He pushes Blaine’s hand away and jumps to his feet. “Tell me how you knew about Hadley . . . Kylie. Shit, I need to get used to her name.”

I swallow hard, nervous to tell him the story, afraid that he’ll go and hurt someone. “My uncle thought you gave her up for adoption this whole time: your stepfather and some officer that was there that night. They said you signed her over. I don’t know–”

“That motherfucker,” he growls. “That day he came to my cell with papers. He told me they were papers for Olivia. I wasn’t in my right mind and I sent him away without my fucking signature. Well now I know what the fuck they were doing. I was never good enough by him in the first place. Now . . . they look at me like a monster: him, Colton, and my fucking mother. That son of a bitch forged that shit when I refused.”

Jumping to his feet, he rushes outside with me taking off after him. I’m so scared of what he’ll do.

“Royal!” I yell out to him as he stops by his truck and repeatedly punches the side of it, leaving a bunch of dents, until his hands are covered in blood. “Royal! Stop!”

Finally, he stops and looks back at me, while fighting to catch his breath. “I’ll be back.” He points to Blaine. “Take care of the girls while I’m gone. Don’t leave until I get back.”

Stumbling over my feet, I rush down the porch and over to his truck, almost falling. “Don’t do it, Royal! Please!”

“Go inside,” he demands, while jumping inside his truck and rolling down the window to yell at me. “Take care of our little girl. Go!”

“No! Fuck you!”

Not giving a shit what he says, I make my way around the truck and jump inside, slamming the door behind me.

Growling out, Royal punches the steering wheel, before gripping it and leaning his forehead against it. “Fuck, Avalon! This needs to be done.”

“Then I’m going with you.” I pull my seatbelt on and growl over at him. “Go! If it needs to be done . . . then go, but you’re not getting rid of me.”

He punches the steering wheel one more time, before yelling out in anger and pulling off.

The closer we get to June and Ken’s, the more nervous I become, and my stomach begins to twist up with knots as I watch the houses around us in passing.

I don’t say a word though. Not yet. I know that he needs to confront Ken. He won’t be able to live with himself if he doesn’t. I can’t take that from him. It would be selfish of me.

All I can do is be here to support him and hope that I can bring him back to sanity before things go too far.

The truck comes to an abrupt stop, and before I can even look over at Royal, he’s out of the truck and running at Ken, who is just coming out of the house.

I quickly jump out of the truck in time to see the look of pure horror on his face when he notices the brick house that is charging at him.

“Royal . . .” He throws his arms up for protection. “Don’t be stupid!”

Ignoring his plea, Royal grips him by the throat and slams him up against the house. “You kept my fucking daughter from me! The only thing left in my life that mattered. You fucking no good piece of shit!”

Pulling Ken away from the house, he drags him across the porch, toward the steps. “Just go home,” he chokes out, while trying to pry Royal’s hand from his neck. “You’ll never understand.”

“I’ll never understand? Huh?” He releases Ken’s throat and swings out, punching Ken in the mouth.

I watch with wide eyes as Ken falls down the steps, scraping his face on the cement. Before Ken can gain his composure, Royal is on top of him, pulling his knife out.

“No!” June screams from the open door. “He’s your father. Don’t hurt him!”

“He’s not my father. He’s just someone you dated before dad, then left dad when he fucked up by getting locked up, and decided to get back with and marry. Fuck that! He means nothing to me.”

Placing the knife to Ken’s throat, Royal leans in and growls in his bloodied up face. “You made me believe for over two years that my daughter died. Do you have any idea what that’s like? You and that bitch cop fucked me over.”

He presses the knife down, causing blood to drip around the tip. “I should kill you right now. I should take your life, just like you took two years of mine. It could’ve been more,” he screams. “I could’ve never fucking known. Do you get that?”

“Royal! Stop! You’re hurting him. You need to stop!” His mom continues to scream at him from the background, but he tunes her out as if it’s just him and Ken.

“Royal!” I scream, as he presses the knife a little deeper. “You can’t do this,” I say gently. “Your daughter needs you here with her. If you kill that asshole for taking her from you, he’s still winning, and you will still end up without your daughter. Do you understand that? Do you get that?”

He tilts his head to the side, his eyes moving up to lock with mine. There’s so much pain behind his gaze that I almost want to kill Ken myself.

“Let him go,” I whisper. “He has the picture now and you have your daughter at home waiting for you.”

Slowly, I walk over and grab the knife out of his shaking hand. Then I bend down and grab his face. “Let’s go home . . . with our true family. Please.”

Releasing a breath, he stands to his feet and quickly runs his hands through his sweaty hair.

“I was only trying to protect her,” Ken says quietly. “Your head was too messed up after what happened. After Olivia died . . .”

“Stop it,” Royal demands. “Shut the fuck up before I change my mind and cut your throat out.”

Grabbing my hand, he stares Ken down, while backing me up toward the truck. “Stay the fuck away from my family. This is your only warning. Fuck with my family and I won’t hesitate to kill you. That’s the fucking truth.”

Relief washes over me as he helps me into his truck and jumps inside, quickly taking off.

The whole ride home is silent. I expect nothing more. He needs this moment to calm down. Any good man who loves his family would.

Once we pull back up in front of my house, he turns the truck off and grips the steering wheel, while fighting to catch his breath.

Crawling over the middle to get to him, I duck under Royal’s arm and straddle his lap. “You need to let it go for her. You need to be strong for her. Everything that you do now has to be for her. Your daughter needs you even more than I do.”