#[Ethan can definietly avoid that punch if you want

[thanaredreamtof]

James couldn't help but chuckle at the surprise that first came across the other mans face, but it quickly subsided as he listened to Ethan speak. He pressed the bloodied cloth to his nose, and looked at the dark haired man from across the way, noting how he stepped in between him and Felicity.

"thank me...what for?" he'd asked, his southern drawl dripping over the words, before Ethan explained his plan. "Ah...so she means...absolutely nothing to you then?" he asked, his lips pursing slightly as if to express I don't fucking buy it.

Then it was his turn to have the flash of anger in his eyes as he spoke about Felicity and him in bed. He didn't say anything, his tongue only playing at his teeth. He could taste his own blood. That bitch...he thought, glancing over at her again.

"well Ethan...since you've let me in on your little secret" he said and finally pushed himself off the counter, and took a few steps closer as well. "I'll let you in on mine...you see I had suspected something, of course I had, as much and all as you'd like to think it...I ain't stupid" he began circling the other, slowlying pacing around the kitchen floor. "and yeah I may have let my anger get the better of me...truth be told I thought I'd have handeled it a bit more...diplomatically...but when I saw her, packing her bag...well...you know" he said and nodded to the collapsed red head.

"And for what was taking my attention...well, have you spoken to your boss recently boy? or were you too busy barney mugging my wife" he said, emphasis on the same phrase that Ethan had used. He stopped moving, and faced him again, taking a drag from his cigar as well. He cocked his head to the side as he thought on it. "cause I gotta tell you...we've made some real progress on your turf down there, a couple of those supplies you got down there have switched sides...and I had a few men go down, rattle your boss and em...yeah it's been a busy few weeks…without those suppliers, and the debts your boss has ranked up with me…I’ll have em bled dry by the time I put that little bitch in the ground" he smirked, his smugness written all over his face.

"They were looking to rattle you too...but guess I'll just have that honour" he said, and with that threw his cigar onto the ground. He looked up at Ethan, his eyes suddenly darker than before, the game now over and James went to throw a punch at the other.

Ethan was growing furious by the minute over Felcity’s tardiness. He checked his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time. He paced in his apartment, unwilling to accept hed been duped by her. He checked his watch again before heading to look out the window. Nothing. She was an hour late. He paced around some more before finally leaving in a rage to go hunt her down

To say he was caught off guard by James'presence when he arrived would be an understatement. The man had been so oblivious until now. How had he finally figured it all out? His throat uncontrollably clenched in fear when he saw her lying on the ground, but his anger won control as Jamws spoke, his beast within awakening.

It was a shame Felicity would have to see him like this.

He pursed lips and shrugged. “I should probably thank you then,” he says coldly.

He began to confess everything. That this was his plan from the start - while true initially it was now a lie. He liked her. A lot. And he was going to kill Jamea double for what he’d done to her. He knelt down and gently pushed some hair away from her face and let his touch settle at her neck. At least there was still a pulse.

“She was getting a little clingy and you were taking far too long to figure it out,” he lightly insulted, standing and taking out a cigarette from his case. He tapped the tobacco in against it and slipped it between his lips, letting the smoke from his drag fill the air. “I guess I should also thank you for finally showing up. You’ve just made my job that much easier,” he told him with a sinister grin as he tactically positioned himself between the two.

He had to clench his jaw to keep from exploding right then and there from the rage he was experiencing. “Listen, if it’ll make you feel any better about all this” he started, motioning around the kitchen. “She wasn’t much of a whore,” he continued, feigning his disappointment expertly.

Ethan smirked his way as images of he and Felcity flashed through his mind. The many nights she’d shown him just how fun she could be - the good in her responsible for opening Ethan’s eyes to an entirely new meaning of the word. He took a drag, eyes locked with James.

“But she sure could fuck like one,” he antagonized him cooly.

He took a few steps his way, ashing onto the counter.

“You know,” he went on, momentarily pointing at him. “Given your reaction to finally being let in on the joke, I’m surprised you didn’t keep better tabs on your woman,” he poked at further.

He eyed him silently. As if he was searching for the sign that it wqs tine for Ethan to finally get to work and let his demons out to play.

“What were you so busy doing that you didn’t notice your wife barney mugging someone else until now?” he asked pointedly, though eeriely calm. “Must have been something pretty big to take your mind off her,” he added, finally relaxing his gaze and taking another puff.