Page 36 of Loving Jared

Enrico stalked inside, his big body blocking their view as he raged toward a figure huddled on the ground. He leaned down and gripped Amy's father by the back of the neck, yanking him to his feet. He turned and dragged the older man from the garage, tossing him into the driveway.

Michael Funk rolled over, showing them his face, which was spray-painted completely silver. His eyes were closed and his features were twisted in a grimace. He was shouting obscenities at Amy.

"You stupid little bitch, you've ruined everything again."

Already enraged, Michael's comments pushed Jared over the edge. Gently he set Amy aside and then launched himself at her father, dropping down and punching him in the side of the head so hard that the man's skull cracked against the pavement, bouncing up and then back down again. Jared knew that he only had a few seconds to finish this before cops and firemen were crawling all over him. He didn't hesitate and he didn't look at Amy. He launched his fist into Michael’s face, then followed it up with a flurry of hits to the chest and stomach.

When he was done, he leaned over Amy's broken, bleeding father and growled, "If you want to survive the night, you stay down and you keep your mouth shut. I got people on the inside. Not even a prison cell will keep you safe."

Jared stood and turned to look at Amy, half afraid that she’d be horrified by his actions. So far, Amy hadn't seen him do anything illegal. He wanted to keep it that way. There were certain parts of his life that she didn’t need to know about, and his ability to beat a man to death was one of them.

He didn't need to worry though, the second he freed himself of her father she launched herself back at him and wrapped her good arm around his neck, clinging to him and soaking his shirt in tears.

Sure enough, the police surrounded Amy's father and separated him from Jared. Jared shrugged; if he wanted to get at the older man, he would.

Jenna came over to reassure them that she would make sure the girls and Teagan were picked up from school. Jared nodded his gratitude and told Jenna to do whatever he she thought was right in the situation. Amy was in no condition to make any decisions. His heart broke for her, for her present and her past. He vowed that he was going to make sure nothing like this happened again in her future. After everything Amy and her siblings had gone through, they deserved the best of everything for the rest of their lives and he was going to make sure they got it.

Jared rushed Amy to the hospital where she was told that she had a hairline distal radius fracture. She was treated with a short cast on her forearm that would stay on for six weeks. Jared told the doctor to check for smoke inhalation, but Amy was declared perfectly healthy, except for the fracture, and able to leave.

When they returned home, it took the fire department two more hours to completely extinguish the fire in Amy's house. Though they couldn't tell her much, they did tell her that the house probably wouldn't be salvageable. Amy cried over the loss of her home, the few things that had been left inside, and all the memories, good and bad, forged inside that home.

Several hours later, once Amy calmed down, Jared was sitting with her on the couch, running a soothing hand down her back and massaging the spot just above her butt where she tended to carry tension.

"Is there anything I can do?" Jared asked her.

She twisted around to look at him, her beautiful eyes still swimming in tears. She shook her head. "No, we'll get over it. We'll move on. It just hurts… you know?"

Jared gathered her against his chest and smoothed a hand down her hair. "Yeah, I get it. Enough is enough. No more death, no more fires."

She nodded miserably. "Exactly."

Jared tipped her face up so that she was looking at him, so that she could see how serious he was. "I promise that I will never let anything like this happen to you again."

She gave him a watery smile. "You can't make a promise like that. It's impossible to predict the future."

Jared smiled down at her. "That's where you're wrong, baby. I got your future all mapped out and I can promise with absolute certainty, nothing bad is gonna happen again."

She looked at him seriously, the smile fading from her lips. Then she nodded. "Okay, I believe you."

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