Page 54 of Every Breath

Mason felt murder in his heart. This was the man who had taken away his life, his wife, and his children in the first place. Then, just as he began to make some headway with Brandi in his new life, Rodney was hell-bent on coming between them yet again.

Something had to be done to stop him. Mason would have grabbed the writhing man off the ground, but some force seemed to be holding him back.

A woman in jogging gear who must have witnessed the exchange came rushing over. “Mister, I saw it all. I’ll call the police on this goon if you need me to. At least let me call the ambulance for you.” She knelt down next to Rodney.

“Get the fuck away from me, you stupid bitch!”

The woman gasped at his sharp words. She looked up at Mason, lips pursed. “My mistake. You probably should have hit him harder.” She got up. Mason barely acknowledged her before she jogged off. He kept his focus on his adversary.

“You’re going to pay for this. You’ve hit me three times now. There won’t be another,” Rodney hissed.

“Are you going to have me arrested? Fine. While you’re reporting me to the police, you can explain why you were violating the restraining order, and, oh, yeah, why don’t you tell them what happened to your partner two years ago.”

Rodney’s eyes widened as he slowly got to his feet and took a step back. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about. You think you’re so clever with the way you’ve wormed your way into Brandi’s life, but I know what you did.” Just remembering that night made the blood pound in his head. He tried to advance on the man, but again, something held him back.

Rodney threw him such a look of hatred that Mason should have been dead. Again. He tried to move, but his limbs were frozen. What was going on?

“You’re threatening me?” He laughed abruptly. “Who’s going to believe someone with your history? By the time I’m through with you, you’re going to wish you’d never set eyes on Brandi. She’s mine and nothing and no one will stop me from having her.”

Mason fought against the unseen barrier holding him, but he was still unable to break free. “You’re sick.”

Holding his nose, Rodney glared at Mason. “Watch your back, Collins.”

Mason watched helplessly as his enemy walked past him. “Chicken shit bastard.”

When Rodney was out of eyesight, Mason attempted to move again and still found that he couldn’t.

“If I hadn’t intervened, you would have killed him.”

Paul.

“Do you have any idea how much I want to make that bastard suffer for all he’s done to me and my family? Do you know what it’s like to look into the eyes of your murderer?”

“No, I don’t, but I told you, you aren’t allowed to retaliate against him. And you were getting dangerously close to telling him who you were.”

“You said I couldn’t tell Brandi who I was, not Rodney.”

“Now you’re getting technical. Fine, but I’m warning you to take it easy. He’s a very dangerous man. Letting him guess who you are has put you in even more jeopardy.”

“I don’t care. I want him to know. I want him to sweat it out and spend sleepless nights thinking about this.”

“And you would endanger Ben, and possibly Brandi and the kids, because you can’t keep your mouth shut?”

“What does Ben have to do with this?”

“You know as well as I do that Rodney isn’t playing with a full deck. He could easily take out his anger on Ben. Do you want to risk that?”

Mason raked his fingers through his hair. He hadn’t thought about that, but he wouldn’t put it past Rodney to harm a child.

“Damn, I’ve made a mess of things. Brandi hates me now. Why did Mason Collins have to be such a bastard? His past has ruined my chances with Brandi and I can’t really say I blame her. I wouldn’t want to be with someone who had done half the things he did.”

“Give her a little time. I’m sure when she has time to think more clearly, she’ll realize that you’ve changed.”

“How in the world did Rodney find out?”

“Most of it from public record and asking former employees at the car dealership. He’s also gotten friendly with Karen.”

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