“It’s where my source says he is, and believe me, he will be right.” I get out, and August follows.
“Fuck, I hate him,” August grumbles.
A car pulls in behind us, and I see Archie get out and lean against it, his gun casually held in his hand against his thigh as he smirks at us.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” August questions, referring to Archie.
“Always.” And it’s true, I am always in control.
The only person I seem to lose control with is her.
Even with Paige, I was always in control, always on my game.
But Jacinta, well, she’s different.
Looking at the house, you would think no one is home, but then, just the slightest movement from behind a blind gives the game away.
“Kick it in or knock?” August asks with a smirk.
I walk to the front door and kick hard. It flies open on the first try. As soon as we step inside, there he is, flying to his feet.
“Anderson,” August growls, and Anderson’s eyes flick to August, then back to me.
“You kicked my door in,” Anderson says in disbelief.
“Where the fuck is Oliver?” I demand.
“Isn’t he with his mother?” Anderson says, but the smile gives it away.
You can’t fix stupid.
Anderson is the definition of stupid. If you could look it up in the dictionary next to his name would be the words ‘a stupid moron.’
“Look, last chance before I smash your fucking face in.”
Anderson just laughs. “You …” he eyes me up and down, “… would never want to get yourself dirty,” he says, then turns his attention to August. “If the threat came from you—” I don’t let him finish. Two steps, and my boot meets his face. When I pull my foot away, his face is coated in blood, and he is flat out on the floor.
“Do you ever learn?” August says.
“How dare you.” We hear a screech and turn to see Anderson’s mother standing there with Oliver in front of her. Her hands possessively clutch him.
But what gets to me is the fact she has Oliver positioned in front of her. Is that for her protection? That she would use a child for her own personal security as a safeguard against getting hurt?
“You come into my house and assault my son?”
“Oliver,” August says. “Your mom is missing you. You want to go home?”
Oliver nods his head fast and goes to move, but she holds him in position.
“That can’t happen. We are all getting to know one another. Oliver wants to stay with us.”
“No, he does not. Now, remove your hands from him,” August warns.
I slowly move until I am behind Anderson, who is still on the floor, clutching his nose.
“I think it’s best you listen to August,” I tell her, and her dead eyes fall to me. I reach forward and give Anderson’s nose a kick, making him scream in the process.
“Don’t you think your family has done enough to ruin our lives already? This is my grandson. I will be keeping him.”
“He is not your son. And if you wish for your son to see his next birthday, you will remove your hand from Oliver so he can go to August.” I raise my hand again, her eyes fall to her son, and she lets Oliver go. As soon as August has him, he leads Oliver outside. I wait until they’re gone before I reach for Anderson, pulling him up by his shirt.
“Archie is outside with a gun. He is ready to come in here as soon as I leave,” I seethe in his face.
His eyes go wide at the mention of Archie’s name. “I had nothing to do with it. It was all her crazy idea. She told me I had to do it.”
“You really are a sack of shit, aren’t you? A worthless, gullible, imbecilic piece of shit.”
He doesn’t say anything in return.
“Drop him.” I feel something sharp touch my side.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I warn.
“You obviously do not know the lengths I will go to to protect my son.”
“And you obviously don’t know me,” I reply, as the click of a gun being cocked sounds close by. I hear the knife drop to the floor, and Anderson looks at Archie, who’s casually standing in the doorway, gun at his side and a smirk on his face as he takes in the scene in front of him.
“Thought you were taking your sweet ass time,” he says.
“It wouldn’t be appropriate to hit a woman, would it?” I ask, pushing Anderson back to his couch and hitting his broken nose one last time for good measure.
Damn asshole.
“I can keep a secret ... so if you want, go at it.” Archie grins.
I turn to face Anderson’s mother, and her eyes are now wide with fear. I lean in until I am a hair’s breadth away from her. “You come near Jacinta or Oliver again … I may just let Archie use his gun on you. Because you know …” I wipe my hands on my suit, “… I don’t want to get my hands dirty with scum like you.”