The asshole made this irate move, stating, “Can you not see how totally fucked up it is, some bitch cleans out an apartment and takes a man’s kid then takes off without even a fuckin’ note?”

Toby found himself swallowing a growl that the man had called her a bitch.

“You were inside her,” Addie whispered.

At that, precisely the way she said it, Toby’s focus locked on her, and like it had a mind of its own, his body moved nearer to hers.

“Baby, can we please talk about this without an audience?” Perry begged.

“She looked at me. You looked at me. You looked right in my eyes when you were connected to another woman,” Addie said, her voice dripping with hurt.

“I tried to come after you.”

“With your dick wet from another woman.”

The moron went silent.

Toby still didn’t look at him.

His attention was riveted to her.

How could she be even more beautiful showing her pain?

“This is how this is going to go,” she said softly. “I’m moving up here. I got a job in the grocery store. I start on Monday. I’ve already contacted an attorney. She’s started divorce proceedings. You will pay child support. You will take financial responsibility for the child you very enjoyably had a hand in creating. We’ll see what part of his life you’ll play, but that will be up to me. But he’ll be up here with me and Izzy. And you’ll be down there with your broken promises and your ridiculous dreams.”

“My dreams aren’t ridiculous,” Perry clipped out, clearly insulted by that, and not all the shit she’d been saying about him being a dick of a partner, a cheat, and shit at being a dad.

The selfish ass.

“You wanna be the lead singer of a rock ’n’ roll band and no, that’s not ridiculous. The ridiculous part is you think that’ll happen sitting on a couch, drinking beer,” Addie told him.

“You’re not going to take my son from me,” he threatened.

“Too late, I already did. But just saying, Perry, you never actually had him because you never actually claimed him.”

“We’ll see how this goes,” he snarled.

It was then Toby tensed when Addie got in his space.

“I know how it’ll go so listen up,” she hissed. “I’ll work until I drop to fight for what’s right for my son. I’ll sell my body if I need to, to give him not only what he needs but even just a little bit of what he wants. And I’ll bleed my last drop before I let you fuck him up. You know me, Perry,” she stressed. “You know what makes me. You know every word I say is true. And you know you don’t have what it takes to fight that. I’ll do whatever it takes to beat you, to give my son what he deserves. I was taught how, day in and day out by my mother, so I know the way. And I’ll take it if you make me, and I’ll die knowing I gave my boy happy.”

Toby felt something he hadn’t felt in years slide into his stomach as he stared at her while she said these words.

But even at its strongest in the past, it had never burned as deep as it did right then.

“You’re gonna have to fight it,” Perry hurled at her.

“Only because you’re intent on proving how big of an asshole you are and you’re gonna make me,” she returned.

That asshole glared at his wife. He then glared at the other blonde, Johnny, and the African American guy before he turned and stutter-stepped when he saw Toby. He recovered quickly and started to stalk off.

“Just to let you know,” Addie called after him. “My attorney already has three appointments to get sworn affidavits next week. And that bitch you were banging while my son was in the next room got served a subpoena, so she’s one of them.”

She didn’t even know his name, but Toby wanted to bump fists with her for being so fucking badass.

That or kiss her.

At that juncture, the second option was seriously inappropriate.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to do it.

“Kiss my ass, Addie,” Perry yelled, not breaking stride.

“The time you get that from me, baby, is long gone,” she returned in a loud drawl.

Only then did Toby wrench his eyes from her so he could watch her hopefully soon-to-be-official ex slam into his car, make it roar and then reverse and peel out in a shower of gravel and a cloud of dust.

Toby twisted back when the other blonde started carefully, “Addie—”

But Addie turned and raced down the side of the house, disappearing at the back.

The second woman raced after her.

Toby felt his brother’s eyes and tore his away from the area where the women had disappeared, doing this fighting running after them, and put them to Johnny.

“Welcome home, brother,” Johnny said.

God.

Johnny.

Toby felt lips hitch.

“I’m Johnny,” Johnny said to the black dude.

Say what?

They didn’t know each other?

“Charlie,” the guy replied, lifting his hand Johnny’s way.

Johnny shook it, let go and introduced, “This is my brother, Toby.”

“Toby,” Charlie said, offering his hand to Toby.

“Charlie,” Toby replied, taking it.

When they were done shaking, all three men hesitated, then when Johnny started down the side of the house, Toby and Charlie trailed with Ranger, Johnny’s dog, walking with them.

So rumor in town was true.

Shandra, Johnny’s ex-bitch who destroyed him was back in Matlock, because there was Ranger. The dog he’d given her to look after her after she’d kicked his brother in the teeth (this being about a nanosecond (slight exaggeration) after their father died) and took off.

But Ranger was here.

With two blondes and a cute-as-fuck house with ugly drama playing out in the side yard.

Jesus.

So Johnny walks his ass into that kind of drama, setting himself right up to be the hero, which Tobe so totally knew Johnny would wait about an hour to do.

And when Toby had tried to intervene with some chick whose brother had some medical bills she was trying to help pay, she decided he was her prince charming. She then rented some hall for their reception when he had no intention of buying her a ring. And when he tells her that last, even though he goes gentle, she loses her mind about losing her deposit and takes off in his truck.

Johnny found the righteous blondes who’d go to the mat to take care of their kids.

Toby found the nutcases.

Good to know things didn’t change.

They walked in the back door hearing Addie saying, “No, Iz. Just put the queso under the broiler and let’s get this party started.”

But her eyes hit Toby’s brother when he entered then they went behind him after Johnny cleared the door, and Tobe and Charlie crowded with him into the small kitchen.

She was holding an adorable baby tight to her and hovering in a corner of the kitchen like the two women in it had her caged in (the blonde, clearly Eliza, who everyone in town was talking about being the girl who mended Johnny Gamble’s broken heart) and an African American woman, who probably belonged to Charlie.

Though, to Toby, they seemed to be giving her space.

It was then Addie said, “Great. As if that drama being played out in front of Clubber McHotterson,” she indicated Charlie with a flick of a hand, “and Magnus McHotterson,” she indicated Johnny with a jerk of her head, “wasn’t bad enough, now we got Talon McHotterson here to enjoy the show.”