Austin stood still and waited, then sent a hard kick into Jack's stomach, doubling him over as he threw up at Austin's feet. He quickly jumped out of the way as Jack collapsed on the floor, groaning in pain and gasping for air.
"Are you kidding me, Jack? You couldn't take this like a man and just walk out. I was trying to do this as easy as possible, but you had to charge me. Do you really want to go to jail on top of being fired?" Austin demanded.
"You're the one who hit me. I'll take you for all you have, you bastard. I'll own everything, this building, your house, all of it," he gasped.
"Go ahead and try. There are about twenty people standing around who saw the whole thing," Austin snapped.
"I've got this now, boss. Jack, come with me," his guard said as he grabbed Jack by the back of the shirt and yanked him up. The guard, Tommy, was intimidatingly huge. Even Jack didn't look stupid enough to mess with him.
"Thanks, Tommy." Austin turned and walked away as Tommy began leading Jack from the premises.
"How high are you, Jack? Damn, that was stupid," he heard Tommy say before he got out of hearing distance.
Austin made it to the office before Trenton found him. By the smirk on his brother's face, he already knew what had happened. He kept walking, not wanting to hear the gloating. Austin wouldn't have hit Jack if he hadn't charged him.
He knew he was on a short fuse, the whole situation with Kinsey keeping him on pins and needles, but he wasn't normally violent. But explaining that to his brother would do him no good. Trenton just loved to say 'I told you so.'
"I heard you could've used a little back up, that Jack almost took you down," Trenton said, stopping Austin in his tracks.
"What? Are you kidding me? That little piss-ant couldn't get the upper hand even on my worst day."
"Oh, so you kicked his ass just for fun?"
"No! He charged me. It was self-defense," Austin snapped as he resumed walking. Trenton was trying to get a reaction and he was doing a good job of it.
"I knew I should've been there."
"Like that would have stopped anything."
"Nah, but then I might have got to jump in and get a few swings myself," Trenton said with a laugh.
Austin couldn't help the smile from appearing. He looked at his brother, at the wicked humor in his eyes, then started laughing. He didn't know if it was the stress, Jack, Kinsey, his father, Uncle Joseph or what the hell it was, but suddenly he couldn't quit laughing.
He laughed until his stomach hurt and tears were in his eyes. After about five minutes, he finally managed to straighten up and look at his brother, who was eying him like he'd lost his mind. Hell, maybe he had.
"It's been a really long week," was his only explanation.
"I get it," Trenton replied as he climbed in the car next to him.
They didn't say anything more as they left the warehouse behind. Austin relaxed, knowing that was the end of it. Trenton would leave him alone and let him work through whatever was driving him to the point of hysterical laughter.
He also knew Trenton would be there in a heartbeat the second he needed to talk about it.
"Thanks for meeting with me, Kinsey. The family is moving Joseph tomorrow. As you know, he needs nursing around the clock when home, and the family wants you to continue his care. Have you made your decision, yet?" Kinsey's supervisor asked.
Kinsey had been thinking of what she wanted to do for the past couple weeks. She was going to refuse, even though she knew it could be detrimental for her career, but she didn't think she could handle being in the Anderson Mansion, knowing Austin would be making appearances often.
She caved, though, after Cassie begged her. How could she deny her best friend when she was obviously so worried about Joseph?
"Yes, I'll take the position."
Her supervisor gave her a relieved smile. It seemed she didn't want to be the one to tell any of the Anderson family, no. Kinsey could sympathize with the overworked woman.
"That's great news. We'll miss you while you're gone, but your position will still be here when he recovers," her boss said.
Kinsey loved how optimistic her boss was. She never gave up on a patient, not even when everyone else in the room already had. She'd saved so many lives, Kinsey felt the hospital should be named after her. Most often though, the hardest workers were those who were the most under-appreciated.
"Go ahead and take the rest of the day off. You've certainly earned it," she said as they both stood up.
"Thank you."
Kinsey walked from the office, grateful she'd get to see Joseph's care to the very end, but nervous about what it meant with Austin. She hadn't spoken to him since their fight and she still didn't know if pregnancy was a valid concern. She was afraid to even go there at the moment. She didn't know what she'd do if the answer were yes.