I placed the napkin I’d been folding down and keeping my voice even, said, “Hey, J.T. Are you here to pick up the part for the ferry?”
He walked toward me, his expression dark and troubled. “What the fuck are you talking about, Maddy?” he slurred, his tone gruff.
Obviously he wasn’t here for the part, so why was he here? When he was only a few feet away, I noticed he was holding an almost empty bottle of amber-colored liquid against his leg. “Why don’t you give me the bottle?” I said, sighing and reaching for it. “I think you’ve had enough.”
“You think I’ve had enough?” J.T. snorted, pulling the bottle out of my reach. “Sorry, but I don’t take orders from someone who hangs out with a killer.”
I knew what he was insinuating. “Shut up, J.T., you don’t really believe that,” I said, turning back to the counter, hoping maybe he’d just leave.
“You don’t know anything!” J.T. bellowed from behind me.
Ignoring his outburst, I muttered, “You’re an ugly drunk.”
Suddenly the whiskey bottle he’d been holding whizzed past my head, missing me by mere inches. It crashed into the wall behind the coffee bar, raining down shards of glass and dark, sticky liquid. I spun around, my hands reaching back to grip the edge of the counter as I cowered away from an approaching drunk and furious J.T.
“God, J.T.,” I gasped, horrified. “What the hell is wrong with you? Stop it!”
He closed in on me, halting only inches away, close enough for me to smell the whiskey on his breath. “Stop it,” J.T. mimicked in a high-pitched voice. His dark eyes were wild and flashed menacingly. I knew I was in danger. “Maddy, as I see it, you are in no position to tell me what to do.”
His lip curled up into a nasty sneer, and he leaned over me. Trying, and succeeding, to intimidate me. I turned my head to the side, my sweaty hands slipping as I struggled to keep hold of the counter behind me. “J.T., please,” I whimpered.
In my face J.T. yelled, “Please what?” He slammed his hands down on either side of me.
“P-p-please stop,” I stammered, tears welling up, despite my effort to suppress them.
J.T. laughed what could only be described as a sinister laugh, throwing his head back and chortling. Seeing an out I tried to duck under his arm. But he was too quick. He stopped me by grabbing the front of my shirt and bunching the material up in his fist. “And where do you think you’re going?” he growled. “Trying to run so you can go find your rich, murdering new friend?”
I didn’t answer, and J.T. continued. “You do know you’re just another piece of ass for Ward to pursue?” He cocked his head to the side, sizing me up. “Shame too. I always pegged you for having better taste.”
He touched my cheek, and I raised my hand and slapped him across the face. “Fucking bitch,” he roared while slamming me back forcefully against the counter.
A sharp pain cut across my lower back, and J.T. was back in my face. “Tell me, Maddy, what is it about Ward? Is he that great of a fuck?”
I closed my eyes, and tears streamed down my cheeks. I hadn’t even gotten to that point with Adam, but I knew it wouldn’t matter to an enraged J.T. O’Brien. “Answer me,” he demanded, his hot whiskey breath nauseating me.
A choked sob escaped my lips, and just when I feared the worst might happen, J.T. was violently yanked away from me. As I slid down to the floor, eyes still tightly closed, I heard a loud crash and the sound of punches being thrown.
“Get the fuck off me, you murderer,” J.T. protested, sounding frightened and pained.
“Fuck you.” —More punches, J.T. coughing— “Don’t you ever fucking touch her, you hear me?” I knew that voice, so I wiped at my teary eyes and glanced up to see a glowering Adam looming over a curled-up J.T. on the floor.
“Don’t worry. I won’t ever touch her again. I don’t want any more of your sloppy seconds anyway,” J.T. laughed.
Adam’s hands clenched at his sides, and J.T. flinched. “Go ahead, Ward,” he challenged, his voice thick with blood. “Hit me again.”
Adam spat in J.T.’s direction. “You’re not worth it, asshole.”
“Whatever. You still can’t change the fact that I was fucking your fiancée almost the entire time you were away at college,” J.T. yelled defiantly.