Page 144 of A Better Place

“Officer, nice of you to come. This woman kidnapped my son. And, as you can see, she just punched me.”

“That true, boy?” Brad asks Jack, his eyebrows raised. By the look on his face, he doesn’t believe Vince in the slightest.

“Nope. Just got a bloody nose, it seems. And no kidnapping. This jerkwad beat my mom, so we left.”

Brad’s face turns red as he shifts his attention to Vince. “You beat on Carly, sir?”

“Just a misunderstanding,” Vince stupidly says.

Brad raises his eyebrows. “A misunderstanding, huh?”

“Yes, sir.”

He points to the two of us. “Seems they think differently.”

Vince rolls his eyes.

Still the same old cocky ass.

I’ve had enough, so I take two steps toward him, square my shoulders, and look him dead in the eye.

“You need to leave, Vince. I told you three years ago not to come looking for us. I told you we were done. I meant it then, and I haven’t changed my mind since you tried choking me.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know James is close to his breaking point. And by the look on Tate’s and Will’s face, as well as Brad’s, they’re about done also. From beside me, I can feel the heat coming off James as well as hear the deep inhale and exhale of his breaths.

“We’re not done, Carly. You stole my son from me, and I don’t plan on leaving here without him,” Vince says, his voice growing increasingly louder with every word spoken.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Jack says firmly.

“I’m gonna have to ask you to leave Carly’s home, sir,” Brad grits out angrily.

“I’ve done nothing wrong. You can’t force me to leave.”

“No? I seem to remember hearing her ask you to leave. And since it’s her home, I’d say I have good reason to ask you to vacate the premises.”

Tate, who’s been oddly quiet, steps forward, arms crossed over his chest.

Will stands next to him, mimicking his stance.

“You heard him,” Tate says. “Get out.”

Vince looks to Tate and over to Will, noticing their bulk and size before shifting his attention to James. “What’s wrong, James,” he bites out his name. “Can’t fight your own battles, so you have to bring in the muscle?”

“Oh, I’m certain I can fight my own battles. But you see, Vince,” he says in the same tone used on his name, “unlike you, I don’t choose to fight someone not as strong as me. I don’t choose to pick on someone smaller than me. So bringing my friends? It’s not for my protection. It’s for yours.”

I almost laugh at the look on Vince’s face at James all but calling him weak. “You really think I need protection? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Iknow I’m the man who’s in love with this woman right here. I know I’m the man who will do anything to protect her. I’m the man who considers this boy my son, even after only knowing him for a few short months, and would also do anything to protect him. So you see, I’m the man you chose not to be. Maybe I should thank you.”

Vince scoffs, shaking his head. “Thank me? THANK ME?!”

“Sure. Thank you, Vince. For being such a supreme dick that it brought Carly and Jack to me.”

Vince’s face is as red as a beet when he finally loses it. “You asshole! You think you can come in here, take over my life? Steal what’s mine away from me?” Vince roars, clenching his fists.

Brad steps between the two men as Jack takes a step to the side, bringing me with him. Tate and Will are now standing on either side of James, but he doesn’t seem to need them.

James, almost tauntingly, spreads his arms out to the sides. “No. You see, what you’re not getting, is that I’m not taking anything that’s yours. Carly? Jack? They’re mine. Maybe I wasn’t fortunate enough to have them for the past twenty years, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let either of them go now that I have them.”

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