Jared.
"This is my business. She's mines after all." The arrogant bastard grins.
I shake my head in confusion. She said she was alone. Who the fuck is this guy and why does he seem familiar? I'm sure I've never met him before but there's just something about him. I can't quite put my finger on it. Whoever he is, he has to be out of his mind to step to me. Here he is saying she's his. He's delusional. She had my child. She will always be mine. If he wants to try to take her from me, I am willing and ready to fight for her. I've always been good at playing games and winning them.
"Sir, she's a woman. She doesn't belong to anyone." I offer a tight smile.
"Except for me." He stands beside her, crossing his arms.
I can't help it. I laugh, and I laugh hard. This guy is so cocky and doesn't even know the history of Samantha and I. If he knew he wouldn't be challenging me like he is for sure. He is going to lose. What Sam and I had was special. Is special. There was no real issue or flaw in our relationship besides the fact that I wasn't providing for her and Alex. Now I have a job. A damn good job at that.
"Listen, guy, I don't know who you are, but we," I motion between Samantha and I with my finger. "We were in the middle of something."
"You're right. Samantha, I'm sorry you may continue saying no to the gentleman."
I close my eyes shut tight. Do not blow up. Do not explode. I am not about to drill into this guy in front of Samantha. That would definitely stir her away from any thought of getting back together. She always hated arguing and fighting.
"What's that smell?" The bastard continues. I am going to choke him if I don't get out of here. "Smells like sweat and blo-"
"Samantha!" Shit, how did he smell the blood on me? My last case was pretty difficult. He actually put up a real fight before I got him into custody and took him in. Had to get creative. As much as I hate this, I'll have to let him get the win here. "Just take my number down, ok? We can talk on another day when it's not so late. Maybe we can take Alex to the park together. I know he'd love to have us both together at the same time."
With that, the man tenses up, check mate. He probably pieced it together now who I am. I wonder if he knew her enough to have met Alex. If so, did they send a lot of time together? Did Alex like him? The idea of another man around my family makes my blood boil. I have to blow off some steam. I am definitely calling the boss after this for another assignment.
"Fine." Samantha reaches into her bag and hands me her phone to add my number.
"Fine?" The man grunts, and Samantha shuts him up with a hard glare.
"You bought a case for it?" The man asks, referring to her phone in my hands. The case is light blue with the ocean painted on it in pastel colors. An anime phone charm dangles off the end.
"Yeah," she tucks her hair behind her ear. "You think I'm gonna let a nice expensive gift like this get messed up?"
"If it did, I'd just buy you another one."
"One is more than enough." She blushes.
I look between them wildly as I hold the phone tightly in my hand. I've already saved my number in it. So he bought her this phone? Who is he to her, really? Doesn't matter she is still mine. He isn't taking her from me. I text myself from her phone so that I can have her number, too, just in case the bastard deletes mine. Then, I delete the evidence.
"Text me sometime, tomorrow." I offer her the phone back, and as she takes it, I slide her hand in mines and squeeze. "Good night, moon." I force a smile before walking away.
Moon is my nickname for her. She always seemed fascinated with it. She praises it and its beauty. So I told her she was my moon. She will always be.
I get into my car, which is parked down the block and slam the door shut. I rest my forehead on the steering wheel.
"I can't believe she let him talk to her like that!" I slam my hands against the wheel.
Is she really seeing him? If she is, she didn't have to make me look like a fool then. So fucking embarrassing. I'm pouring my heart out to her, and she lets some guy shove their, whatever the hell relationship they have, into my face! How could she do that to me? I mean, she literally had my kid! How can she let another man touch her or go near my son?
No, it can't be. I take a deep breath. I'm reading too much into it. For all I know, he is just a friend who wants to be more to her. She has always had a lot of guy friends back in high school. She was into gaming and sports, so she got along with the guys a lot. They had crushes on her, too. But Sam, she only had eyes for me.
I remember the day I asked her out, and she looked like she was going to cry. She had confessed to always having a crush on me, and she was just so happy. I didn't really like her then. To be honest, there was a bet between the guys in our class on who would take her virginty before we graduate. I've always been competitive and always liked a good game. We started dating 4 months before graduation. She held out pretty strong, too. Eventually, I had to lie to the guys at graduation and tell them we finally did the deed the night before. I mean, who was going to actually ask her? We were publicly sucking face, that's for sure. In reality, we hadn't had sex for the first year we were together. Even though the guys believed we did, I wouldn't feel victorious until I actually got it in her pants. When I finally did, I was too invested in work and college to leave. I mean, who else was I going to meet on a schedule like that? I needed someone. Eventually, we got pregnant, and the rest was history.
I flick open my phone and ring up the boss. It only takes a few rings.
"Donavin." He answers.
"Don, anyone you need me to hunt down tonight, I need an outlet." I groan.
"Hmm? Besides the big payouts, you pretty much cleared the field noob." He chuckles.
"No one, really?" I groan. What crappy luck I have today.
"Well, we can partner you up for the big leagues. Of course, it'd be more dangerous, and you'd split the pay 50/50 or... actually, I have one where you can take the full payout and you'll have a partner. They don't want any cut of the money."
"Really, who'd I be partnered with?" Who would do this shit for kicks and giggles?
"An insider."
"An insider?! You're kidding me, right?! How can we trust them? They're already traitors."
"Relax! She's only in it to protect another target. If she helps get these 2 other bounties in, then we will throw him out the stack. For now, at least." He laughs.
"Yeah? Fine." I sigh. "What's her name? Hopefully, she doesn't find out your skeeming, and she's only buying her friend a few months of peace."
"Shoot, hold on, let me check." I hear him shuffling through the stack of files on his desk. "Ah, here it is. Her name is Madeline."
"Send me her contact and the files."