I broke free of his hold and stared at him. “Why?”
“I’m going into the family business.”
Politics. No wonder he was sniffing around me now. I had the power to shatter his dream.
My anxiety eased a little and I faked the confidence I desperately craved. “Make your offer and then get the fuck out of here.”
He visibly struggled with my attitude. This was a side of me that James was not acquainted with. “My lawyer will be in touch with the details,” he finally said. “And, Velvet, that language is very unbecoming.”
My blood boiled. “I don’t give a shit what you think of my language. I’m not your doormat anymore, so I can say and think whatever the hell I want.”
Disdain dripped from him. “I was right to get rid of you years ago.”
His words pierced my heart. As much as I knew he was an asshole, and as much as I knew I was better than what he thought of me, it still hurt to have the man I’d loved and given everything to, say those words. He’d ruined my self belief years ago, and I’d slowly healed myself; I now feared he had the ability to bury me under a layer of self doubt and loathing all over again.
Chapter 5
This Is Who I Am ~ Vanessa Amorosi
Nash
Erika was wrong. Her neighbour didn’t have a mental health problem; he was just a dickhead. I’d confronted him ten minutes ago about her issues with him. He wasn’t happy about it and had proceeded to have a go at me. I let him hurl obscenities at me which he did like a pro. He was obviously experienced at abusing people; he didn’t even stop to take a breath.
Once I was sure he was finished, I took a step closer to him and snarled, “You finished?”
I was slightly taller and bigger than he was, but he held his ground; he didn’t even blink at my intrusion into his space. “No, one last thing. You tell your sister that this is my fucking home and I’ll do whatever the fuck I want whenever the fuck I want to do it. And if she wants to get her big brother involved, tell her to bring it on.”
I was already in a foul mood after my earlier conversation with Velvet, but this guy’s smugness tipped me over the edge. Even if I’d wanted to contain my fury, I wouldn’t have been able to.
“You’re the big fuckin’ man, aren't you? Treating women like that must make you feel real fuckin’ good about yourself, motherfucker,” I growled. “You know what makes me feel good?” I continued in a menacing tone. He had the good fucking grace to register concern, but my lust for violence had been fueled, and there was no turning back now. I raised my fist and smashed it into his face, taking great joy in the blood this produced.
I’d caught him unaware and he tried to get in the game, but I was two steps ahead of him and punched the other side of his face before jabbing him hard in the gut. He doubled over, but I wasn’t done. I grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him back into the brick wall behind him. The thud he hit the wall with was satisfying, as was the look of alarm on his face.
“Stop!” he managed to get out while clutching his stomach, and trying to shield his face from me.
My arm was raised and ready to rain more blows down on him, but I paused and eyed him. His face was a bloody mess and he appeared to be in some pain. I’d probably done enough damage to make him think twice about bugging Erika again. Lowering my arm, I demanded, “We got an understanding here, asshole?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes, now fuck off and leave me alone.”
“Just one more thing; you fuck with my sister again and I’ll be back.” I paused, and then threatened him further, “And I won’t be alone.”
He nodded and once I was convinced he meant it, I shoved him one last time and then left him to it. I was fairly certain that Erika wouldn’t hear about this from him which was the way I wanted it. She had a tendency to stress too much about shit and the last thing I wanted was her worrying about me. God knew, she already did that enough.
***
Five hours later, I met with Scott, Griff and J to discuss where we were at with our investigation of Marcus. Griff was full of bad news.
“You’re kidding, right?” I asked in disbelief.
Griff looked at me and shook his head. “No, the lead was a dead end. Marcus has covered his tracks well.”
“Fuck,” J swore and slammed his hand down on the table. “We’re never gonna get this motherfucker, are we?”
I felt his frustration. We’d spent the last two months trying to get a handle on what Marcus was up to and none of the leads went anywhere. Either Marcus wasn’t up to anything or he was skilled at hiding shit. We all believed the latter scenario.
“Patience, brother,” Scott directed at J.
Unfortunately, patience wasn’t J’s strong suit and he was pretty agitated with this latest development. “Maybe I need to go back to Adelaide and talk to some of the boys down there. Someone’s gotta know something for fuck’s sake.”
Scott considered this and then gave Griff a questioning look. Griff nodded, and Scott turned to J and agreed, “Okay, you go down there and see what you can find. But you’re going to have to keep it quiet, brother; the last thing we want is news travelling back to Dad. You know if we can trust any of the boys down there with this?”
J contemplated that, and then replied, “There’s two of them who I’m pretty sure can be trusted.”
Griff stood. “Contact them and set it up, J.” He checked his watch. “I’ve gotta go, got a hot date with a brunette.”