I have to tell him about his father eventually. “I have to tell you something ...”
He puts his hands to my shoulders, pushing me back. “Don’t like your tone.”
“When I ran out before, there was someone waiting in a truck over the road, and I crashed into him.”
“Who was it?”
I give him a sympathetic expression. “Your father.”
He’s up before I can say another word. I’ve never seen someone move so fast. Before I can even make it to my feet he’s charging across the road. I rush after him, confused as hell by his reaction. It was not at all what I was expecting.
“Jagger!” I call, but he doesn’t stop.
When we reach the complex, he charges in the direction of Bull’s apartment, and just as he reaches it, Bull steps outside with a blond woman by his side, laughing about something. When he sees Jagger, his eyes widen.
“Boss, what’s goin’ on?”
Jagger makes a pained, angry sound and turns, driving his fist into Bull’s truck window, smashing it. As he jerks his fist back, blood pours from his hand. I skid to a stop, freezing as I get a look at this face. An expression I’ve never seen washes over it, and he looks terrifying. So terrifying I can’t take another step.
Bull moves toward him, but Jagger rears back, eyes flaring.
“Don’t fuckin’ touch me, Bull.”
“What the fuck is goin’ on?” Bull asks, putting his hands up. “Boss, what the fuck happened?”
Mary and Maggie come rushing out of the apartment when they hear the commotion and skid to a stop when they see Jagger, standing, panting, blood dripping from his fist.
“Johnny, honey, what’s happened?” Mary cries, rushing over to him.
“He’s back.”
“What? Who?”
“Mick is back.”
Maggie’s face pales, and Mary stops moving, her hand reaching out for Jagger still. It takes her a moment to snap out of her trance, to move away from her shock, but she does and continues reaching for Jagger.
“You’re hurt.”
“She’s right, let me look at that,” Maggie says, stepping forward, her voice shaky.
He lets her take his hand, but he’s still panting, staring at nothing, his face so hard it’s scary.
“How did you know he was back?” Mary asks, reaching for him and rubbing his shoulder.
“Willow spoke to him.”
Mary looks to me, her eyes harsh. “She what?”
“I ran into him, I didn’t know who he was until he told me at the end. I didn’t plan on meeting him.”
“You should have come and got me, immediately,” Jagger growls. “You sat there and fuckin’ made out with me all while knowing you just met the man who fuckin’ ruined my life.”
I didn’t know he was going to get so damned angry about it, or I would have gone to him straight away.
I shake my head. “I could have, but I didn’t think you’d want to see him, I was worried about your reaction, and now I can see why.”
“It should have been the first thing you told me, but you were more worried about saving face, again. Why?”
He’s so angry.
Anger that runs deep.
Part of it belongs to me.
The other part ... That goes so much deeper.
Mary pats his back sympathetically, glaring at me.
God damn her.
“Because I didn’t know how you’d react, and I didn’t want to hurt you,” I explain, trying to keep it together.
“Bullshit,” he growls. “Fuck me, Willow. Why are you always doing this?”
I’m angry now, sick of being blamed over and over for everything that goes wrong.
“I made a choice,” I say, my voice hard. “I chose the moment I thought it was best to tell you.”
“You should have told me the minute I got there. That man is fuckin’ dangerous, and you let me hug you and sit with you before opening your mouth and telling me something that huge. Why the fuck am I even standing here explaining this right now?”
What has gotten into him?
He’s losing it.
The thought of his father has clearly triggered something deep inside him, and he’s looking for a fight. He’s looking for someone to blame. As always, that someone is me.
“Jesus, Jagger. I was scared of your reaction. As always you go over the top and behave like a fucking overgrown child instead of facing your issues.”
“Do not speak to him like that,” Mary says, her face hardening.
Ignoring her, Jagger continues. “Issues? I’m not the one with fuckin’ issues.”
“Really?” I laugh, bitterly. “You’re choosing now to air our dirty laundry because you can’t handle the emotions raging inside of you? Fine, Jagger, have at it. Let’s go. I’m done with you taking your shit out on me. You ran off with your ex-wife as soon as she turned up, discarding me like old fucking trash, and you wonder why I’m hesitant to share a single fucking thing with you.”
He jerks his hand from Maggie’s grip, leaving her speechless at the revelation that Sharleen is alive. He steps closer to me. “You wouldn’t talk to me, you fucking ran off and disappeared so don’t you dare make out like I discarded you. The night she returned you wanted answers then and there, you didn’t stop to think that I was out of my mind with confusion. I thought she was dead, but no, you had to run off and leave me without contact for how fucking long, because you assumed I made my choice.”