Family Ties [Sequel to She Belongs To Me]

Desperation

Emily: 

The smile on his face disintegrated and was replaced with a glare that made me feel like a frightened rabbit standing before a bloodthirsty wolf. His fists clenched by his sides and I was certain that he was going to hit me. I put my hands on his shoulders and began to plead with him. "Take me, Vincent! I will go with you wherever you want, but please leave my daughter out of-"

He wrapped his hand around my throat and slammed me against my car.  Tears of rage gushed down his face.  "Our daughter!  You seem to be forgetting that I am her father!" His grip tightened and I clawed at his hands and gasped for air.  "She is just as much mine as she is yours, and I deserve to see her!"

He released me and I fell to my knees, clasping my throat.  This whole thing was descending to a whole new level of hell.  He was not going to be satisfied just having me back.  He really believed that he could be a father to Cora, and that I was trying to take that away from him.

I stood up on shaky legs and tried to remain firm.  "She's happy with the life she has now, Vincent! Why should we ruin it by telling her that her real father is a kidnapper and a rapist!?  Don't you think she would be better off-"

"You shut your mouth!" He growled, grabbing my face.  I winced in pain as he buried his nails into my cheeks. "You have no right to say that she is better off without me.  She is my flesh and blood, and if you value Hope's life you will bring her to me!"

My eyes shifted to his car and panic filled my veins when I didn't see Hope inside.  "Where is she?"  I choked, "I want to see her!"

"You really should have thought about that before you showed up empty handed."

My face burned with rage and I lost control of myself.  I began beating his chest with my fists, tears pouring down my cheeks.  "Why are you doing this to me!?  I risked everything by meeting you here tonight and you're telling me that isn't good enough for you!!"

"Calm down!"  He demanded, grabbing my wrists.  I braced myself for another outburst, but he shut his eyes and took a deep breath.  "I am more than satisfied to have you, my love, but I want her too.  You cannot deprive me the chance to get to know her."

I pulled myself away.  "If I take her with me James would call the police and-" My breath caught in my throat and I threw my hands over my mouth.  How could I have been so careless?

"Woah, wait a minute..." Vincent said, shaking his head and chuckling in a way that made my blood run cold. "Are you telling me that goofy ginger has been raising my daughter all of this time?  Boy, this night just keeps getting better and better."

"You leave him out of this!"  I screamed, but he didn't seem to hear me.  He just stared up at the sky, continuously shaking his head with disbelief.

"For seven years I waited for you to visit me, and all that time you were with him. I knew I should have killed him when I had the chance."

I froze as he began pacing back and forth with his hands clasped to the sides of his head, mumbling a slew of curse words and lamenting over the fact that James was still alive.  He had become so distracted by his wrath that I used the opportunity to fling open my car door and grab the gun stashed in my purse.  I turned the safety off and cocked the gun, which got his attention.

He turned around and looked at me with a wicked grin on his face.  "My goodness, having a gun pulled on me is becoming a regular routine."