Read Online Under His Domain by Kelly Favor - Free Book Online

me.   I know I have a lot to make up for.”
    Suddenly Easton sat forward.   “They put a pair of pliers in my mouth
and started pulling my teeth, Dean.”   He slid the sleeve of his shirt up his forearm.   “They burned me with their
cigarettes.   And you see what they
did to my face, right?”
    Dean couldn’t look at him.   His eyes searched everywhere, finally
landing on Kennedy’s face.   He
stared at her, pleading now.   “I
screwed up, right?   I know I screwed
up.   I can’t ever pay him back for
what he’s done to help me.   I’m a
fucking loser.”
    Kennedy swallowed.   “It’s a hard situation.”
    “I don’t want to be a loser.   I didn’t ask for this.”
    Easton spoke again.   “Dean, just go to the fucking GA
meeting. Stop making excuses.”
    Dean nodded, his eyes pained and
moist.   He sniffed.   “Maybe Dad will come with me,” he
laughed.  
    “Dad?” Easton said, sitting back,
alarmed.
    Kennedy couldn’t believe the shift in
Easton’s demeanor.   He seemed to
have shrunk in his seat.   Simultaneously, his shoulders hunched and his lips pulled back in a
grimace.
    “Yeah, that was part of why I came over,”
Dean said, scratching his jaw.   “Dad’s in town and he wants to see us.   Well, he specifically said he wants to
see you, bro.”
    “I’ll have a burger with him, maybe a
beer,” Easton said.   “And that’s
it.”   He swiped his hand across the
table in a gesture of finality.
    “I don’t know,” Dean said, eyebrows raising .   “He
wants to spend some real time together.”
    “Spend time?   Why now?”
    “Look don’t shoot the messenger,” Dean
said, hands raised.   “All I know is
the old man wants to see you.”
    Easton’s brow darkened.   “Did you tell him something, Dean?”
    “I might’ve mentioned that you got banged
up by DeLuca and his buddies….”
    Easton turned his head away and made a
face.   “Idiot.”
    “I was talking you up, bro.   I was saying what you did for me, how
cool it was.   I mean, I was saying
good things.”
    “You know how I feel about privacy,”
Easton said, shaking his head in disbelief.   “Did you also tell him about how you
fucked your business and everything else with your gambling and running
around?”
    “Listen, I was saying good things about
you, but Dad got worried.   It’s not
my fault.”
    “Nothing’s ever your fault, Dean.   It’s amazing how that works.   You screw shit up and somehow none of it
ever sticks to you.”
    “It sticks, bro.   It sticks and you won’t let me ever
forget it.”
    The two brothers glared at one another,
and in their faces, Kennedy could see all of the years of pain and baggage and
history between them.
    She felt horrible, it was like watching a car crash in slow motion.   Dean stood up and Easton didn’t look at
him anymore.
    “Glad you stopped by, Dean.”
    “Yeah, a fucking pleasure.”   Dean turned to Kennedy.   “You’re a nice girl.   You might want to think twice about what
you’re getting into with this jerk.   He’s loyal but he won’t ever let you forget it.”   And then Dean turned and stalked toward
the door.
    “You better go to that meeting!” Easton
called after him.
    Dean grunted something back at him,
opened the door, walked out and slammed it shut behind him.
    The whole house seemed to shake from the
force of it.
    Easton let out a relieved little
laugh.   “What a dick.”
    Kennedy felt uncomfortable, like she’d
just witnessed something too personal for her eyes.   “Sorry that happened,” she said softly.
    “It’s fine.   It’s old hat.”   Easton got up and started to pace.   “The problem now is what to do about my
dad.”
    “Can’t you just visit with him for a
little while?   Go out to eat, have a
conversation and then call it a day?”
    Of course, she felt a bit hypocritical,
given the fact that she still wasn’t speaking to her own parents.
    That’s
because they’re not my real