Eric (Men of Honor 2)

Don’t laugh, Eric, or she’d lose her shit right here at eight o’clock in the damn morning. “Really? That doesn’t sound like Ty, are you sure it was him? What did he have to say?”

“Well, he didn’t exactly tell Dan that it was him, but I knew it was.”

“What did he say?”

“He asked my husband if he knew what his wife gets up to while he’s at work? Is that any way for a son to treat his own mother, I ask you? I hold you responsible for this.”

“Yes, because I’m the one who pushed you onto another man’s dick and caused you to walk out on your son.”

“That was a long time ago, get over it.”

“See, that’s the thing I did. You’re the one who brought my wife’s ex here, remember? As to Tyler calling your idiot husband unless you have proof, I’d advise you not to accuse my son. On the other hand, if I were you and you’ve pushed him to this point, you’d be wise to give him what he wants or who knows what the hell he’d do next. I wouldn’t push him if I were you.”

“So you’re not going to help me? You’re not going to tell him that he shouldn’t be doing this? If Dan doesn’t calm down, I could be out on the streets behind this. Dan has never suspected me before; now he’s questioning everything, going back through my accounts and threatening divorce if he finds anything off.”

“What does any of this have to do with me?” She opened her mouth to spew more of her shit. I held my hand up to stop her because I honestly did not care one damn. “Like I said. Give him what he asked for. If you’d done that in the first place, you could’ve avoided all of this.”

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a business to run. Go stir somebody else’s shit for a change and get the hell off my cloud.” I’ve seen her ass more in the last few months since I met Justine than I had in all the years since our divorce. What the hell is Tyler up to?

I checked my watch on the way up in the elevator, but he’d be in his first class by now. I don’t know what gives Janine the idea that I can reel my kid in. He’s damn near a man at this stage, and if he’s anything like me, which I’m inclined to believe he is, he sticks to his word. If he says he’s going to do something, it’s your ass if you try calling his bluff.

I have no doubt that he’s the one who called her husband. Tyler has no respect for the other man, and I never tried to change his mind about him. The boy has always had a strong sense of right and wrong, and his loyalty runs deep. As long as he doesn’t cross the line into criminal behavior and doesn’t do anything that I think he might regret down the line, I stay out of his shit.

I raised him to think for himself, to know right from wrong, and never to forget what it felt like when his mother betrayed him, that last is for the sole purpose of teaching him not to do that shit to another human being as long as he lives.

I’ve never had any complaints barring a few here and there over the years when he had to plant his foot in someone’s kid’s ass for being stupid, but each time, as long as my boy was in the right, I let him know that I had his back. This time will be no different.

I should probably warn idiot Sam that Tyler was out for blood. Since he was Lora’s bio dad, things might get sticky if Tyler sets his sights on him. But I’ll hold off and wait, see what happens. I don’t owe him shit, and I’m pretty sure Tyler wouldn’t do anything to bring harm to his new stepmother and his little sister.

Before I married Justine and brought her home, we had a long in-depth talk about the changes in our lives, and he assured me that he was happy for me and to go for it. He’d even thanked me for not sticking him with a stepmother when he was too young to defend himself because he’d seen what that had done to some of his little friends growing up.

I also know that he wouldn’t really hurt his mother. He may resent the hell out of her, but I didn’t raise him to hate her no matter what she’s done. With that said, he has a lot of built-up anger where she’s concerned, but I’m still convinced that had she left well enough alone, he never would’ve crossed paths with her.