Bab 18: 18. Her daddy

"Now, where was I?" he turns back to Gray. "Ahh, that's right. So tell me, how did it feel?"

"I_ I_ I _I _I didn't f_feel anything sir" he quickly answers the question this time. This man was mad. Gray had no idea what his relation with Erina was, but one thing was certain, this man was mad.

"That's a shame, tsk" he clicks his tongue, rising up from near him. "Carry on with what you were doing to those three." He orders the men.

"W_w_wait, what do Y_You mean?" stutters Jimmy who had been quiet with fear all the while. As he was being dragged by two men, and his head was being shoved into the drum of ice-cold water again.

Even Tom who was knocked out was not spared, his head was shoved into the water, and he was forced awake.

"It's a real shame... Because you told Jimmy," He points at the guy named Jimmy as he sets Helfer down on the bonnet of his car, giving the lizard a front row seat. "That she was err... What's the word you used again?" he closed his eyes tight as if trying to remember.

"Ah-ha! Juicy." He smirks. "You said my woman was juicy... And it irks me that even I don't know if she is. Because even I find it difficult to touch her skin, she seems so delicate." He takes a long whip from one person, assessing it.

"I'm scared I'll leave a bruise on her skin, or break a bone, or tear a muscle, but you left a hickey, and you opened that mouth of yours and told everyone how it felt to do so."

He returns the whip to the guy and walks over to his car in a rather calm and nonchalant way. Swinging and swaying his arms slowly like he was conducting a very mellow musical performance.

"S_Sir, I s_swear, we didn't go further than that." Gray started giving answers to questions he wasn't even asked. "I_I_ I promise you sir, w_we didn't do it. S_she backed out. She suddenly said she_ she _she w_wasn't ready to go further, so we didn't do it sir. I swear, I didn't sleep with her sir. That's the reason I broke up with her."

"OH, no?" Reuel tilts his head out of the car, that creepy smile on his face.

"Y_Yes sir," Gray nods enthusiastically, thinking the man would let him go if he gave him this detail at least. "We didn't do it sir. I swear, I didn't touch her sir."

"OH but you did." He comes out with another base ball bat in hand, and a small green baseball too. "You touched her mentally and emotionally."

"You see, I really don't care about her past," he says, but he hears a voice in his head tell him `that's a lie`.

"The fact that you touched her before she met me isn't the problem... The fact that you touched her AFTER she met me is the problem." He carelessly strolled back to where Gray knelt down. The screaming and shouting of the other three echoing like an opus to his ears.

"You see, all my life, I've had things taken away from me. I've had people touch what is mine, so I decided, until I'm ready to throw away what I no longer need, I won't let anyone touch what is mine."

"But you," he holds onto Gray's jaw, making him meet the green flames in his eyes. "You touched her in the past, and then you had the audacity to parade things that even I haven't seen, you placed them out for the whole world to see... Now, how did that seem right to you?"

"You made her cry, you humiliated her in front of everyone. It's clear your parents never taught you to stay away from things that aren't yours. And even if they did, it's obvious you refused to heed to their teachings. So, I'll help them teach you... Life's value"

"You see, I wasted my time yesterday, and I was pissed. I really was. And I was going to make her suffer for wasting my time, but then I realized she wasn't at fault." He says with a mocking surprised expression on his face.

"But that didn't change the fact that my time was wasted. So somebody has to pay for her standing me up. And then I found you!"

"Do you like golf?" he suddenly asks. "Because I don't. But have you ever played golf with baseball before?" Reuel chuckles, but there was no evidence of amusement in his eyes.

"It's fun... Now open up your mouth" He orders, clenching onto Gray's jaw tightly. Any harder, and he would crush the man's jaw forever.

"W_W _Why are you doing this for that bi..." *POW* before the word even completely left his mouth, Reuel's fist crashed into his nose.

"ERINA! ERINA! ERINA! ERINA!!!" He screamed and viciously punched the man with every scream. Bursting the guys nose open in anger. "She has a freaking name!!" He lands one last blow on the man's battered face.

Angrily shoving him to the side, taking some calming steps away from the man. Breathing in fresh air, trying to calm his nerves, the bat and baseball still in his hands.

In and out, and in and out, he breathed until his heart rate was back to normal.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," he calmly states, running his finger through his hair, tossing back some strands that fell to his forehead.

"W_Who a_are you, to her??" gurgling his own blood, Gray could no longer breathe properly, his body shook like a person going into seizure, "W_what is s_she, that you're do_doing this?" But even in his almost dead state, Reuel was not even close to finished with him... Not yet.

"Isn't it obvious??" he smiles, dramatically spreading his arms sideways as he did.

"I'm her daddy." He giggles. "And she's my baby," He deadpans. "at least for now" he quickly adds as the smile now slowly faded from his face and his arms fall back down, as he walks back to Gray, the green baseball in his hand.

"And the only one entitled to hurt her emotionally, or mentally is me," he forces the ball into Gray's mouth. "for as long as she's mine, that is my EXCLUSIVE right."

And he stands up straight, the baseball bat in hand like a professional batter ready to hit the ball.

"No one messes with this daddy's baby." *WHAM!!*

And all the while, Gary stood there next to Helfer, with his phone in hand, rigorously reading through business Emails as if nothing was going on.