Men Of Honor Eric - Jordan Silver Page 0,26

on the way up in the elevator, but he’d be in his first class by now. I don’t know what gives Janine the idea that I can reel my kid in. He’s damn near a man at this stage, and if he’s anything like me, which I’m inclined to believe he is, he sticks to his word. If he says he’s going to do something, it’s your ass if you try calling his bluff.

I have no doubt that he’s the one who called her husband. Tyler has no respect for the other man, and I never tried to change his mind about him. The boy has always had a strong sense of right and wrong, and his loyalty runs deep. As long as he doesn’t cross the line into criminal behavior and doesn’t do anything that I think he might regret down the line, I stay out of his shit.

I raised him to think for himself, to know right from wrong, and never to forget what it felt like when his mother betrayed him, that last is for the sole purpose of teaching him not to do that shit to another human being as long as he lives.

I’ve never had any complaints barring a few here and there over the years when he had to plant his foot in someone’s kid’s ass for being stupid, but each time, as long as my boy was in the right, I let him know that I had his back. This time will be no different.

I should probably warn idiot Sam that Tyler was out for blood. Since he was Lora’s bio dad, things might get sticky if Tyler sets his sights on him. But I’ll hold off and wait, see what happens. I don’t owe him shit, and I’m pretty sure Tyler wouldn’t do anything to bring harm to his new stepmother and his little sister.

Before I married Justine and brought her home, we had a long in-depth talk about the changes in our lives, and he assured me that he was happy for me and to go for it. He’d even thanked me for not sticking him with a stepmother when he was too young to defend himself because he’d seen what that had done to some of his little friends growing up.

I also know that he wouldn’t really hurt his mother. He may resent the hell out of her, but I didn’t raise him to hate her no matter what she’s done. With that said, he has a lot of built-up anger where she’s concerned, but I’m still convinced that had she left well enough alone, he never would’ve crossed paths with her.

I didn’t get shit done all day because regardless of what I told myself, I was worried about Tyler and what the hell he was up to. It didn’t register until about lunchtime that he was way too involved in something that should be mine to deal with. True, we’ve always had each other’s back. It came with the bond we’d forged between us after years of it being just the two of us against the world that fucked us over.

I’ve never had occasion until yesterday to see him being so protective; I’ve seen hints of it before sure but nothing to this extent. I don’t want my kid thinking he has to fight my battles no matter how much I appreciate his show of solidarity. But how the hell am I going to pull him off? Once a pit bull sinks its teeth into something, you need the Jaws of Life to get those shits out again.

Since I wasn’t getting shit done, I decided to head out early. I should check and make sure that Sam had already left the area, but I was pretty much sure that he had unless he was completely brainless. My mind kept going back to Janine’s words this morning, and I realized I was actually worried about just how much anger Tyler was carrying around from his childhood.

My kid has never given me any indication that he was suffering from anger management issues or that he was harboring any ill will towards his incubator. Still, if he had gone to the lengths she mentioned, it was no small thing. I didn’t have to think about how to approach him with my fears because we have an open and honest relationship; that’s why the shit was bothering me so much.

Justine was in her craft room, puttering around when I got home, and for