“I’ll have to take your word for it, but remember to keep calm. Dean said the crew has been walking on egg shells around him lately because his temper’s been so bad. We don’t need you to punch him in the face and get sued.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Austin grumbled.

“Let’s get this over with. I have an appointment in an hour with an investor,” Austin said as he strode forward, his walk confident, his shoulders back. To the outside world, he looked like the corporate shark he was, though he was boiling on the inside.

They passed through the doors, watching as employees placed personal items in their lockers and put on their safety gear. A few greeted them, not alarmed to have them there. It wasn’t unusual for any of the Anderson family member’s to come and personally check on their varying businesses. They often jumped in while on site and gave a hand.

It was their fathers who’d taught them that hard work was expected, not to be passed off. They’d teach their children the same values. Just because they’d been fortunate enough to be born into money didn’t give them the right to forgo certain steps in their learning process.

“A little sweat helps you grow into a man,” both Joseph and George would say to their boys. Austin had actually heard Trenton say the same thing to his son. The thought almost made him smile – would have, too, if not for the situation.

“Trenton. I’m glad you’re here. Can you come look at something?” an employee asked as he rushed over to them. Trenton looked at Austin, obviously unsure if he should leave him on his own.

“I told you, I’m fine. Go help. Come find me when you’re finished,” Austin snapped, the last of his patience with his brother evaporated.

“Okay, but don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Trenton said as he turned and went down the hall.

Austin figured he had a lot of room to do what he wanted if that were the case. Trenton had been the wildest of them all, the word no just being another challenge for his brother.

Putting Trenton out of his mind, Austin continued to walk toward the loading dock, where he knew Jack would be. He tuned out the conversations going on around him as he focused on the task at hand.

“Hi, Austin. Glad you’re here,” Dean said as he appeared at his side.

“Yeah, better to get this over with. Which bay is he in?”

“Number twenty-three. I’m coming with you. He’s been pissier than usual lately and I have a feeling you may need a witness. There’s been mention that he might be on drugs. I don’t know what happened to him. He used to be one of our best guys.”

“It really bothers me when this kind of thing happens. I like a clean ship ran.”

“I know. I’m sorry I allowed it to get this far,” Dean said, obviously embarrassed.

“You’re doing a great job, Dean. You notified us as soon as the problem was found. You can’t tell when someone’s about to snap. It just happens,” Austin reassured his foreman.

They didn’t speak any further as they approached the bay. When Jack turned and spotted the two of them, his eyes narrowed and he stood up in a defensive stance. Austin took a deep breath. He could already tell the conversation wasn’t going to go well – not in the least bit.

“Jack, can you come outside with me? We need to have a talk,” Austin asked in his most professional tone.

Jack looked from him to Dean before answering.

“What about?” He didn’t budge from his stance.

“I’d much rather do this in private, Jack,” Austin tried again, though he knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“What is it that we need to do in private?” Jack demanded.

Austin sighed. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy so he didn’t understand why he was letting it get to him. It had to be everything else going on in his life - Uncle Joseph, his father, and especially Kinsey.

Jack was already looking for a fight, his defenses up. He had to have known he was going to get caught eventually. Drugs tended to make a person think they were invincible, though, so maybe Jack really had thought he could keep getting away with his little theft ring.

“We’ve come across some irrefutable evidence that items have been stolen from the yard…” Austin began when Jack interrupted.

“So what? I don’t know anything about it. Why are you talking to me,” he bellowed. Jack’s temper was starting to really escalate. With just a few words, he was darting his eyes around, before turning back to Austin, glaring with an intense hatred.

“Jack, the evidence points to you,” Austin said, his voice quiet. He was trying to avoid a scene, but wasn’t having much success.

Several workers had stopped and were openly staring. Many of them already knew the situation. Rumors flew rampant in any workplace, but most of these guys had been working together for years already and rumors spread faster than normal. They weren’t even trying to hide the fact that they were watching.

“That’s ridiculous. You can’t come in here and accuse me. It’s probably one of your greedy relatives. I’ve been framed, that’s it,” he shouted, his face turning red, his nostrils flaring. He looked around, starting to notice all the people watching. “What are you looking at? Don’t you all have a job to do? This is none of your business,” he cried out.

Austin heard someone chuckle, and he tensed, waiting for Jack to explode.

“Get security here, now,” Austin whispered to Dean, who nodded and quickly left.

Jack wearily watched Dean go before his gaze locked back on Austin.

“Come on, Jack. Let’s go outside,” he tried one more time.

“I have nothing to hide. You can’t bully me around just because you were born with a silver spoon in your damn mouth. I ain't going anywhere. If you want to go outside, then be my freaking guest!”

“I’ve had enough, Jack,” Austin thundered. He was losing his cool no matter how much he tried to reign it in. The man was pissing him off.

“I’ve had enough, too. Now, get the hell out of here so I can do my job!”

Jack actually turned away, acting as if Austin was dismissed. Austin stood there for a moment in shock. The man had to be on some pretty intense drugs if he truly thought he could talk to his employer that way and still have a job. His job had been over no matter what, but seriously, what was he thinking?

“Jack, you no longer work for this company. A guard is coming to escort you off the premises. You can gather your possession, and then you aren’t to step foot on any of the Anderson properties again. Do you understand?”

Austin’s voice was back under control. He was a professional and needed to remember that. He carefully watched as Jack turned back to him, his face a swollen red ball, fists clenched at his sides, stance threatening.

“I’ve worked for you for years. Years! And this is the way you pay me for it. You treat me like a common criminal? I’ll sue you for wrongful termination, take everything you’ve got, you pansy ass son of a b…”

“I’ve had enough, Jack. Follow me to the lockers, this conversation is over,” Austin interrupted. He was damned if he’d stand there and allow the thief to speak to him that way.

“You can go to hell!” Jack yelled and Austin heard his steps charging toward him. He quickly stepped to the side and turned. Jack had his fist raised and was bringing it downward toward his face.

Austin easily blocked the forward movement, stunning Jack. Then Austin threw a punch of his own, landing a solid right to the man’s jaw, making him stagger back. Jack shook his head, then looked up, rage consuming him as he charged forward again.

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.