Page 11 of Dare to Embrace
Kody whipped out his cell phone, his blue eyes dancing with pleasure.
Marcus, on the other hand, glared daggers at me.
Bending over, I got in his face. “Don’t fuck with me. I’m in a bad mood this morning.”
“Yeah,” Kody said into his phone. “I would like to report a break-in.”
Marcus shot to his feet, stumbling as he tried to get the phone out of Kody’s hand. Kody was quicker, moving away as he bobbed his head at whoever was on the other end of the line.
“Please don’t call the cops,” Marcus whined, losing that bad-boy attitude.
I gripped his arm and practically dragged him off the stage and to a chair. “Sit.”
He did as he was told. “You can’t call the cops,” he pleaded.
“Maybe a jail cell would do you some good.” I didn’t believe it would, but scaring him straight might work, just like it had when Sloane had hit his brother Maiken with her car. After that had happened, Marcus was a new person.
I dragged a chair next to him and nodded at Kody.
He lowered his phone and strutted over to the bar. “Let me know if you need me to redial.”
Marcus shot to his feet. “No!”
“Sit down,” I said in a harsh tone.
The day was becoming a clusterfuck. I wanted to pummel the kid. I had a lot of patience, but I was at the end of my rope. He’d given me a lot of lip when he lived with me, but I’d always bitten my tongue, hoping that it was just a short phase of depression over the death of his dad.
I shoved my hands through my hair. “What happened to you? Why are you drinking again? And you’re going to work off the liquor you drank.”
Marcus winced as though I were screaming at him. “Life happened.”
I pulled out my phone and called Lacey.
“Are you seriously calling the cops?” His tone dripped with fear.
He should be frightened.
I lifted a shoulder. “Maybe.”
Kody returned with a glass of tomato juice. “Drink this.”
Marcus grabbed the glass and downed the juice.
Lacey answered. “Did you find him?”
“He’s at The Cave,” I said. “Let Christine know I’ll drop him at her house.”
“Okay,” Lacey said before she hung up.
I pocketed my phone. “Your mom is worried out of her mind.”
His body slumped in the chair as he pulled on strands of his brown hair. Then he started crying. “I don’t want her to see me like this.”
I briefly closed my eyes, wishing I could restart the day or go back two hours when I was making love to my wife, not once, but twice. The kid needed serious help, and as much as I could talk to him and give him advice, I didn’t think anything I said would resonate with him. Nevertheless, I said in a soft voice, “Talk to me, Marcus.” As moody as I was and as mad as I was with him, my heart broke for what he was going through.
I didn’t think this drunken escapade had anything to do with the death of his father.
He wiped his eyes with his fingers. “Sloane broke up with me.”
