Stone let out a loud guffaw, looking at me with bewilderment. “This pencil dick said he could kick your ass?” He laughed again. “Ah, fuck man. That’s great. I needed a laugh.”
Before I could say anything, Shane snaked up against my side and looped her arm through mine. When I tipped my head down to meet her gaze I saw the worry swimming in her eyes. “Hey,” she said softly. “You good?”
I smiled down at her and gave her the truth. “I’m great, sunshine.” And it was the truth. Back in the day, the only person who could push me to losing it worse than Ronny was Whitman Rose. But standing there now, with my woman at my side, my son safe with people who loved him, surrounded by good people and friends, the man in front of me barely registered. “You take my beer over to the pool tables?”
She slowly grinned, reading my eyes and knowing I was going to be just fine. I didn’t have a reason to be angry about anything, not when my life was so goddamn good. “Sure did.”
“Good.” I reached over and clapped Stone on his shoulder. “Let’s go, brother. I feel like kicking your ass at pool tonight.”
“Where the fuck do you think you’re goin’,” Ronny bellowed when I began to turn away. “I’m not done with you yet, asshole.”
“Oh for God’s sake, Ronny,” Shane exclaimed in annoyance. “Just give it a rest already. No one wants to see you get your ass handed to you tonight. Everyone here knows you’re full of shit. You need to walk away before I break your nose . . . again.”
His face started to go red, so I hooked my arm around Shane’s shoulders and pulled her against me so I’d be the buffer in case he decided to do something really fucking stupid.
“You know what? Fuck this place, there’re better bars in this town. I’m done with this shithole.”
“Thank God,” Shane muttered under her voice.
“But, wait,” Rina called after him. “I’m not ready to go and you’re my ride!”
“Then find a new one, bitch. I’m outta here.” He stomped out of the bar, with Rina teetering after him, nearly tripping several times as she tried to run in her stripper heels.
“You good?” I asked, looking down at my sunshine.
“Absolutely perfect,” she said in a soft, dreamy voice, tipping her head back farther so I could lean in for a kiss.
“All right. It’s good you two patched things up, but I don’t need to see this shit,” Stone grumbled. “We playin’ pool or what? I feel like puttin’ money on it.”
I was down with that. I’d drink a few beers, play a couple games, take Stone’s money, then I’d take my woman home and fuck her until neither of us could walk. It was going to be a good night.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Shane
“I never thought I’d say this, but I think I hate shopping.”
Farah threw her head back and laughed as we exited what felt like the millionth store in the past three days. We were still on the hunt for furniture to fill my house, but it was taking so long, and I was being so indecisive that all my other friends had bowed out, refusing to go with me anymore.
“Mommy, we should get all Avengers stuff!” Brantley declared seriously.
I smiled down at my boy and brushed his hair back from his forehead. “I love you, bud, but we aren’t doing that.”
He huffed out a beleaguered sigh that I could have sworn he learned from his father and started walking ahead of us.
“Kiddo, stay close,” I called out to him.
“Okay.,” he returned.
Farah spoke up, pulling me from my doldrums. “Don’t worry, honey. You’ll know what you want when you see it. That’s how it was when I was decorating my place.”
When she’d first moved to town, Farah had bought this big old Victorian that had been sitting empty and abandoned for decades. It was in terrible shape, but she saw something in it, had it renovated, and now the place was absolutely breathtaking inside and out.
“Yeah, but you have that whole interior design gene. I think I’m missing that. I don’t have the first damn clue what looks good together or what’s in style.”
“Then don’t try and make stuff match, and don’t worry about what’s in style. Jensen told you to get what you like so get what you like.”
“Yeah, I know, but that was weeks ago. I think he might actually be getting a little annoyed I’ve hardly spent any of his money yet.”
“Speaking of money . . .” Farah lifted her eyebrows. “Any word from Jensen’s lawyer on the lawsuit against his father?”
I kept my eyes forward, keeping Brantley in my sight as he stopped and pressed his little face up to the window of one of the stores in the strip mall we were at. “No, nothing new, really. Cases like this are slow as hell. I don’t think he’s worried about actually getting the money back as much as he’s looking forward to sticking it to Whitman and Cordelia. Since the lawsuit’s been filed, he’s basically already done that, so he’s good.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re so happy and that everything is working out for you; you deserve it.”
Reaching over, I hooked my arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a sideways hug. “Thanks, babe.”
She sucked in a gasp and pointed to the window we were walking past. “Hey, what do you think of that lamp? It’s colorful and kind of funky and totally you.”
I pulled my eyes off of Brantley, who was still salivating at whatever he was staring at, and turned to see the lamp Farah was talking about. It was my turn to gasp as soon as I saw it. “Oh man, I love that. You’re right, it’s so me.”
“Let’s go check it out.”
Suddenly feeling excited that I might actually come away from this day with at least something for my home, I glanced back to Brantley, calling out, “Hey bud. I think I found us a super cool lamp for our house. Let’s go take a look.”
He beamed at me and started running back in my direction. Everything that happened after that felt like it moved in slow motion and lightning speed all at once.
A gray sedan came screeching up to the sidewalk, so close the driver side tires nearly jumped up on the curb. The door flew open and a woman jumped out. Before I could figure out what was going on, she’d grabbed Brantley around the waist and snatched him up. I let out a scream and started running, but before I could get to them, the woman ran the two steps between where my son had been and the open car door and threw him into the passenger seat.
“Stop!” I yelled, reaching the car just as she yanked the door closed. “Stop! Someone help me!” I beat on the windows, trying to run alongside the car as the woman peeled out so fast her tires squealed, leaving black rubber strips on the concrete.
“Oh my God,” I cried frantically, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. “Someone just took my son!”
Farah ran up to where I’d just collapsed onto the ground. “Yes, I need to report a kidnapping at—” She rattled off the address in a panicked voice that I could barely hear past the blood rushing in my ears as I stared off in the direction the car had just disappeared.