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arise.
    She dug through the coat closet until she found a baseball bat and took it with her to the sofa. She leaned back to continue watching her show when she realized if the sound was up, she might not hear danger until it was too late. So she left it on mute and sat in the quiet, clutching the bat with her gaze fixed on the door.
     
    ****
     
    Anson drove without caution. All he could think about was that gun going off in his face. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact he’d fathered a child who just tried to kill him. It had shaken his confidence. The analogy of a younger bull challenging the old bull was not lost upon him. He kept thinking of a thousand ways in which he would make Brendan pay. He just needed to bide his time and do it right.
    By the time he hit the city limits of New Orleans, he was on an adrenaline high. He was determined to get Delle and bring her home. It didn’t matter that she wouldn’t be able to care for herself, and he had no intentions of doing it for her. It was just a knee-jerk reaction to having someone else make a decision for him.
    He’d never been inside Brendan’s apartment, but he knew where he lived. He made it a point to know everything there was to know about all of his kids. Never knew when some information would prove important in swaying them to his side of a situation.
    He pulled up in the parking lot and got out with his fists doubled and his head down. He would have Delle home before they knew what was happening.
     
    ****
     
    Julie was watching the clock and trying not to panic when she began to hear footsteps coming down the hall at a hasty pace. Her heart began to pound as she tightened her grip on the bat.
    To her relief, the footsteps passed. Moments later, she heard someone knocking at a door down the hall, and then a familiar voice was calling her name.
    “Julie! Juliette! Are you there? It’s Dad.”
    She quickly unlocked the door and leaned out. “Daddy! Daddy! I’m here.”
    When Grayson saw where she was, he frowned, well aware of who lived in that apartment.
    “Come in,” Julie said, and then she put a finger to her lips. “Brendan’s mother is here and she’s asleep.” She closed and locked the door behind him.
    He would’ve thought nothing of the fact that she’d locked the door until he saw she was also holding a bat.
    “What the hell is going on here?”
    “If you’ll talk to me in a normal tone of voice, I’ll be happy to share,” she said shortly.
    He glared and sat down at one end of the sofa as Julie sat at the other. She knew him so well. He did not look a day over forty, even though he’d turned fifty last year. Well-groomed hair as blonde as hers was a perfect foil for his tan skin and beach-boy good looks. She knew he didn’t like her choice of apartments, or her friends, and this was going to make it worse.
    “As I was about to say, Brendan’s mother is here. She suffered bad burns on her feet this morning, and after he took her to the hospital, he brought her and his little sister here to stay while she recovers.”
    Grayson had the grace to be ashamed. “That’s too bad. I’m really sorry to hear that.”
    “She’s very sweet, Daddy, and a really beautiful woman.”
    He shrugged. “I know what LaDelle looks like. We were all in school at the same time. She was one of those girls every guy wanted to date, but she only had eyes for Anson Poe and his pretty face.”
    Julie frowned. “I didn’t know you knew them personally.”
    “It’s because I know him personally that I do not approve of your association with his son.”
    “You raised me to be honest and fair-minded, and blaming a wife and children for one man’s sins does not seem to fall into either category for me.”
    He ignored her and pointed at the bat. “It still doesn’t explain that.”
    When his daughter lifted her chin defiantly, he knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.
    “The burns on Delle’s feet didn’t happen by accident. Anson