Page 49 of Don't Lie to Me
“So why are you back so soon?” Macy asked when she reached for a glass too. Apparently, it was going to be a drinking kind of night. I needed it, and wasn’t in any big hurry for them to leave either - being surrounded by my best friends sounded awesome.
I sighed and sat down at the kitchen table. “We ran into Marcus at the dinner tonight and I finally told him about Logan.”
“You what?” She asked with eyebrows raised, her wine glass frozen in front of her lips.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I couldn’t avoid it any longer. Logan’s been asking about his dad, and after Marcus defended me in front of his dad…”
“What?” Jack hissed and I instantly realized my mistake. Shit. “You didn’t tell me that he was there. What happened?”
Jack’s anger was palpable as Macy and Tate joined me at the table. Jack on the other hand, firmly planted his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest.
I rolled my tongue in my mouth and then across the front of my teeth trying to find the words. I didn’t want to share everything in front of Macy, but she knew the whole story anyway.
“He pushed me up against the wall when I came out of the bathroom…”
“He put his fucking hands on you?!” Jack shouted and I winced.
“Can I finish?” I asked gently and then took a large swallow of my wine, finishing it in one large gulp. I pinched my eyes and swallowed slowly to ease the burning in my throat. “He knew about Logan, Jack. He said that he’s kept an eye on us over the years in case we approached Marcus. And then, he called me a….”
My voice trailed off, not wanting to finish. Macy put her hand on mine and looked at me with wide eyes.
“He called me a whore,” I whispered and then closed my eyes expecting another outrage from Jack. Instead, I heard the sound of glass shattering on my wall. My eyes flew open and I saw Jack roughly rubbing his hands through his hair and large mess of red wine falling gently down the back wall of my galley kitchen.
“Fuck!” Jack turned to me, looking completely manic, and took a deep breath when he saw my widened eyes. He turned back to his mess and then back to me slowly. “I’m sorry….I’m just pissed that you didn’t tell me while we were there so I could take care of it.”
I scoffed. “And what would you have done? Kicked his ass in front of hundreds of people, Jack?”
His nose wrinkled a little bit. “Maybe.”
“Right,” I said with a faint hint of laughter. I didn’t doubt he would have done something.
Jack moved quickly and knelt down in front of me. “This all happened right after I told you I’d protect you and keep you safe; and then I didn’t. Why didn’t you tell me there?”
“Because Marcus interrupted him and made him leave and then he started apologizing for everything that happened, and then you showed up.” I placed my hand on his cheek, but then looked at Macy and Tate. They seemed to understand the look I gave them that said get the hell out of here, and took their cues silently.
I didn’t say anything else until Macy was at the doorway, Tate holding the door open for her. “Call me tomorrow, okay?”
I nodded. “I will. Thanks for watching Logan for me, tonight.”
Tate gave us a fake salute as they walked out the door, “Thanks for your couch.”
The door shut and I heard muffled laughter from behind it. “Asshole,” I muttered and turned back to Jack.
He looked tortured.
“He said if I don’t let him have a relationship with Logan, that he’s going to spill our affair all over the papers and then he’d go to a judge to get rights as the grandparent.”
Jack closed his eyes and pursed his lips. When he opened them again and looked at me, he was calmer. “I won’t let that happen. Let me deal with this shit okay?”
“Jack…”
“No, you need to listen to me. I’m not letting that asshole use his power to manipulate you ever again. You have enough to worry about with introducing Logan and Marcus, and I’ll take care of his dad. The man will never have anything to do with Logan unless you agree to it, you get me?”
He looked so fiercely serious, I couldn’t argue with him. “I get you.”
“Now….let’s go relieve some of that stress.”
I looked at the wall behind him that was still dripping wine. “I need to clean up your mess.”
