Page 13 of Ruthless Passion

How does he know Josephine?

The way his sharp blue eyes dart around as he shakes my hand, makes me cautious of his shifty behavior.

"Good morning. I'm Luca Devlin. Sorry to interrupt?—"

He cuts me off, directing his words to Josephine. "You brought back up? What the hell did you think was going to happen, Fee?"

Fee?

"Listen Duke," Josephine's voice is so soft, I barely recognize it. "I'm meeting Luca down here to discuss a film I auditioned for."

Duke. There's nothing royal, regal, or respectable about the man in front of me. The way he looks down his nose at Josephine irritates me. His tone is ripe with disgust and I'd like nothing more than to slam his face into the wall. However, despite my misgivings about his personality, he hasn't done anything except have a relationship with Jo.

"Oh, so you're back to that nonsense? I don't know why you can't get a regular job like everyone else."

Duke shifts his gaze toward me, noticing I'm stepping around Jo so it's easier for me to grab him and defend her if necessary. I move to the same step, showing us to be around the same height, but there's no way I'd let him beat me in a fight. The way his lips move, he's testing to see how true that will be.

"As a matter of fact, Jo's taking on two lead roles for my studio. She's not like everyone else. So why would she be regular like everyone else?" My voice is calm, but my disdain for this guy is growing.

He humphs and pulls a folded manila envelope out of his back pocket, handing it to Jo. "Here's a copy of the documents I filed. They say it takes up to forty-five days to process before it's final."

"And about the lump sum you promised?" Josephine asks, her eyes wide as if she's asking for a helping of food.

"Ha! Good luck squeezing another penny out of me. I'm all paid up on child support so I don't have to give you shit. I'll see you around. Wait, no, I won't." Duke laughs obnoxiously and shoves Josephine to get past me. However, he can't leave well enough alone, as he turns, calling out to us, "Oh, and don't waste your time on her stupid business proposals. She's not an actual consultant. She thinks that because she can suck peanut butter through a straw?—"

I move swiftly, faster than either Jo or Duke expects to reach him. A mirage of me slamming his face into the large courthouse step explodes in my mind, but I keep my cool… for now.

"Think wisely before you finish that statement, Duke." I warn him with the back of my hand pressing against the top of his arm, a gesture to stop him from moving he silently obeys.

"Ah, so he is back up." Duke forces a cheesy grin, as if he's winning this standoff.

"I'm so much more than her back up," I growl. My possessiveness over Josephine erupts out of nowhere. "You need to apologize for shoving her and for your language."

Duke's eyes hold a questioning glare. I can see the war in his eyes, glancing at the space between us and darting around to see if there are uniformed officers nearby. He's uncertain if he can get away with hitting me or if should do what I ask. It looks like I'll have to convince him the hard way. Especially after he rolls his arm to move the back of my hand off of him.

"Don't touch me," Duke snarls.

"Don't touch, Josephine," I reply with my voice barely above a whisper.

"You see, I've already touched her. She's the mother of my child, it's a shame she swallowed the—" He leers and has the balls to shove me back a step.

Rage over his blatant disrespect toward Josephine surges to the surface as my emotions fuel my actions. I grip him by the jaw, drawing a paralyzed expression of fear on his face. Despite the way I look in my clothes, I've learned enough working alongside the Marzano family to know how to take care of myself. At the very least, we have a decent lawyer on standby.

With one hand holding the bottom of his face, I use my leg to sweep behind him, causing his knee to bend. Once Duke is on the ground, I lock one of his free arms behind his back, wrenching it upward to cause an intense pain that feels like I'm going to break his elbow or tear the shoulder out of the socket.

"This is assault," Duke pants in frustration. His teeth clench from the pain, but the redness in his cheeks tells me he'll be putty in my hands soon.

"No," I growl in his ear. "This is self-defense and someone teaching you manners because you shouldn't have shoved me."

"Fuck you." He growls, stubborn to a fault.

I let out a huff of frustration, telling him. "You should also know that's not how you speak to a lady, let alone the woman who put her life on the line to bring your child into this world. Apologize to her, or I'm going to snap your elbow."

I jerk his arm up for good measure. My eyes scan our surroundings and luckily, none of the court officers walking around are paying attention. Still, I need to wrap this up.

Duke yelps out in pain. "Okay, fine, fine, fine. Don't break it. I need it to coach. I'm sorry, Josephine. I'm sorry. Get your fucking bodyguard off of me."

I release him as quickly as I subdued him.

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