Rivals 🌈 ✔

61 - For Us

This man was Sasha's father.

Timothy might as well have slapped him in the face. This was the man who abandoned his sister when she was pregnant. And now he was suddenly interested in his daughter? Now Rosa was dead?

His hand shot forward and he grabbed the man's collar. "And where did you find the fucking nerve to show your ugly face right now?"

"I..." Timothy gave him a dazed look. "She's my daughter."

It sounded weak.

"You were a sperm donor. Nothing more," Raine huffed. He knew the man wasn't registered as Sasha's father; Raine was designated as her guardian.

"I want to get to know her."

"So you can abandon her again?" Raine taunted. He pulled the man closer and slammed him back against the wall. "Don't think so. She lost enough people."

"I know," Timothy muttered, his glance cast down. "I heard Rosa died."

Raine didn't respond. He needed to collect all his self-control not to punch him in the face—and ever since that stunt Esai pulled, his self-control wasn't something he was proud of anyway.

"Stay away from her," Raine said eventually, his tone dark. He let go of the man.

"I'm her father," Timothy repeated. "I have rights."

"Bullshit. You never acknowledged her as your daughter." The look on Timothy's face convinced him the man already knew that. He looked like a slick lawyer—it wouldn't surprise him if that hadn't been a lie he told Skye. "Rosa is no longer here to confirm that you're Sasha's father."

"There are DNA tests..."

"My niece will participate in no such thing. Every idiot can claim that he's her father."

The man clenched his jaw. "Don't think I'll give up this easily."

Raine grabbed the man's collar again, pulling his face closer. "You're walking a very dangerous path."

This time, Timothy tried to wriggle himself free. "I am walking a dangerous path?" the man shot back. "You are the one in a gang! You're an aggressive asshole! And I won't—"

Esai's fist smashed against his jaw. "You deaf? Fuck off. Sasha is well taken care of and she sure as hell doesn't need a worthless piece of shit like you."

Timothy's lip was split by Esai's blow. Anger flared in the man's eyes. "A child doesn't belong in a gang."

"A child belongs with someone who's there for her," Raine snapped. "And where were you when her mother was sick? When she died? Were you the one holding her hand during the funeral? Did you tell her that her mother had gone to a better place? Did you answer her questions when she wondered where her daddy was?"

Timothy turned his face away. "And I regret that. My relationship with Rosa... It was never meant to go somewhere. I already had a family, a wife, and when she got—"

"I don't want to hear it."

His pathetic excuses only fueled his anger. Did Rosa know she was sleeping with a married man? He doubted it. And he hated the fact that this asshole filled his head with questions about his sister which she would never be able to answer.

"But what if Sasha wants to know her dad? Won't you let her?"

"She has a dad." Or she would have, soon.

"You're her uncle."

"No shit." He glared at the man. He obviously meant Juice—in that respect, she lacked no father figures—but he felt no need to explain his relationship to that man. Yet, the thought of Juice made him question his opinion.