Page 49 of Forgotten

I took my first step toward the building, and my eyes brushed across the tall, dark windows. In one of them, I saw a familiar shape. Graham, sitting at a table, an empty seat across from him, a bottle of wine between the two seats and his glass partially full. He swirled the wine like he always did, then took a sip.

He was preparing for a monumental moment in his life. And I was going to ruin it for him.

Miserably, I took the remaining steps to the door and walked through, the doorman shutting it behind me.

I had to steel myself. I had to do what was right, no matter what. No matter how scary or sad it was. I had to do the right thing.

Because at the end of the day, I was in love. But not with Graham.

With Jesse James Galloway.

And I needed to go home.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jesse

Oland was back up quickly, slamming his elbow into my stomach and sending me backward, bent over.

“You stupid bastard,” he shouted. “You broke my nose again!”

“Good thing you’re ugly. No one can tell,” I said.

Oland let out a growl and dove after me. I sidestepped him, and he tripped over my outstretched foot, landing hard on the concrete. Behind me, Lacey screamed, beginning as a high-pitched wail and descending into a hate-filled yell. She whacked me with her palm in the back, and I turned to face her.

“Leave him alone, you idiot,” she shouted.

“Why?” I said. “Because he’s your boyfriend? Is that why you want me to stop?”

I could sense movement behind me, and I turned, putting up my fists in a boxing stance before Oland could swing. I ducked it and threw a left to his stomach, returning the favor, and he stumbled away a few steps.

“I said stop it,” Lacey shouted, clearly used to getting her way when she ordered people around like children. “Oland, stop!”

“I’m not stopping,” he grunted. “I’m going to kick his ass!”

“You sure about that?” I shot back. “Looks like you’re the one getting their ass kicked, pal.”

He charged again, but this time threw his whole body at me in a football tackle. I wasn’t able to completely evade him, and he got his arm around my foot, tripping me. I went down to one knee, and he yanked himself to his feet, tackling me again. We both hit the concrete hard, and I felt my forehead drag against it.

Oland’s hands reached for my eyes, but I kicked at him, and he changed tactics, throwing fists into my shoulder and arm. I tried to headbutt him again, but he was too far away, and I felt an elbow smash into my lip instead. Dazed, I fell back a bit, and he pounced, mounting me and throwing punches at my head. Some ricocheted off the top of my skull, and others were blocked by me getting my arms up, but a few got through, rocking me and cracking something under my eye.

An alligator roll was enough to get him off me, and I scrambled to my feet, diving at him with my knee toward his head. It connected, and he went down, and it was my turn to rain fists down on his head. But it didn’t last long. Lacey grabbed me from behind, yanking on my hair and slamming her closed fist into the side of my face.

I got to my feet and wiggled away from her, refusing to put my hands on a woman no matter what she was doing, and turned my attention back to Oland. I kicked him hard in the stomach, and he rolled away before I caught sight of Lacey airborne out of the corner of my eye. I tried to move out of the way, but her fingers were out like claws, and she caught my face with them, slicing down my nose and cheek and taking a hunk of skin with her.

“Why didn’t you just pay me?” she shouted. “We’d have your fucking ranch and you would finally pay for being such a womanizer.”

“Excuse me?” I said, stepping back a few feet to catch my breath and check how much blood was coming out of my face. “You wanted the ranch?”

“The ranch that should belong to us,” Oland said, standing. “The Andersons. Your grandfather stole that land.”

“The hell he did,” I said. “He bought it fair and square, and your grandfather tried to start a damn war about it.”

“Liar,” Oland said. “All you Galloway boys do is lie.”

“All you Anderson boys do is bully,” I said. “But you can’t bully me anymore. I don’t have anything to lose.”

“I’ll take that ranch from you,” Oland said. “One way or the other.”

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