Page 106 of Ramsey & Emerson

At any rate, again, knowing my wife’s schedule as well as my own, I knew that she was doing house visits today, so that gave me plenty of time alone with her new boss. Now, while it would have been wiser to have Delaney on standby, there was no way that I could have told her about my plans without her telling Emerson, so instead of reaching out to the criminal attorney in the family, I’d opted for Ace as a substitute. Yeah, he was a corporate attorney, but he still knew enough to know how to bail me out of jail in the event that Cossacks called the police. Deke and Liam were also very aware of my lunch plans today.

However, because the devil took care of his own, as I was getting out of my car, I noticed Cossacks leaving the building, presumably heading to lunch himself. Luckily for me, the CPS offices had an employee parking lot directly behind the building, so while everyone parked here, it still provided a bit of privacy from the front doors and visitor parking, and since I’d known that Emerson was going to be gone most of the day, I’d taken the liberty of parking in her parking space.

Making my way over, Cossacks had just hit the key fob to unlock his car when he noticed me walking towards him. Like a cornered animal, he immediately straightened to his full height, knowing that I was here for him.

As soon as I was standing in front of him, he said, “Emerson’s doing house visits.”

“I know exactly where my wife is, and I’m not here to speak with her,” I quickly replied. “But I have a feeling that you already know that.”

“Is this about the flowers?”

I was going to kill this motherfucker.

“This is about you not heeding my warning Friday night,” I corrected. “I told you to stay the fuck away from my wife, Cossacks. I told you that I’d come after you if your interest in Emerson was anything other than professional, and sending my wife flowers falls into that category.”

“So, what? Your answer is to come to my place of work and kick my ass?” he taunted. “Is that what grown men do these days?”

While Ididwant to kick his fucking ass more than I wanted to take my next breath, I knew that beating him within an inch of his life would get Emerson fired, and I couldn’t do that to her. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she was taken away from the kids that she helped, and I was not about to be the asshole that tore apart her dream.

“Make no mistake, Cossacks,” I told him. “I’d love nothing more than to beat the life out of you, but you strike me as the kind of pussy that would call the cops, thinking that it might get me out of your way. So, no, I’m not here to kick your ass, though you deserve it. I’m here to warn you that I’m coming after you. I told you that I’d have you wanting to put a bullet in your head if you ever fucked with what belongs to me, so get ready, because all your secrets are about to be shared with the world.”

“I don’t have any secrets,” he rushed out with enough quickness which told me that he had plenty. Maddox was probably having a field day. “So, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Every adult on this planet has secrets, Cossacks,” I replied smugly. “Though some are quite forgivable, I’m not interested in those. I’m interested in the ones that will make my enemies want to hang themselves, and since you are definitely one of my enemies, I’m not going to stop until you regret the day you first laid eyes on my wife.”

Doubting me, the stupid sonofabitch decided to get brave. “Are you afraid that Emerson will finally recognize who the better man is the more time that we spend together?”

That’s when it finally dawned on me why Emerson was so pissed off at me. Overall, Cossacks might be a better man than I was, but he wasn’t the better man for Emerson. Emerson wanted to be loved by someone that would never dream of trying to change or ‘heal’ her, and that man was me.

Emerson didn’t want me to be perfect because then that would mean that she’d also have to be perfect, and who in the fuck wanted that kind of stress in their lives? Emerson loved that I was damaged becausethat’swhat madeher feel like she wasn’t alone. It wasn’t loving her that made her feel valued, it was how I allowed her to see into the darkest parts of me that made her feel special. Though Emerson and I were deeply in love with one another, it was our personal demons that had a love story for the ages.

“No,” I answered honestly. “You’re not a threat to my marriage, Cossacks. You’ve never been, and you never will be. I’m here simply because I don’t likeanypeople near my wife, something that I’ve been struggling with since high school.” I purposely threw in how long I’d been with Emerson just to give him an idea of what he was really dealing with. “I’m not here because I think that my wife would ever be interested in you, so let us be clear about that.”

“You keep saying that, but if that’s true, then why the threat about my secrets?” he challenged. “That seems rather extreme if you’re truly not worried about me.”

“See the scar on my face?” I didn’t let him answer. “I got it when I was very young, my father’s way of teaching me what it meant to be a man. Now, during that father/son bonding, he told me something that I’d never forget, even if I’d wanted to. Which, let’s be clear, I don’t. He’d said that if I ever got into a fight with someone, be sure to beat them within an inch of their life, erasing any hope that they might have had about winning against me. See, if you only fight to win, then your enemies might come back, thinking that they might have a chance at winning a second time. However, if you erase that hope from the beginning, then only the suicidal will come back, and so that’s how I fight my battles, Cossacks. I fight them in a way that will keep my enemies from thinking that I’m just playing around. I fight them in a way that will make my point for all of fucking eternity.” I stepped closer to him, making sure that he could hear me loud and clear. “That being said, you have no idea of the things that I am willing to do for and because of my wife. Emerson is the single most important thing in my life, so if I’m willing to destroy someone for just standing too close to her, imagine what I’m willing to do toyou.”

“Well, if that’s true, then I might as well shoot my shot,” he fired back. “If I’m going to lose everything, then it might as well be worth it.”

I grabbed him by his shirt, then slammed him up against his car. “Then let’s do this, Cossacks.”

“Get off me!” he screeched like a little bitch.

I slammed him up against the car again. “Or else what?”

“I’ll sue you!” he threatened, and I let him go as I rolled my eyes.

“Jesus Christ, really? That’s the best that you could come up with?” I mocked. “Sue me?”

His face was red as he straightened up his shirt. “Emerson’s going to hear about this.”

“So, that’s what your definition is of what a man does in these types of situations?” I asked, really having overestimated this asshole. “You’re going to tell my wife on me?”

“You’re lucky I don’t fire her,” he snapped, his composure finally coming back.

I grabbed his neck with one hand while my right swung back, slamming him in his face before I tossed him on the ground. “Have my wife fired, and I will kill you myself,” I told him. “Forget exposing your dirty secrets, Cossacks. If you dare go after my wife, I will fucking kill you.”

He pressed his hands against his car to help him stand, spitting out a bit of blood on the ground as he righted himself. “You’re playing with fire, Reed.”

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