by A. M. Myers
Oh, hell no.
Jumping out of the truck, I set the ultrasound picture on the seat and follow behind Wyatt as he walks up to the man.
“Can I help you?” Wyatt asks as he stops right in front of the man, a little close for the other man’s comfort if the look on his face is any indication, and crosses his arms over his chest. I decide to hang back, just a little, in case this visit isn’t a friendly one. The guy jerks his head back before his gaze snaps to the numbers nailed to the side of the house and back to Wyatt. He scowls, looking down at his phone.
“Uh… I think I might have the wrong address. I’m looking for Piper…”
What?
“Why?” Wyatt snaps, somehow making himself seem more threatening as he stares down at him. Not that he needs it. This guys is almost a foot shorter than him and he looks like he weighs a hundred and fifty pounds on his best day. Honestly, with the clothes he’s wearing, he looks like some kind of door-to-door salesman and the black framed glasses really complete the look. He can’t be more than twenty-one either and with how stressed Wyatt has been, I know it will only take a tiny thing to push him over the edge.
“Is this her house? Are you her roommate?”
My roommate?
Who the hell is this guy?
Enough is enough. I have no freaking clue who this guy is and I really don’t care. I have a date to get to. Walking up beside Wyatt, I put my hand on his back and he glances down at me as the man’s face lights up.
“Piper! Oh, thank God. I was so worried I had the wrong house.”
“I’m sorry… do I know you?”
He nods. “It’s Colin.”
“Who?” I ask, tilting my head to the side and pursing my lips as I study him, trying to place his face but I’ve got nothing.
“We met online,” Colin continues and all the blood rushes to my ears as I shake my head in confusion. “We’re going out tonight, remember?”
I step in front of Wyatt so he doesn’t kill this kid and shake my head. “I think you have me confused with someone else.”
“He’d fucking better,” Wyatt growls in my ear and my heart drops as my pulse starts to race and my belly flips.
“No, I don’t. I’ve seen your photo and we’ve been talking for like two weeks. I know it’s you. We text each other all day long and I sent you your favorite flowers last week. Remember? You said you loved them.”
Oh, fuck.
This is not good.
With how paranoid Wyatt has been lately, he will believe this guy and it won’t matter one bit how much I tell him that I have no idea what he’s talking about or that I’ve never even seen him. I can feel the anger and suspicion rolling off of him without even glancing back at his face and I squeeze my eyes shut as I take a deep breath.
“This guy?” he hisses, grabbing my hips and I shake my head as I spin around and plant my hands on his chest, hoping he can see the desperation in my eyes. Wyatt owns me, every single piece of my heart and soul. There is no one else I want but will he believe that?
“I don’t know who he is, Wyatt.”
His nostrils flare and he releases my hips to clench his fists at his sides as my heart thunders in my ears and my stomach flips.
Please, Wyatt…
He stares down at me, searching my face for a moment before he tries to move me out of the way, but I cling to his shirt. Goddamn it, this is so, so bad. If Wyatt kills this kid, which is a real possibility, he will go to jail and I’ll lose him forever. He narrows his eyes and looks down at me with disgust.
“You’re protecting him? So, it’s true, then? You want this little fucker?”
I shake my head. “No, baby. I’m worried about you going to jail.”
“Baby?” Colin asks and I glance over my shoulder as his gaze bounces between the two of us. Wyatt flashes him a smile that makes a feeling of dread wash over me as he takes a step forward, despite my best efforts to hold him back, and nods.
“Yeah, because I’m her fucking husband, not her roommate, you little fuck.”
He holds his hand up, his face going pale as he takes a step back and I roll my eyes, turning my focus back to my husband. “Uh… Piper?”
“Stop talking to me like I know you,” I snap, not even bothering to glance at him as I look up at Wyatt and pray to God that he can see the truth in my eyes. His anger wavers for just a second and it gives me hope.
“You know what, I think I’m just going to go…”
Wyatt nods, his murderous glare flicking up to Colin. “That’s a great fucking idea.”
Peeking over my shoulder, I watch him run back to his car and climb behind the wheel. The engine squeals, a horrible metal on metal sound filling the air as he tries to start it but it’s already running. As soon as Colin whips out of the driveway and races away from our house, Wyatt’s gaze drops to me, accusations swimming in his eyes.
“Inside. Now.”
He doesn’t even wait for me to respond or follow him as he turns and marches into the house with his fury rolling off of him in waves. Sighing, I drop my forehead into my hand and try to force my brain to work but all I can feel is this overwhelming sense of dread.
How can I make him see the truth?
How can I make him believe me when he’s so certain that there is something going on?
At this point, I don’t even care about finding out who Colin is or where he came from because he doesn’t matter. Wyatt does. Tears sting my eyes and I shake my head as I look up at the house. Wyatt stands in the doorway, watching me but when our eyes meet, he turns and disappears inside. Sucking in a breath, I follow him and press a trembling hand to my stomach as it rolls in protest. As soon as I step inside, he glares at me, ready for a fight and I shake my head again.
“Wyatt…”
“You fucking that clown?” he asks, cutting me off and I shake my head. “Is he what you really want, Piper?”
I shake my head again. “Wyatt, I don’t know who that was.”
“Yeah? Well, he sure as hell seemed to know you, didn’t he? All these things keep adding up and now, it’s all starting to make sense to me.”
“What are you talking about?”
He scoffs, shaking his head. “I’m talking about the flowers, the reservation in Seattle, and now Colin. It’s all coming together so how about you stop lying to me?”
Seattle?
What the hell is he talking about?
“What reservation?” I ask, scowling at him as he rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest again.
“The one you made at a hotel in Seattle the morning after we came back from my parents’. The one I fucking cancelled so good luck running off with your new boy toy.”
Dropping my head back, I blow out a breath, trying not to lose my temper, before meeting his gaze again. “Wyatt, I’m going to say this as plainly as I possibly can. I don’t know that man. I’ve never seen or spoken to him before, in my life. I don’t know anything about a hotel reservation in Seattle and I fucking love you with every ounce of my body. I don’t want to leave you but I’m also starting to wonder if I can keep doing this.”
“Doing what? Being with me?” He shakes his head, pain flashing through his eyes before he shuts it down. “Why did you even come back, Piper? Did you feel like breaking my fucking heart one more time for fun?”
Tears spring to my eyes as I shake my head. “Wyatt, I would never. I love you. You know that… we’re Wyatt and Piper and you are the only man I’ve ever loved.”
“You know, for ten years, I knew you were a cold bitch based on the way you left me last time but I’ve got to give you props because this is a new fucking level.” His gaze drops to my belly and that pain is back. “Is the baby even mine?”
A sob rips through me as I stare at him and cover my belly with my hand like I can somehow protect our child from the hate he is flinging at me right now. Tears stream down my face as I shake my head, staring at him and trying to find a little piece of the man I love.
/>
“How could you say that to me?”
He shrugs. “How could you cheat on me?”
“I’m not cheating on you, Wyatt!” I scream, my heart aching so bad that I don’t know how I’m still standing as heat flushes through my body and I clench my teeth. “You promised you wouldn’t throw my past in my face ever again.”
“This isn’t the past we’re talking about. It’s right now and I have all the evidence I need.” He turns and marches down the hallway to the bedroom as I follow behind him, my heart climbing into my throat.
What is he doing?
When I step into the room, pain splinters through me and more tears slip down my cheeks as I try to take a breath but I’m crying too hard. Wyatt has a duffel bag open on the bed and he’s throwing his clothes inside haphazardly. His hate filled gaze flicks to me and he stops, turning and grabbing the bag from the bed, zipping it up as he walks toward me. “I’ll sign the papers in the morning.”
My brows draw together as I stare up at him, wishing this was a dream or some kind of cruel joke. “The papers?”
“The divorce papers,” he says before brushing past me and storming out of the house. My heart races and my mind spins as I stumble backward into the door frame and reach for the other side to keep my self upright. Another sob tears through me and I fall to the floor as pain swallows me up and spits me back out in the house that used to be my home.
Chapter Thirty-One
Wyatt
Yawning, I run a hand over my tired eyes and shake my head before grabbing my beer off of the table in front of me and taking a sip as Blaze walks into the clubhouse. He arches a brow when he sees me and motions for me to follow him back to his office. I nod and stand up, bringing my beer with me. After I stormed out of the house last night, I knew I needed to, at least, have someone keeping an eye on Piper to make sure she didn’t get hurt so I asked Blaze to sit on our house all night. I would have done it myself but I couldn’t go back there - not yet. My chest burns as I think about the kid that showed up yesterday and the look on Piper’s face when I told her I would be signing the divorce papers in the morning. The heartbreak in her eyes looked real as hell, just like the love in her eyes when she told me she would never cheat on me but she has to be lying. There is too much evidence against her and I’m not going to be made a fool of once again.
“Sit down,” Blaze instructs as I walk into his office and I throw myself in the chair across from him as he scrubs his jaw with his hand. “She’s safe, in case you were wondering.”
My eyes widen. “Are you seriously throwing attitude at me when she is the one who is cheating on me?”
“Open your fucking eyes, Fuzz. That woman is completely fucking devoted to you and I know you asked Streak about this guy coming after us also finding other ways to torment us. Did you really forget about it so easily?”
“Why would he do that?” I ask, rolling my eyes as I take another sip of my beer and Blaze slams his hand on the table. I jerk forward, staring at him as he levels a glare at me.
“Pull your head out of your goddamn ass. This is an all out war on this club and you should know better than to assume anything. I watched your woman cry her eyes out all night long.”
Running my hand through my hair, I release a breath. I know I entertained the thought that the man coming after the club could be behind the things going on with Piper but I’m not buying it. This guy, whoever he is, is not going to concern himself with targeting just one member of this club. Why would he?
“What would be the point of making me think my wife is cheating on me?”
“Let me ask you something,” Blaze says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “You were the one spearheading the investigation in these girls’ deaths. How much work have you gotten done on the cases in the last two weeks?”
“Not a lot.”
He nods. “And why is that?”
“‘Cause I’ve been too worried about Piper to focus on them,” I admit, connecting the dots with where this conversation is going but I already thought through about all this and I still think it’s unlikely.
“Uh-huh,” he quips, nodding his head. “Would you say that you’re acting sane right now? That you’ve got your shit together and that you’ve been an asset to this club and your wife lately?”
My throat feels tight as I shake my head. “No, I suppose not…”
“My thoughts exactly. So, while I was sitting in front of your house last night, I called Streak and had him dig into your wife’s life. He can’t find anything. The IP address of the person running the dating profile he found on her came from a restaurant that offers free wifi, the hotel reservations were also made from the same computer, and the flowers came from one Colin Owens, who was also communicating with the dating profile but there is no evidence that Piper is doing any of this. In fact, as far as Streak can tell, if she isn’t at work, she is with you.”
That’s not exactly true. She goes to her support group, too, but I get his point. Piper isn’t cheating on me and I’m an ass. All of the tension I’ve been carrying around for weeks rushes out of my body and I set my beer on the desk before leaning forward and dropping my head into my hands. “Oh my fucking God.”
“You know the thing that confuses me the most, though? You know how to look all of this stuff up and yet, you didn’t. Why the hell not?”
“I don’t know…” I whisper, looking up at him and he shakes his head with a sigh.
“Seems like you don’t trust her… or you’re scared.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You a therapist all of the sudden?”
“Sure as hell feels like it lately,” he snaps and I drop my head into my hands again as my head spins.
Piper isn’t cheating on me.
The words ring through my head over and over again until the words I flung at her last night replace them, making my heart sink.
“Fuck! I’ve got to get back to the house and…”
“Grovel?” he supplies and I nod as I stand up and turn toward the door. “Maybe get something shiny with a four figure price tag. Just a thought.”
I nod as I grab the door handle and turn back to look at him. “Yeah. Thanks for watching over her last night, Blaze.”
“It’s fine as long as you don’t make a habit of this.”
“It won’t ever happen again,” I assure him. Once I convince Piper to forgive me for being an epic dick, I’m going to be the best damn husband that anyone has ever seen. He nods.
“Get out of here, then.”
Nodding again, I step out of the office and close the door behind me before heading for the clubhouse door with one thing on my mind. I run through our fight and the more I remember, the more my heart sinks.
Shit.
The stuff I said was so fucked up and she was so hurt. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this all to her. When we went to my parents’ house, I promised her that I was going to be there through everything but it was so easy for this guy to get in my head and drive a wedge between us. I can’t believe I was such an idiot about this. All I had to do was a couple of internet searches and I could have avoided hurting both of us but no, I was too damn consumed with worry and convinced that she was leaving me again.
Fuck.
Maybe I need some goddamn therapy.
The front door opens, bright morning sunlight streaming into the room and Kodiak walks in, his gaze scanning the bar before coming to a stop on me. He arches a brow as he walks over to me, shaking his head.
“Dude, you’re so fucked.”
“Why?” I ask as my head jerks back. How in the hell does he even know about what’s going on? He glances over his shoulder and leans in.
“Tate is outside and if I were you, I would avoid her at all costs.”
Before I can even ask him why, the door swings open again and Tate walks into the room with purpose, dressed in all black and her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She looks terrifying. Her gaze
lands on me and rage rolls off her, so potent that I consider running out of the back door like a little bitch. I glance down and notice the taser in one hand and her pistol in the other.
Yep.
I definitely should have run.
“Baby, I said no gun,” Kodiak hisses but she walks past him, barely flicking her eyes in his direction as she closes the gap between us and gets right in my face.
“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
My eyes widen and I glance at Kodiak, who closes his eyes and shakes his head, before turning back to her. “Like, right now?”
Wrong move.
She doesn’t even respond, just snarls at me as she presses the taser to my skin before I can dodge out of her way. The muscles in my arm seize up before electricity rolls through my entire body, all of my muscles tightening and pain hitting every nerve ending as I crumple to the floor with a groan.
“What the fuck?” I breathe, trying to figure out what the hell I did to Tate to piss her off. That woman is ten kinds of crazy and I know better than to mess with her. Shaking my head, I open my eyes. Black boots fill my vision and I glance up at her. “Are you wearing steel toe boots?”
She grins. “Test me again and find out.”
“Want to tell me why the hell you’re so pissed?” I ask as my muscles begin to relax and I take a deep breath, trying to will them to release. She lifts one of her feet and presses it against my shoulder as she points the pistol at me.
“Tate,” Kodiak warns, taking a step toward her and she glances back at him, halting him in his tracks.
“Shut up.” She turns her gaze back to me. “Do you know what I did last night, Fuzz?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“I went over to your house and held your wife as she bawled all night long, saying it hurt so bad that she was going to die so let me ask you again, what the hell kind of game are you playing with my friend?”
My heart aches as I imagine Piper sitting on the couch and crying so hard that she can’t even breathe. How many nights did I wake up to that same scene because she had a nightmare about her parents? And now, I’m the one doing it to her.
