Chapter 13 Grant #3
His grin widens. “So which one of you three is volunteering to play Daddy these days? Didn’t she already have her fill of all of you the other night? Oh wait, she can’t keep her legs closed so that’s why you’re here. News flash: if it involves my kid, it’s my business.”
That’s the thing about Jared: he’s not stupid.
He’s calculated in a cruel way, aiming to inflict emotional damage before anyone can land a physical blow.
He doesn’t care about the consequences, doesn’t care that he’s picking a fight with men he can’t win against.
He wants to wound, to twist the knife in as deep as he can, especially when it comes to Noelle. He’s had her first and he knows that’s what bothers us most.
Callum’s jaw flexes hard beside me, his hand curling into a fist to mirror my own. I can feel the anger radiating off him, matching the fire in my gut.
I step closer, my boots thudding heavily on the concrete. “You don’t get to talk about her like that. Eli’s not yours, no matter what you claim. You’re a leech, Jared, and you’re done bleeding her dry.”
Jared snorts. “You think I’m scared of a couple of her little guard dogs? Please. She’s mine, whether you like it or not. And that boy is mine too.”
That’s it.
Before I can think, I’m moving.
The distance between us vanishes in an instant.
I grab the front of his jacket and apron, the fabrics bunching in my fist, and slam him back against the shelf behind him.
Tools rattle, a box of screws crashes to the floor, scattering across the linoleum with a metallic clatter.
Jared chokes on the impact, his hands flying up, clawing at my grip, but I press him harder, my forearm against his throat, pinning him like the coward he is.
“Say that shit again,” I growl, my voice low, dangerous, “and I’ll make sure you never get another word out.”
The red haze in my vision is narrowing on his smug face, his wide eyes betraying a flicker of fear beneath the bravado.
“Grant,” Callum says, the word is sharp, a warning to pull me back. But it’s Jared’s wheezing laugh that really snaps me out of it.
“Hit me,” he rasps. “Go on. You’ll just prove I’m right. You think it’ll look good to the cops that the boytoys my kid’s mom has hanging around are coming around to beat his dad up? Yeah, that’ll look real good in court.”
“You’re not his real dad, Jared. Keep pushing and you’ll find out what happens when you cross a line you should’ve left alone.”
“You think you can scare me? She’ll come crawling back when she realizes she needs a real man.” He shoves his hands against my chest.
The store manager appears, a burly guy with a tired scowl, his voice booming loudly. “Enough! Take it outside, or I’m calling the cops.”
His glare sweeps over us, lingering on Jared, who shrugs me off. He stabs two fingers in Jared’s direction, motioning for him to follow his manager out back.
“Whatever. This isn’t over,” he mutters, slipping away from us and darting through a set of double doors.
We’re ushered out by another set of workers, both standing just inside the automatic doors, watching us head back to our car.
They don’t move from their spots until we’re halfway across the small parking lot.
Callum sighs, turning his face toward the sky and shoving both hands inside his jacket pocket. “So much for not starting anything. Too bad you didn’t get a good punch in, though. That bastard was asking for it.”
My head shakes. “Wouldn’t have helped. Like he said, he’d just use it against her. Twist it into harassment and make her life hell.”
My blood’s still pounding in my ears, Jared’s words looping in my head over and over.
My kid, my business.
He’s lying, he has to be, but Noelle’s refusal to say otherwise is still gnawing at me.
Why doesn’t she deny it?
Why is she continuing to let us believe Eli is his?
It’s not like Jared’s the safer option, or the easier one for that matter. So why continue to let everyone believe differently?
The thought of Noelle and Eli being left unprotected after we leave twists my gut.
Richard’s my brother, not by blood but by years of loyalty.
Noelle is his heart and Eli his world. If Eli’s mine—or Callum’s, or Dean’s—the truth could shatter that bond, but letting Jared keep hurting her is worse.
Richard can only do so much on his own, and it’s not as if he’s getting any younger, just like the rest of us.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair before climbing back into the car, Callum following.
I’d take Noelle home with me if I could, but she’ll never give up her shop, nor should she have to.
But I can’t just pack up a ranch and move it here.
I’m already paying help far too much while I’m out of town.
We’re halfway back to the hotel when my phone buzzes on the console, vibrating against the cheap plastic cup angrily.
Noelle’s name flashes on the screen.
For half a second, I feel relieved that maybe she’s calling to invite us out somewhere with her and Eli.
Wishful thinking.
I tap the speaker button and set the phone on the dash. “Hey, we—”
She cuts me off before I can finish.
Her voice bursts through the speaker, sharp, frantic. “What the hell, Grant? Jared just called me screaming that you and Callum went to his job to fight him! He’s threatening to call the cops for harassment. On me!”
My stomach drops.
I grip the wheel tighter, the world outside the windshield turning into a blur of traffic and red lights. “What? How the hell did he get to you that fast?”
Callum doesn’t wait for her to respond.
He snatches the phone off the dash and holds it close to his face. “Noelle, listen. We were just—”
Her voice slices right through him before he can finish his sentence.
“I told you guys I could handle this on my own! Why couldn’t you just listen to me?” There’s anger in her words, yeah, but underneath it there’s something much worse…hurt. Disbelief. “Jesus, do you know what kind of hell this is going to cause?”
I glance sideways.
Callum’s jaw is locked tight, eyes flicking toward me for the briefest second before returning to the phone.
His face is growing pale, a pinched and worried from working onto his face. “We were trying to protect you both.”
She breathes out harshly, the sound of it making something twist hard in my chest. “I can’t believe you… I trusted you. Now—god, I don’t even know. Just…stop. Okay? Whatever you guys have planned next, don’t. I’m taking Eli back to my dad’s. Don’t contact me. You’ve done enough.”
“Noelle, wait,” I start, leaning forward like she can see me, like proximity might fix this, but the line goes dead.
Her voice cuts off mid-breath, and the silence that follows feels deafening.
I slam my fist into the dashboard, the sound cracking through the cab.
Pain shoots up my knuckles, sharp and useless. “Goddammit!”
Callum flinches then exhales hard, dragging a hand over his face. “Shit, Grant… We fucked up.”
I don’t even try to deny it. My jaw aches from clenching it too hard. “Yeah. We more than fucked up.”
For a while, neither of us says anything.
The sound of the road fills the void, the faint whistle of air through the cracked passenger window, the rhythmic thud of my pulse in my ears.
We’d gone in there thinking we could control the narrative.
Show Jared that he couldn’t scare her, couldn’t use her, because she had us at her back.
We wanted to protect her.
Hell, maybe we wanted to prove we still mattered to her. But all we did was make it worse.
Last night, there’d been something between us all again.
For the first time since we came back, it hadn’t felt like standing at opposite ends of a battlefield.
Now it feels like we’ve burned the whole damn bridge down.
“She’s scared,” Callum says finally, almost to himself. His voice cracks in a way I’ve never heard it do before. “And we just gave her another reason to be.”
“Yeah,” I murmur. “We did.”
My mind spins with the image of her outside of her car, throwing Eli’s things into the trunk in a rush before we can get there.
Him asking where they’re going and why they’re leaving without saying goodbye.
Her lying to keep him calm, to make sure he isn’t as scared as she is.
All because we couldn’t keep our tempers in check. Because I couldn’t.
I don’t know if Eli’s mine, or Callum’s, or Dean’s, or if it even matters anymore.
What I do know is that Noelle’s out there right now, scared and angry, and we’re the reason why.
And that realization hurts worse than any punch Jared could ever throw.