Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Mike had never in his life considered hitting a woman, but his fists clenched at his sides, and Manny was using a lot more strength now to hold him back. He couldn’t believe she’d just asked him that.
“Hey! What the fuck? There’s nothing wrong with him!” Trent barked, a vein bulging out the side of his neck. Wood was quick as he grabbed Trent around his waist because there was only one other person in the world more sensitive than Mike about Bishop not being able to read, and that was his brother. Anyone that ever called B stupid usually got their asses stomped by Trent before they’d even finished the insult.
Ivy hurried and swung around to Bishop. “No, no, no,” she stammered. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t blame you, son. I blame your father.”
“Have you lost your goddamn child-abandoning-ass mind?” Trent fumed.
“Trent, stop,” Wood tried but failed.
“Blame our father!” Trent was being physically restrained and hauled toward the back gate after Wood couldn’t get him to settle down. “You seriously came here talking this bullshit? Is everyone here forgetting that this skank slept with Mike when he was a fifteen-year-old and she was old as fuck? Are we just gonna let that slide? Someone call the damn police on her! Fuckin’ hashtag me-too up in this bitch for my pops! Kick her off the damn property, Dad, and slap a restraining order on her ass!”, were the last words Trent got in before he was dragged behind the gate.
“Ivy, I think we should go,” her husband said out the window from the safety of his car. “Now.”
“No,” she fussed back at him. Ivy refocused her attention on Bishop, then took a slow breath before she lowered her voice. “I’m sorry, this isn’t going at all how I expected.”
“What did you expect?” Bishop asked.
“I expected you to be old enough to know that life is unfair sometimes, and people are human. We make mistakes. Sometimes really bad ones that cost us something special. I grew up in a bad environment, Bishop, and I ended up in an abusive marriage. I was broken and had no education…” She turned sad, regretful eyes at Mike. “I’d done something stupid and shameful, and then I got pregnant to top it all off. I was so messed up in the head I knew I couldn’t take care of a baby.”
Bishop shook his head. “That’s not what I was taught. I was taught not to make excuses for your mistakes. That you own it, and if you ever get the chance, you try to make up for it.”
“Yes. You’re absolutely right, and I knew Mike wasn’t going to make it easy when I showed my face again, but I came anyway. To look you in your eye and tell you that I’m sorry, and I was a coward. I’m sorry you didn’t get the mother you deserved.”
“Well, you gave me a good father… I’ll call us even.” Bishop put his arm around Edison’s shoulder.
“The hell we will,” Mike spoke up after watching and listening for long enough. Fuck that. She didn’t deserve their understanding or forgiveness. She needed to let go and move on.
Mike was done with this drama. They didn’t need her in their lives, flaunting her wealth and education in their faces, potentially making his son feel less than. “You can leave now, Ivy. I’ve already given you far more leniency than I would’ve anyone else. You’ve seen him. He’s fuckin’ awesome. Now say your goodbyes.”
“Bishop, is that what you want? You can make your own decisions,” Ivy pleaded, ignoring Mike. “We may not be mother and son, but we could at least maybe start to get to know each other, right? There’s no harm in that. I’m just asking for a chance. Maybe an invite to the wedding can be a good start. Hello, are you Bishop’s fiancé?” She gestured in Edison’s direction.
“She comes to that wedding over my dead fuckin’ body,” Mike growled. “You can’t swoop in at the eleventh fuckin’ hour after all the scraping by and struggling B and I have been through and just jump right in on the good times. Fuck you!”
Ivy’s expression was murderous anytime she faced Mike. “I will get to know my son, Mike. Life is too short not to make this right.”
“Life’s not short. It’s just long as fuck when you make shitty decisions,” Mike snapped at her.
Small red splotches formed on Edison’s cheeks when Ivy’s attention was back on him, and Mike wondered if it was from the heat or fear. “I’m Edison Scala. Bishop and I have only been engaged a short time.”
“How long have you two been a couple?” She smiled mechanically.
“Look, I can’t do this right now.” Bishop clutched his forehead, his eyes squeezed shut as if he was developing a migraine. “I’m not saying no, okay? I just need some time to think about this. I came over to discuss wedding plans with my dad and talk him out of paying for some grand affair, but instead, I meet…”