Page 48 of Vengeful Reign

He sputters before using his voice. “Excuse me, sir. Your son assaulted two boys in class today. He broke their noses and gave them two black eyes.”

“Where are the parents of the other kids?” This incident had just occurred, and I rushed here from an important meeting. Hell, my wife is still teaching in her class. Why wasn’t she called into the meeting before the police were called?

“They had to take the kids to the hospital.”

“Very well. I’ll speak with them privately.”

“I don’t believe that will be necessary.”

“Well, I do.”

I don’t care for his accusatory tone one bit. There is a strange way he’s phrasing it. The cops called me forty-five minutes ago, so Nora should have already contacted me, but according to the camera in her classroom, she hasn’t left the room and no one has entered. In our eleven years together, we’ve had our ups and downs, but one thing hasn’t changed—I’m proud of her skills as a mother and as a special education teacher, so when she asked to go back and do it, I jumped right on board. She’s been working at this school for three years now, and I can’t stand the number of motherfuckers that eye fuck my wife. Still, I understand she’s gorgeous, so it’s bound to happen.

Only a few didn’t take “no” or “I’m married” for an answer, and I had to step in to set the record straight. Now, this fuck knew she was married so he never outright hit on her, but I saw the camera feeds. I watched how he stared at Nora like a lovesick fucking puppy, eyeing her to the point of a dangerous fetish. I want to rip his head off, but I maintain my composure.

“Like my son said, they earned it, so explain to me what happened.”

“I’m not sure. The boys said he just attacked them in class unprovoked.”

“That’s a lie,” Caleb shouts.

“Son, we don’t raise our voices like that. Now, do tell me what really happened.”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Were they speaking inappropriately about your mother?” He shakes his head, and the bastard who thinks he’swon releases a smug puff of air. “Watch that,” I warn him, and he stiffens.

“Son, just tell us.”

“They insulted John. They called him stupid and weird.” My little scrapper has tears in his eyes, and I can’t blame him for it. My kiddos love their uncle as much as their momma and I do. My fists clench so damn hard on the wooden chair in front of me that it cracks.

“Are you mad at me?”

I cup his face and pull him in for a hug. “Of course not. Never, Son. You did the right thing, and I’m sure they learned their lesson.”

“Mr. MacNamara, that’s not how we teach lessons on name-calling here.”

A growl rips from my body, and I release my son before turning my rage on the damn principal. Keeping my calm, I focus on him. “Apparently you don’t even acknowledge anything happened, so you don’t teach anything. It’s twenty-twenty-five; autism has long been discussed, understood, and worked on. The stigma isn’t there like it was before. You and your staff should be well aware of it. This is a fucking expensive private school.”

“Darling, what are you doing here?”

“Nora, didn’t you hear? Our son was nearly arrested for assault today in school for beating up two classmates.”

“What?” Her tiger eyes turn completely round.

“Yes. Your dear principal didn’t call you in here yet. I got a call from the police department first.”

“Oh, my goodness. Are you okay, Caleb?” He nods. She bends down and hugs our baby before standing up and glaring at the principal. “How dare you call the police on my son?”

I grab her and hold her back before she can attack the man. “Sweetheart, you’re carrying my baby, and remember—I don’t like another man’s hands on you in any way.”

“You’re right. I should have known this was coming. Jack, the police aren’t coming for my baby, are they?” she asks, looking up at me with pleading eyes. I kiss her lips softly.

“Love, not a damn chance in hell. Do me a favor and take our son to get his things. I’m taking him home. I understand if you need to stay with the kids for the day. Shamus will stay by your side until the end of the day.”

“Okay.” She kisses me again and then gives the principal a scathing look before taking our son’s hand. The second that the door closes behind them, my attention returns to the good principal who doesn’t have the common sense to stop staring at my wife through the window in the door. “She looks good?”

“Yeah. What? I mean no. I mean…” he stammers.

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