as well.
“Go back inside,” I yell.
Anderson watches Oliver, but he listens to me and retreats inside.
“I could give you a nicer place to live than this.” He examines my house and turns his nose up at it.
“I’m fine with how I live, thank you,” I say back to him.
“Did you get the flowers?” he asks again.
“I did.”
“And you like them?”
“No. Don’t do that again. Especially not to my work,” I snap.
“I assumed it would be better than me coming there.” He focuses again on my house.
“You should leave.” I step back, car keys in my hand.
“Why do you look afraid of me?” His head drops to the side as he assesses me. “I would never hurt you,” he says.
“Is that what you said to Rylee?” I ask.
And I shouldn’t have. It’s taunting him. But I know what a liar he is.
He licks his lips, and his hands go to his sides.
“You are nothing like her. I never loved you like I loved her, Jacinta. You were a piece of ass who just happened to get pregnant and have my baby. Now, to say I would have hoped it was her would be an understatement, but my mother is telling me time and time again that I should be in this kid’s life. And I’m starting to believe her. We don’t want him to turn out like you now, do we?”
“Leave before I call the police,” I say, stepping farther back.
“Just so you know … you can’t keep a child from his father or his family. Because that’s what I am … what my mother is. Family.” He smirks and turns. A shiver goes through my entire body, and now I remember why I ran after I had Oliver—the threats that came from that family.
I immediately call his father. “Your son was just here.”
“Are you okay?” he asks. It’s something my own father would have asked me. Somehow, I hold back the tears.
“Yes, he just said your wife wants to see Oliver. That they have rights.”
“I’m going to talk to my lawyer. Don’t interact with them again.”
“Leo, he’s your son, though.”
“Yes, and I also am not blind to what kind of man he is. You have my grandson, who I know is an awesome kid. Who is being raised by a damn good mother. You see where I would rather put my support?”
“Yes,” I say almost in a whisper, glad to have someone, anyone, in my corner as powerful as he is.
“If you see him again at your house, call the police, Jacinta.”
“I will.” I hang up after saying goodbye and go inside, wiping my face clean before I do.
Chapter 20
Beckham
“You’ve been an ass for the last two weeks,” Shandy says as she sits on my desk. “And it’s been two weeks since my night out when I saw you leaving with an incredibly sexy assistant. What’s happened since then?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Do you have to be sitting on my desk?”
She scoffs as if I have offended her. “Is the sky blue?” she asks. “Of course I do.”
“Well, get the fuck off. I’m sure I pay you for more than sitting around annoying me.”
“This is true, but it is the highlight of my week to walk in here and do this. And some weeks when I miss out, it just ruins everything, you know what I mean?”
“No, I don’t, but I will once you leave.”
She huffs and kicks off her heels before she brings her feet up on my desk and crosses them before she turns and faces me. My desk is big, but that doesn’t mean I want to throw her out any less.
“She got flowers a couple of weeks ago, did you see that? I took them,” she says smugly. “My new girlfriend loved them.”
“I’m sure she loved stolen flowers,” I mumble back, paying her hardly any attention.
“She did. She thanked me real good, too. Ate my pussy like it was her last meal.” I give her a bored look, and she winks. “Have you had any pussy lately, Beckham?”
“What the fuck do you want?” I almost yell at her.
“To see what your plans are for dinner?”
“Nothing. Now go.”
“Good. I need a date. My date canceled, and I made a reservation, and I’m starving. Come. Please?”
“If I say yes, will it get you off my desk?”
“Yes, and what’s more, I won’t annoy you for a whole month,” she adds.
“Yes. Okay, I’ll come. Now, get off so I can fucking finish.”
She stands, slips her heels