would. He was in our family too, and he’d support it. He’d even aid if we needed someone outside of us to burn.

I hoped for the sake of my husband’s father that wouldn’t be the case.