“I hear you there. None of them can be trusted,” Byron said, to spur him on. The sad thing was that he felt this way. He couldn’t trust women.
Nathan’s eyes lit up as he found himself in the company of another woman-hater. Byron had to know what McKenzie was doing with this guy. It was making less and less sense.
“Seriously! You try to help out one of those bitches and they turn on you and stab you in the back,” the man spluttered, getting more and more worked up as he spoke.
Byron got him another drink.
“I’ve been there, man. I would love to put them in their place,” Byron said, but he felt sick even saying the words out loud. No, he didn’t respect women, but that didn’t mean he felt they should be abused. He had Bill to thank for setting him straight on that.
“Yeah, I was just with my bitch of an ex tonight. I helped her out a lot. I gave her the know-how to start a successful career, and how does she thank me? By telling me to get lost, and getting a damn restraining order placed on me,” Nathan grumbled.
This wasn’t what Byron was expecting at all. “Sounds like a typical woman to me,” is what he said.
“Yeah, typical. Screw that whore!”
“How did you help her?” Byron casually asked.
“I found her when she was young, real young, and innocent, you know?” Nathan said with demented glee in his eyes.
Byron instantly tensed. He suspected he wasn’t going to like what came out of this man’s mouth. “Tell me,” he said, and the man was too wasted to notice Byron was no longer quite as friendly as before.
“Yeah, she was just eighteen, all roses and kittens, though her little sister was in some sort of coma or something and it was messing with her head. All I had to do was play the role of her prince come to save her. She was eating out of my hands within a few weeks,” he said with a disgusting smile as he remembered back.
“Well, that doesn’t sound like anything new. All women will eat out of your hand if you rescue them,” Byron said, scoffing, as if the man was boring him.
That did the trick. Nathan obviously wanted to feel important, wanted Byron to see how much power he had. He was too drunk to realize that what he said next could land him in jail — if not dead when Byron’s fists connected with his face.
“So I worked for a man who had a special client list. His clients liked innocent young things. They paid a lot of money for them.”
“Sounds normal,” Byron said, though his stomach was turning.
“Well, my ex ruined my life! She deserved everything she had coming. She was evil, though she hid it behind an innocent face. She was also so damn stupid. It’s okay, though, because I showed her for the true whore she was, and the bitch had no idea what was coming for her. She wanted me, so why not give it up to someone else first for a lot of money? I knew I could have her over and over after that. I don’t mind sharing my cows, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Byron said, not sure if he could listen to any more of this.
“Well, the bitch got what she wanted, and then acted horrified when it was done, like she didn’t secretly want it. I know she did. She was sure hot to trot, and she snapped up the money and then went running so fast I didn’t have a shot at catching her.”
“So how did you find her again?” Byron asked through clenched teeth as he motioned for the bartender to give the man another drink. He didn’t want any chance that he’d sober up now.
“She opened a whorehouse,” Nathan said.” I taught her how to do the tricks and then she opens a whorehouse and uses what I taught her to give herself a nice little life. Then the whore acts offended when I come back, acts like she didn’t want it. She don’t care that I have nothing. All she cares about is herself.” His shoulders sagged as he leaned against the bar, too drunk now to even hold himself up.
“That sounds tragic,” Byron said. He realized he wasn’t going to get anything else out of this man. What he really wanted to do was put his hands around Nathan’s throat and squeeze until the guy’s eyes bulged from his bloated head.
“Yeah, I didn’t even have a chance to taste her goodies, if you know what I mean, and even now they are some fine goodies. Dammit! I made her, so I should at least get to try a piece.”
Byron was done with the conversation. His head was spinning with what this man had said. Should he believe the story? Byron just wasn’t sure. That look of disgust and relief on McKenzie’s face as Nathan had walked away from her at the bistro was burned into Byron’s mind though. She hadn’t wanted this guy. But was it because he brought back her past? Or was it because he had hurt her feelings? He just didn’t know what to believe anymore.
Without another word, he paid his tab and walked away from the bar. He needed to talk to someone he did trust, and the list of those people was incredibly short.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Byron jumped into his car and headed immediately toward Bill’s house. He needed to have some of these cobwebs cleared from his brain. He was more confused than ever before, and there was only one person he actually trusted on this earth who had known his parents and his grandparents.
As he pulled up to the house, Byron couldn’t help but smile. It was a modest place, and he’d spent many long and lazy afternoons there as a child. When McKenzie had told him he didn’t know what it was like to be in a small place, he could have corrected her, but he’d chosen not to. There had been no reason for her to know that for a few years at least, he’d had a somewhat normal childhood in a modest home. A home that had been filled with love.
Bill had made the boys do chores, teaching them how to have a good work ethic. If truth were to be told, he enjoyed working up a sweat. It was good for the body and the mind. That’s something Bill had taught him when he was young.
It didn’t take Bill long to answer the door and invite Byron in. “Wow, two visits in such a short period, and you’re still wearing the same expression I saw on your face last time. What in the world is going on in your life, my boy?”
“I just…I need to talk to you.”
“Well, let me get some food and drink. This looks like it could take some time,” Bill told him. Before Byron could say anything, Bill was sitting him down at the kitchen table while he went and rummaged through the fridge.
“I want to know why my dad did it. I want to know why he stayed with my mother when she was destroying his life.”