It all happened so fast no one had time to react. Especially when it was clear that no one could believe what Daniel was saying.
No one except Lyssa, who realized too late that Daniel must have been in the house and overheard their conversation. And as predicted, he’d gone crazy.
Then Cal was defending himself in any way he could. He’d let Daniel get in those first three punches, until he clearly couldn’t take it anymore.
They went at it like two fighters in a ring, smashing their fists into each other, crushing, cracking, excruciating blows, punching each other onto the new grass, tearing out tufts of sod.
Good God. This was her brother. This was her lover. They’d been friends and co-workers for years. And now they were trying to kill each other. At least, Daniel was mauling Cal as if he wanted to destroy him.
Daniel dragged Cal up by his shirt and hit him full in the face again, but this time Cal hit back just as hard, splitting Daniel’s lip, blood gushing. Pow! Bam! Smash!
With a huge splash, they stumbled into the pool, arms and legs flailing, both of them coming up spluttering and still throwing punches again and again.
“Somebody stop them!”
Even if it didn’t feel like her mouth was moving, it was her voice. Lyssa was beyond scared, coming unhinged just like Cal and Daniel had.
Her father shouted, “Get the boys inside. Now!”
Will and Sebastian dived into the pool, each of them grabbing one of Daniel’s arms. Gideon jumped in on the other side, getting his hands on Cal, keeping them apart.
“Sebastian and Will have them.” Charlie folded Lyssa and Tasha into her arms.
She was surrounded by her family, her best friends, her loved ones, but terror clogged her throat. Her eyes seemed to bleed tears. The water in the pool was pink with fresh blood, floating out like a red sea.
Gideon hauled Cal to the other side of the pool, clearly trying to calm him down, while Cal’s eyes searched the horrified crowd. Searching for her.
When he looked into her eyes, there was such pain and remorse in his gaze that it tore her apart. Blood dripped from his nose, his broken lip, the cuts on his face, and one eye was swelling shut.
On the other side of the pool, even with Will and Sebastian pinning him down, Daniel was still growling and shouting and struggling.
An arm slipped around her, and her mother’s floral scent enveloped her. “Come with me, honey. You don’t need to be here while they finish this. We need to talk.”
Lyssa let herself be led away. The look in Cal’s eyes had been so bleak, her own pain worse because she’d blown off his fears, saying the family would get over it, that they’d come around.
She’d been so wrong.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cal ignored Gideon’s outstretched hand as he climbed—every muscle screaming—up the shallow steps and out of the cold water.
Daniel’s words pierced his gut: You got my little sister pregnant… You asshole.
Sebastian’s voice rang out as the other guys hauled Daniel out of the pool. “We haven’t seen action like that since we were fifteen years old.”
“Well, none of you are fifteen anymore.” Bob’s voice was gruffer than Cal had ever heard it. “You’re all going to hurt like hell in the morning.”
Their voices echoed around Cal, but what stabbed him was the look on Lyssa’s face. Pain, anger, anguish.
It was never supposed to be like this. The day she told her parents she was in love and pregnant should have been beautiful. It should have been a memory she would hold close to her heart forever.
Instead, she’d gotten mixed up with him, and that memory would forever be horrific.
Cal hadn’t only let Lyssa down. He’d let the whole clan down. He should have taken the beating he deserved without throwing a single punch.
And yet, as the hits had kept coming, he’d wanted to fight back—not just for himself, but for all the times Lyssa had felt as though her brothers hadn’t respected or valued her.
Someone handed him a baggie of ice from the cooler, and he put it to his face. Water streamed from his clothes all over the pristine new deck.
Will turned to Cal and asked what they all wanted to know now that the fight was over—at least for the moment. “Is it true, Cal? Is Lyssa pregnant with your baby?”
He was glad Susan had taken Lyssa into the house. He didn’t want her to see him face the Mavericks, the men he’d called friends for so many years. The men he’d let down.
Daniel’s face was battered and bruised, and next to him, Will’s features were stony, a dark flare of betrayal in his eyes as he waited for Cal to respond. Evan stared at him, his features bleak, clearly hoping it wasn’t true. Matt’s expression was that of a man seeing the real Cal Danniger for the very first time and sickened by the sight. Sebastian wore a grimace of disgust. Beside Matt, Gideon crossed his arms over his chest. All of them were waiting.
Cal couldn’t bear to look at their loved ones, especially fragile Francine, gripping her walker, and Jeremy, his face stricken. He could only thank God that Rosie and Ari had spirited the boys away.
“Yes.” The word gritted from his throat, raw from the punches Daniel had landed there. “We didn’t mean for it to happen, but yes, Lyssa is having my child.”
Sebastian growled, “What the hell were you thinking?”
Before he could reply, Matt barked, “She’s twenty years younger than you!”
Evan’s indictment was the worst. “She worked for you. She trusted you. We trusted you.”
Cal’s heart shrank to the size of a pea in his chest. His face ached along with his whole body, but it was nothing compared to the ache squeezing his heart.
There were so many reasons he could have given them. That he’d felt so drawn to Lyssa it had been impossible to turn away from her. That she was everything he’d ever wanted—bright, beautiful, sweet. That the baby was a dream come true.
Then Daniel dealt the blow that nearly brought him to his knees. “You’re just like your father.”
The words were garbled through Daniel’s swollen lips, but they pierced Cal’s soul.
The guys were the only people who knew the real story about his past. A story he’d told during nights of friendship, drinking a little too much, talking a little too much, telling them about his father and how he’d always made sure never to follow in good old Dad’s footsteps. He’d refused to be a lawyer. And he’d certainly never messed around with his employees.
Until Lyssa.
Until he couldn’t resist an affair with the gorgeous, beautiful, fabulous, amazing woman.
A woman who worked for him.
Then he’d gone a huge step further than his father.
He’d gotten his best friends’ sister pregnant.
He wanted to apologize, to ask for forgiveness just the way his father had asked for forgiveness from him. Forgiveness he had never given. Forgiveness he’d refused to even consider giving.
Knowing how futile it was to say he was sorry, he told them the only thing that really mattered. “I’m in love with her. And I want our child. More than you can possibly know.”
When he turned away—to the house, to find Lyssa—he heard Daniel spit on the ground behind him. Making it perfectly clear what they thought about the value of his love for their sister.