Page 97 of Stone Rules

We turn the corner and I look for a cab.

“You’re not scared of me, are you, Stone?”

I swear to God that is probably the only thing the asshole could have said to make me turn around. I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s a good manipulator.

“Turn around and walk away right now, Thompson, or I will call the police on your ass faster than you can steal quarters from that parking meter. You are harassing Charlie.”

“You can’t call the police on me. I haven’t done anything. This is a public sidewalk and I have every right to be here. And as far as I’m concerned, I was just the one who was threatened here.”

I don’t want to take my eyes off him for a second, not even to hail a cab.

He eyes Charlie in her form-fitting maternity dress. “Holy shit, you’re fat,” he says. “You must be feeding my kid well.”

I lunge forward, but Charlie puts a hand on my arm. “Don’t, Ethan. He’s not worth it.”

I take a step back and he laughs.

“Don’t Ethan, he’s not worth it,”he mimics in a high-pitched voice. “Do you always do what slutty bitches tell you to do?”

Faster than Charlie can try to hold me back, I have him turned around and pinned against the building, holding both his hands behind his back as I press the side of his head hard into the brick wall. “Don’t you ever talk to us again, you piece of shit. You may think you have something on us. You don’t. This kid isn’t yours and you won’t get a goddamn cent out of us.”

“If you were really sure about that, she’d have taken the test,” he says into the wall. “You may have me against this fucking wall, but I’m the one with the upper hand here.”

“Ethan!” I hear a male voice shout. I turn to see Mason, Griffin and Gavin surrounding Charlie, ready to pounce on Thompson if I give the word. “Everything okay?” Mason asks.

“Fine,” I say. “I was just nicely asking Mr. Thompson here to stay away from Charlie.”

“You know, there’s an easy way to make all this go away,” Zach says.

“And I suppose you’re going to tell me how much I should write the check for.”

“It’s probably not as much as you’d think,” he says. “A couple mil is chump change to you. But it will get me off your back. I don’t want a snotty-nosed kid. But I’ll take it if it means the money will follow. And believe me, I have a pretty good idea of the money that will follow. But, hey, I should look at the bright side; I can always bang the babysitter I’ll hire with it.”

The thing that pisses me off the most right now, other than the fact that this asshole’s dick has been inside my fiancée, is that if John hadn’t warned me about this, I’d probably be whipping out my checkbook right now. And it scares me that I’m this worried about him being the biological father.

“You can take your bribe and shove it up your worthless ass,” I tell him. I give him one more push into the wall so he’s sure to feel it in the morning. Then I step back and release him. “Now get the fuck out of here before I make it so you can’t walk away.”

He walks to the corner before he turns around and stares me down. “I may have dipped my stick in your girlfriend, but you’re the one who’s getting fucked, Stone.”

He disappears around the corner and Charlie runs over to me, wrapping me in her arms. “Are you okay?” she asks.

“Me?” I run my hands over the outline of her face. “What about you? Are you okay? Do you need to sit down or something?”

I notice she’s not pale. She’s not panicking. She’s not even shaking.

“I’m good,” she assures me with a smile. “I’ve thought about this a lot these past few months. And I’m not going to let him get to me anymore. Whatever happens, happens. As long as you and I are together, we can get through anything.”

“Charlie.” I smile down at her. “You just made a rule.”

“What?” she asks.

“Rule number seventeen—whatever happens, happens. I must be rubbing off on you.”

She laughs, pulling me tighter against her. “Have I ever told you how much I love your rules?”

“No, but now that you have, I’ll never stop making them.”

Chapter Forty-four

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