Page 65 of Enraged

“You’re speaking on right and wrong…after gettin’ caught railing your fiancé’s best friend…in a church… on your wedding day. Not sure your moral compass points in the direction that earns you the position to speak on right and wrong.”

I continued loading up Lena’s stuff. Neither of us said a word as I arranged the containers in the bed of my truck, making sure that nothing could get messed up or broken.

I was getting ready to leave when I remembered I had forgotten to grab her work clothes.

He followed me into the house, looking as if he wanted to cry. “I made a mistake,” he confessed quietly.

I grabbed her hanging clothes from the dining room table. “The sad thing is, you say you made a mistake, but you don’t even mean doin’ what you did to start with. You mean you made a mistake by gettin’ caught.”

That remark struck a nerve, and he shoved me, angrily, damn near sending my unsuspecting ass through the front windows.

Fuck him up, Dakota.

Every part of me wanted to knock his head up against every wall in his house, but nothing about this fucking idiot was worth jeopardizing my career.

Steadying myself, I walked out the front door, holding the last bit of her that he had in my hands. I walked to the passenger side of my truck, Jace hot on my heels, determined to ignore his attempt to provoke me. I started laying her clothes out across my back seat, growing more and more irritated with how brave he decided he wanted to be today.

He was standing behind me near the bed of the truck, but still close enough that I could feel the heat coming off of his body.

“Back up off me, Reynolds,” I warned, closing the truck’s back door. He didn’t back up, but instead, he moved closer. “You gonna do something about it, Clayton? Or just run your mouth?”

Don’t take the bait, Dak. He’s trying to make himself feel better by getting you to stoop to his level.

I laughed hard, an honest to goodness laugh that my body must have been holding back.

This motherfucker.

His outrage grew when I turned to walk away.

I promised her I would behave.

He followed me from one side of the Chevy to the other, popping off at the mouth before shoving me chest first into the driver side.

“I wouldn’t get too comfortable with your new piece of ass ‘cause she will be back in my bed by the end of the week,” he taunted.

I can always get a new job.

Spinning around, I grabbed him by the throat. Glass went flying as I slammed him against the driver’s door. “Let’s get one goddamn thing straight, motherfucker. If I catch you anywhere near her, I will fuckin’ kill you. You can go ahead and call Hennessy and tell him I threatened you if you want to, but you can tell him I said that it’s not a threat. It’s a fuckin’ promise. I will fuckin’ kill you, Jace. Do you understand me?”

I tightened my grip around his throat, a silent dare to get him to try to say something crazy.

He wisely chose to stay silent.

Using the grasp I had on his neck, I threw him on the ground.

He knew enough to know he had better not try to get up.

“You’re pathetic, Jace. And just like every other cheating piece of shit, you realized what you had in front of you way too late.” Ignoring the glass, I climbed in my truck. “And by that point, she was waking up next to someone that already knew.”

I slammed the door, sending more glass flying, but I was too fucking pissed off to care.

The last thing I saw as I pulled out of his yard was the dumb fuck climbing up out of the snow.

Jolene

There’s something to be said for a good, hot shower.

I combed through my long, wet hair.

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