Chapter 35

35

JJ

"You. Keep your hands off of her." I stab my finger in the direction of my son.

Isaac sprawls on the floor next to the bed. He glares back at me with an expression I recognize. It's very similar to the one I saw on a daily basis when he was a teen.

He jumps up to his feet and rushes me, but I'm ready. I bend, and lift him up and over my shoulder.

Lena screams.

Isaac crashes into the nightstand. The jug of water overturns and smashes into the floor. Shards of glass glisten amidst the pool of water.

Isaac groans, then lurches back to his feet. "I'm going to kill you," he growls.

"I'd like to see you try." I crack my neck, then beckon to him.

He bares his teeth, then jumps forward. What the—? He lands a fist in my cheek. My head snaps back, and stars fill my vision. Pain shoots down my spine. I stumble, evade his next hit, snap out my fist and land it in his nose. The sound of cartilage being smashed fills the space. To his credit, Isaac doesn't cry out. Blood drips from his nose, down his chin and onto his shirt.

"Stop it," Lena yells.

Isaac shakes his head, drops of blood flying off his face and blotting the floor.

"Still haven't learnt to fight, have you?" I shake out my fingers, then beckon to him again. "Think you have it in you to hit me again?"

"Stop, JJ, you're going to kill him," Lena pleads.

I ignore her, narrowing my gaze on my son. "I should have done this a long time ago."

"You mean hit me? That's all that was left. You ignored me for most of my life, and when you finally decide to notice me, it's to fuck my girlfriend. You don't have a shred of decency in your body, do you?"

"I don't," I concede. "It's winner takes all, boy. You take your eyes off the prize and you lose it. Surely, you know that by now."

"I'm not a prize, you assholes," Lena cries.

"I fucking hate you." Isaac peels back his lips. "I'm going to smash your head in."

I chuckle, "I'd like to see you try."

He takes a step forward. So do I. That's when Lena jumps down from the bed. The sound of shards of glass being crunched underfoot reaches me. I wince. Lena gasps. I follow her gaze to where she's standing on slivers of broken glass.

"Jesus, Lena!" I leap toward her and pluck her off the ground.

"Let me go," she huffs.

"No fucking way." I head away from the glass and into the bathroom, then deposit her on the edge of the bathtub. "Stay there."

She scowls. "You can't order me around."

Before I can reply, Isaac's petulant voice interrupts me from the doorway of the bathroom. "He's right… On this occasion."

Both Lena and I whip our gazes in his direction.

I stare.

Lena glowers at him. "You're agreeing with him?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But it's about your safety, so I don't have a choice." He glances down at her feet. "You're hurt."

"So are you." I jerk my chin toward the bathtub. "Have a seat, I'll get some antiseptic for the both of you."

He opens his mouth, no doubt to protest, but I spin around and walk toward the cabinet on the far side of the spacious bathroom. What a mess. I shouldn't have fucked her, but I don't regret it. It was worth every fight with my son, every possible breakdown in the relationship with the one person I wanted to have some kind of a connection with. Was it, though? Was it all right to choose his girlfriend over him? Is that what I did, though? That's how he's going to see it, but really, I followed my instinct. The two of them are wrong for each other, I can see it, but can she… Can he? And you're right for her?

I'm better at taking care of her than Isaac, any day. And you're not looking for a relationship; not with her, not with anyone else. But if you were looking for some kind of bond, some kind of association, a companion for a short period of time, then… I'd choose her, in a heartbeat. That I'm not going to fuck her and leave, I accepted a while ago. But this… This need to hold onto her for some period of time, to risk a liaison of the kind I've never allowed myself before, would be… Dangerous. Unprecedented. A first, of sorts. A chance to redeem myself, perhaps? I grab the antiseptic, the bandages, and the first aid box, then turn toward them.

The two of them are seated as far away from each other as the length of the bathtub will allow.

I reach Isaac, hand over one of the bottles of antiseptic, some cotton and bandages, then walk over to her. I squat down in front of her and spread out a clean towel to place my supplies on it.

"Let me." I reach for her foot, but she shies away.

"Lena" —I tip up my chin— "I won't hurt you."

"Not more than you have already," she mutters.

I wince. "I need to pull out the glass pieces and disinfect your foot."

She blows out a breath. "I can do it myself."

"Can you?" I narrow my gaze on her.

She firms her lips.

"Jesus, woman, let me help you, okay?"

She folds her arms across her chest.

"He's right," Isaac mutters. "He's a bastard, but again, he's right. He needs to remove the pieces of glass, Lena."

She blows out a breath. "Fine, do it then."

I circle my fingers around her ankle. Goosebumps pop up on her calf. I place her heel gently on my thigh, then glance at the sole of her foot. Several shards of glass are embedded in the tender flesh. I wince. I grab the other to check, then heave a sigh of relief when I find the skin is not broken.

"What is it?" she asks in a worried voice? "Is it okay?"

"It will be. Do you have tweezers?"

"In my cosmetic bag." She nods toward the counter by the sink.

"I'll get it." Holding a balled-up towel to his nose, Isaac hops up and walks toward the cosmetic case. He brings it over to her. Lena pulls out the tweezers and I take them from her.

I glance at her, then at Isaac. "You might need to distract her."

Lena starts, "What do you mean? Is it going to hurt? Is that why?—"

"—hold on, Dinky." Isaac clambers into the bathtub and stands behind her. "Is it okay if I touch you?" he murmurs. "I swear, I won't hurt you. I'm sorry for earlier. I just lost it, you know? When you told me you... you slept with him?—"

I glare up at Isaac, but his attention is focused on Lena.

"—I just sort of lost my head. All I could think was that you'd broken my trust. You hurt me, Lena."

She blows out a breath. "I know. I'm so sorry, Isaac— Ouch."

I pull out a piece of glass and shake it out on the towel.

She glowers at me, but I ignore her and focus on my task.

"You don't need to apologize. I mean, you do, but I bet he seduced you. I bet it's mainly his fault."

I grit my teeth, swallowing down the anger that bubbles up, and pull out another piece of glass.

"Ow, that hurts," she whines.

I glance up at Isaac, who meets my gaze and nods. "I'm going to hold your shoulders, okay? Just to support you. Is that okay?"

Lena nods. I take in her pale features. Her eyes glisten as she stares at her foot. It's a good thing she can't see the shards of glass. I pull out another piece. She moans, and my heart slams into my rib cage. Jesus H. Christ. Since when did I become such a wuss? I drop the piece of glass on the towel, and I'm not surprised to find my hand is shaking. Should have had a drink before I embarked on this. Hold on. It's just some pieces of glass stuck in her foot. And she's bleeding. Blood trickles down her foot and onto the floor. My guts churn. I focus on the task at hand. Focus, focus. I grip another piece of glass, but before I can tug it out, her entire body freezes.

"Isaac," I snap.

"Lena, look at me," Isaac coaxes her.

"I don't wanna," she says on a sob. "Oh, god. It's going to hurt. It's going to hurt."

"What's the most idiotic thing you've ever done?" he asks.

"Getting together with you," she replies promptly.

I shake my head. Boy needs lessons on how to occupy a woman's attention.

"If you don't look up at me, I'm going to kiss you," he says.

"What the— Don't you dare." She glances up at him, and I pull out another piece of glass.

"Ow, that hurt." She huffs.

"It's going to hurt a lot more if I don't get all the pieces of glass out," I drawl.

"I hate you," she bursts out.

"Good, we agree on something," Isaac murmurs. "Do you remember the time we went with Ben to the zoo?"

"I didn't want to, but Ben loved it. He was a kid at heart."

"And you could never say no to him."

Ben? Who's Ben? I pull out another shard of glass, and this time she flinches, but doesn't protest.

"He loved the open spaces in this city. It was such a change from New York for him, you know? He was always trying to do new things."

"Remember the ballet class he wanted to try out?" Isaac murmurs.

"I went along with him."

"And I signed up because he dared me to." Isaac winces.

I stare at him. "You joined a ballet class?"

"It was one class." He reddens.

"He was quite good at it, too."

"No, I wasn't," he protests.

"Aww, don't be shy now. The teacher called you a natural."

"And that was the last time I ever put on tights." His flush deepens.

A chuckle wells up. "You wore tights?"

"I might even have a picture somewhere." Lena laughs.

"Don't you dare show it to him, Lena."

"I definitely need to see this." I pluck out the last of the shards from her foot.

She peers up at Isaac with a mischievous look. "If you bring me my phone?—"

"No, absolutely not." He scowls down at her. "And if you show him that photo, I swear, I'll tell him how you laughed so much that time we went to the comedy club that?—"

"No, stop. Okay, I won't show him the picture," Lena interrupts.

"What happened at the comedy club?" I pull out another small piece. I almost missed it.

"She laughed so much that?—"

"No, stop." She grips his hand and squeezes it. I glance at it, and a slow burn begins behind my ribcage. Damn, my ulcers are acting up again. Surely, that's the only reason my stomach feels like it's eating itself.

Isaac begins to chortle.

Her brow grows thunderous.

"Shut up, Isaac." She glowers at him. He only laughs louder. He leans his chin on her head and chuckles until tears run down his cheek.

"Isaac!" she snaps in a warning voice.

"Fine, okay, I won't tell him that you laughed so much that you peed your pants!"

"Isaac, really!" She shoves him away. He's laughing so hard that he sinks down in the bathtub. He holds his middle and guffaws. He cackles so hard that a reluctant smile tugs at her lips. I realize my lips, too, are twitching. I forgot how Isaac laughs with his entire being. Like the mirth wells up from somewhere deep inside and is taking over his entire body.

"Almost done." I lower her foot to the floor.

She begins to rise, but I grip her knees. "You can't put pressure on your foot yet. Also, I need to disinfect and bandage it."

"Oh, okay."

I reach for the antiseptic, then scowl at my still snickering son.

"Isaac?"

He wipes the tears from his face. The blood has stopped flowing from his nose. Guess I didn't hit him that hard, after all. He jumps up and resumes his stance behind her.

"Brace yourself," I murmur.

"What—?" She frowns.

I dab the antiseptic onto her hurt foot and she yells, "It hurts, it hurts." She's holding onto Isaac's hand again. My stomach knots itself, but I ignore it. I really should learn to take time out for lunch. Obviously, that's the reason there's a hollow feeling in my belly. I reach for the bandage and wrap up her foot quickly, then place it on the floor.

I glance up to find tears clinging to her eyelashes. Her features are even more pale, and a drop of blood wells up from her lower lip where she's bitten down on it.

"All right?" I ask softly.

She nods.

I rise to my feet. Then before she can straighten, I swing her up in my arms.

"Hey, I can walk."

"Actually, it's better if he carries you." Isaac glances between us, then he releases her hand and steps back. "I'll let you two go."

"Isaac, no, it's not like that." She raises her hand, then lowers it. "It's really not how it looks."

"It's exactly how it looks. You fucked him, Lena. I haven't forgotten that."

"It… it doesn't have to be this way."

"Are you saying you're not going to do it again?"

"I—" She glances up at me. I hold her gaze for a second, then another. I'm not sure what she sees in my eyes, but she clamps her mouth shut. The silence extends.

Then Isaac blows out a breath. "That's what I thought."