Garrett looked to McClintock. “Justin. Sorry, you picked a bad time.”

Justin puffed up his chest and skewered Garrett with his eyes. “Don’t give a shit if it’s a bad time, Garrett.”

His tone was antagonistic.

Garrett stopped three paces from him.

“Right. I’m down here outta respect but also to share we’re not only not gonna do this now, we’re not ever gonna do this.”

His tone was steel.

McClintock took a step toward him. “You think that, you think wrong.”

“Okay, then, Justin. How about after I wrap up a homicide investigation, I go to your office and we have whatever this is out on your turf?” Garrett suggested sarcastically.

“You fuck with my daughter, you don’t get to fuck with me. I fuck with you,” McClintock snapped.

Garrett crossed his arms on his chest. “I see Mia’s told you some tales, so I’ll give this the time it takes to set that straight. Your daughter and I divorced five years ago. I’m now in a serious relationship with another woman. Mia’s not in my life and hasn’t been in my life in any kind of healthy way for half a decade, so she doesn’t get any say about who is in my life. That’s it. There’s nothin’ more to it.”

“Mia’s shared how you’ve been stringing her along in a very unhealthy way. Those’re the ‘tales’ she’s been telling, Merrick,” McClintock returned. “Now, are you saying my daughter’s a liar?”

If Mia shared that kind of thing with her father, it was clear that the fucked-up non-relationship he’d had with his ex for five years after their divorce wasn’t the only unhealthy relationship in her life.

“I’m saying the relationship we have is none of your business,” Garrett shot back. “It wasn’t when we were married. It wasn’t after we were divorced. And the absolute lack of one now is the definition of it being none of your business.”

“I beg to differ when my daughter has quit her job, taken her house off the market, as well as broken off her engagement with another man all because she’s committed to helping her husband get his head sorted out. And while she’s committed to that and has shared that with you, you’re not only spending time with the town slut, word is, you’ve moved her in with—”

McClintock didn’t finish.

This was because Garrett moved and did it aggressively, backing McClintock up until he hit the connected bench of chairs that ran the front of the reception area. And he did this with such speed, McClintock’s ass crashed into a seat.

Looking up at Garrett, his face paled with fear before it reddened with bluster and he opened his mouth to speak.

Garrett leaned so they were nose-to-nose and beat him to it.

“Have you met Cher Rivers?” he growled.

“I don’t need to—”

“If you’ve never met her, you don’t know fuck all about her. So you sure as fuck don’t talk that kind of trash about her.”