Page 143 of A Better Place

In an instant, Vince takes a step back, assessing the son he didn’t get to see change into the man he’s becoming, with absolutely no help from him.

“Jack,” Vince says, his voice coming out just barely above a whisper.

I look at Jack in the way I would assume Vince is. Seeing him for the first time in three years. He’s taller, broader, voice deeper. He styles his hair, has stubble on his face, braces on his teeth, keys from the vehicle he drives dangling from his fingers.

“Vince.” He nods his head once and comes to my side in a flash. He pulls me slightly behind him.

When we left, Jack was tall but hadn’t grown into it yet. He hadn’t fully developed. In his mind, he couldn’t defend me. But now, three years later, he’s used our distance from Vince to become someone who could — and would — protect me at all costs.

“Look at my boy. All man,” Vince says, chest puffing out as if he had anything to do with the changes that have occurred in my son.

No, that was all Jack. Maybe a little bit of me, Tate, and now James, too. But mostly, that was all Jack. His determination. His strength where we were both once weak.

“I’m not your boy.”

“You’ll always be mine. Even when your mother tries to cloud your mind with lies,” he sneers in my direction.

“Lies?” Jack asks, his voice calm, head cocked to the side. “I’m sorry. Was it Mom who was lying when I saw you choke her? When I saw you throw her across the room? Was my mind playing tricks on me, Vince?” he bites out his name, causing Vince to take one step toward us. “Don’t. Don’t you fucking dare take a step toward us.”

“Is this how you’re raising our boy? To curse at the man who raised him? Gave him life?” he asks, his body pressing into mine, close and demanding.

Jack reaches over and grabs ahold of Vince’s arm, trying to push him away from me. “You’re not a man. Nor anyone who raised me.”

“Boy…” he says, reaching his hand back as if he’s going to backhand him, but Jack stands tall, ready to take anything Vince is planning to throw.

“Stop right there,” I hear and look at the door. Standing inside are James, Tate, his friend Will, and a man dressed in uniform who I recognize as Jack’s friend, Blake’s dad, Brad. I have no idea how they got here, how they knew Vince was here, but I’m so grateful for their presence.

Vince looks over at the doorway and narrows his eyes.

“Oh, I see my whore of a wife’s boyfriend decided to show? Had to bring the cavalry with you, huh?”

“How did…”

“How did I know you were fucking pussy-boy chef here? I’ve been watching you for a while now.”

“The flat tire?” I ask to which he nods, unashamed.

“It was you who James fought at the gym?”

His grin is pure sinister, confirming what James and I already questioned.

“That day James came here. He said my house was unlocked.”

He shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal.

“And you broke into my classroom and moved things around?” I ask quietly and don’t dare look at James.

He knew I had a few things happen to me that made me nervous and told me that if something else occurred, I needed to tell him. This one I hadn’t told him yet. It must have happened over Christmas break because I noticed a few things out of place when I returned to school. At the time, I hadn’t thought anything of it and, not that I wanted secrets between us, but I hated making him worry over nothing. So much took place during break I had second-guessed myself whether or not I imagined it. Turns out I hadn’t, and there was something to worry over.

“You really need to invest in new locks, Carly. You never know who could make their way into your home.” He followed his ominous comment with a wink that churned my stomach.

“How dare you.” I seethe. I start toward him, ready to take him on, but James holds me back.

“How dare I?” he asks, voice loud, vein in his forehead popping. “You ungrateful bitch! I did everything for you! You repaid me by what? Taking Jack away from his father?” He takes a menacing step toward me once again. At his movement, James shifts next to me, and Jack takes a step forward, shielding me farther from his father.

“I said stop right there,” the commanding voice of Brad filters through my home.

Vince glances over at the door once again and takes a step back, almost as if he hadn’t noticed the police officer with James.

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