showing it,” Sam says, his eyes dark and murderous. He takes a step toward me, and I hold my ground.
“You’ve been sneaking around buying up cottages to build a new processing plant. Did you think word wouldn’t eventually get out?” Sam asks.
“I wanted it to get out when I was ready for it to get out.”
Jason snorts. “Fucking liar. We thought you were different, but you’re nothing but an asshole.” He slams his fist into his left hand. “Now, let’s go outside so we can get this over with.”
When they circle me, I grab my coat, pull it on, and follow them outside. Right now, they’re not going to hear anything I say. Perhaps after taking out their anger with a few punches, they’ll listen.
Out in the cold, at the back of the building, a crowd gathers. No doubt the whole town hates me right now, siding with Kira. I’m glad to see them rally around her, even though they don’t have all the facts yet.
I square off against Jason, who’s obviously ready to tear me a new one. “Do you really want to do this?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m going to mess up that pretty boy face of yours,” he says.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Jason.”
He laughs and throws a punch. I easily dodge it and slam my fist into his gut. Not hard enough to really hurt him. I just want to slow him down, so he’ll listen to me. He lets loose a loud oomph, and I hold him against me. “Let’s not do this,” I say.
“Fuck you,” he says.
“Jason, come on. Let’s talk. I love you guys like brothers.”
“A brother wouldn’t do what you did to Kira,” he says and pushes off me. He throws another punch but misses. Once again, I hit him in the gut. He bends forward, and Izzy rushes to him.
I throw my arms out. “I love her, you guys. I fucking love her. I had no idea the cottage we were trying to buy belonged to her or Gram. No idea. You have to believe me.”
“Why should we believe anything you say?” Cody asks.
“Because it’s fucking true.”
“Why didn’t you mention the plant? Didn’t want to start a riot before you cut jobs?” Jason asks.
“This is a small town, and rumors can get out of hand. You kicking the shit out of me is a perfect example.”
“What are you talking about?” Jason pulls himself up to his full height.
“You’re acting on misinformation. Kira doesn’t have her facts right.”
At the mention of Kira, Jason comes at me again, and as much as I don’t want to hit him, I dodge his fist and punch his side to slow him down.
He goes to his knees. “Stay down, Jason,” I say.
“Where the fuck did you learn to fight?” he asks.
“My brothers,” I say. “Can you give me a minute, listen to what I have to say?”
“You’ve got one minute, and then Sam’s going to have his turn with you,” Jason says.
I shake my head. “I know you’ve all been fucked over by Hooked before. If not you, then your grandparents. But that’s not what I’m trying to do here.”
Someone in the gathering crowd calls bullshit.
“Look, we’re putting in a state-of-the-art processing plant—not to streamline jobs, but to increase them. The plant will be huge, able to handle more product, and more product means more workers. I was going to have a town hall meeting and explain all at once. I avoided telling anyone before it was a done deal because I didn’t want it to incite fear of losing jobs. Like I said, we all know how Hooked has fucked you in the past.”
Grumbles come from the crowd, but as I look around, I think my message is getting through. Thank God. I really don’t want to go one-on-one with Sam or any of the others. Izzy was out for blood when she stepped into my office. She looks a little calmer now, though.