“Have you ever shot at a living person?”
He swallowed, his fingers curling tight around the wheel. No more lies. “Yes.”
“On purpose?”
Out of context, there was no way to pretty it up. He had blood on his hands. He’d taken lives. But he didn’t usually beat himself up over it, because he also saved lives—saved innocent victims and helped those who couldn’t help themselves. “Yes, but—”
“Then you can stop talking and take me home.” Her lips trembled.
She was clearly too upset to see the whole picture, so he gave up trying to persuade her and hoped she’d calm down. Once she did, he’d have better luck reasoning with her.
When he pulled up to her house he tried to reason with her one last time. “Please don’t let this mess up everything we have.”
She stood outside his truck looking up at him. “How many guns are in your house right now?”
“They’re all locked up.”
“How many, Trenton?”
He swallowed. “Nine.” Plus the one in the glove compartment and the ones he kept at his sister’s.
Her head lowered. “I won’t go back there until it’s zero. I’m sorry. I just can’t.” She shut the door and didn’t look back as she entered her house.
“Fuck!”
Chapter Nineteen
“I just don’t understand why he’s suddenly so clingy. I tell him I’m fine and he goes away for a few minutes then he’s back as if I never said a word. I mean, I know they say pregnancy gives you hemorrhoids, but I never knew they meant your husband turns into one. I want him off my ass! And I swear if he pushes one more glass of milk in my direction I’m going to scream!”
Chloe half listened as Jade sat across from her, bordering on almost a full hour of prenatal complaints. She should have called out today, but she didn’t want to be home alone. She also didn’t know what to do about Trent. She shut off her cell phone and told her secretary to hold all her calls.
She overreacted about the gun and wished she was strong enough to let go of old fears, but the thought of being anywhere near a gun filled her with this paralyzing pain. She could still taste the metal, hear the click, feel the terror she suffered every time Marcus played with his.
Disappointed in herself, ashamed of her lingering weakness, she tried to talk herself into seeing reason. The rational part of her brain told her every gun owner wasn’t crazy and Trenton would never do the things her husband had done. She could almost convince herself she could get over her fear, but the second she pictured Trenton’s gun, imagined it in their presence, a cold sweat broke across her shaking palms and her chest constricted with panic.
Marcus had simply tortured her too much over the years with his belts and guns and basically anything he could use to make her life hell. But he never actually shot someone. Trenton had.
Her response yesterday had humiliated her on a level she wasn’t ready to explain. The times Marcus used a gun… She shivered at the thought. Over the years she’d worked through many of her triggers, but this was a big one she didn’t think she’d ever get over. Marcus had held his gun to her temple too many times and done too much damage for her apprehension to ever go away.
“Chloe? Chloeeee? Hello? Earth to Dr. Wolfe.”
She looked at Jade and suddenly burst into tears.
“Oh my God, Chloe, what’s wrong?” Jade stood, her slightly protruding belly pressing against her shirt, her voice stricken with panic, as she pulled her into her arms. “Honey, what’s the matter?”
“It’s Trenton,” she sobbed, hating herself for acting so unprofessional.
“What about Trent?”
“He—he isn’t who I thought he was.” Reaching for a tissue, she tried to pull herself together.
“What are you talking about? Who did you think he was? I never knew Trent to be anything but genuine.”
“God, I’m sorry.” This was completely unprofessional. She was breaking rules, not just hers, but the ones that kept her practice to a standard she’d worked damn hard to achieve. What was wrong with her?
“Oh, please. After everything I’ve been through… You go ahead and unleash.”
She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “I didn’t mean to just explode into tears like that.”
“It’s fine. I do it all the time. Tell me what happened with Trent?”
Debating if she wanted to cross that line, she thought to first clarify a few things. “Jade, what does Jeremy do?”
She frowned. “He works with Trent and Pete. They all work in security together. Sometimes they do installations, but Jeremy mostly works from home doing IT stuff. Why?”
“I thought you said that Trent taught self-defense.”
“He does. He also does alarms and acts as a bodyguard and even retrieves fugitives who violate their bail sometimes. Didn’t he tell you that?”
She dropped her face into her hands. “God, I am such an idiot.”
“Chloe, there’s nothing wrong with what he does. It’s legitimate, honest work. He’s a hero.”
“He has a gun.”
“Of course he has a gun. Trent always carries one.”
She looked at her friend as if she were crazy. “Always?” She thought of all the times they’d been together. Mia’s birthday party, brunch, game night. “And you think that’s normal?”
“Normal or not, I for one am grateful he always keeps it with him.”
“Grateful? Guns kill people!”
Jade looked at her sternly. “Right, Chloe, guns can kill people—mostly when in the hands of idiots. Trent’s a highly trained professional who’d never be careless with his weapons. He knows how to use a gun and has excellent aim. If it wasn’t for him, I could be dead right now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What am I talking about? Chloe, what are you talking about? You know what happened to me the night of the party. Trent was there.”
“I know he was there.” They’d kissed. Her chest tightened another degree, but she forced the tears to stay inside.
“Trent saved me, Chloe.”
Her brow tightened, true misunderstanding setting in. “What?”
“He followed me there. To that house. That fucker had me in a headlock with a pistol pointed in my face, ready to take me God knows where and do God knows what to me, and he would have if it wasn’t for Trent showing up.”
“You said the police came.”
“After Trent showed up. By the time the cops got there the guy was dead. Trent shot him and saved me. Why do you think he was the one who had to file all the paperwork?”
Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to piece all of this together. “I thought…”
“Chloe, I love you, but there is no way Trent will ever be a bad guy in my eyes—gun or no gun. He saved my life. He’s saved lots of lives. That’s what he does. His job’s dangerous and he needs to be armed for his own protection.”
Did that mean he had a gun with him the night he drove her to Pennsylvania and she got in the car with him—a perfect stranger? As much as she trusted him now, she’d been crazy to trust him then. Another terrible decision—or was it? He brought her to her kids. He saved her. But had he been anyone else, he could have killed her before ever reaching her children.
Her stomach rolled like unsettled mush. Her back and forth debate was making her seasick. She wanted to accept this part of him, but the more she tried the more she realized how incredibly fucked up she still was from Marcus.
Her hand closed over her mouth. “I’m going to be sick.”
“Look, maybe you should go home. It isn’t like you were even listening to me today. Get some rest. Think about what I said and maybe call Trent. I’m sure he would be willing to explain everything. I know he really cares about you.”
Jade was right. She was no use to anyone in this state. And now, after hearing Trenton had killed the sick monster who had attacked her friend, she didn’t know what to think. “
He had that gun in his truck when Mattie was with him.”
Jade shook her head. “Maybe we have different perspectives on the Second Amendment, but your son was safe with him, no matter what was in his truck. I’d never second guess Mia’s safety around him—if anything, I’d feel more secure knowing he’s there.”
She understood she was overly sensitive when it came to weapons, but most people weren’t threatened with a pistol in their face by the one person who promised to always love, honor, and cherish them. She couldn’t expect others to understand what made her this way. Even she struggled to understand the things she’d been through.
“You’re right. I need to go home.”
“If you need to talk later after you’ve gotten some rest, call me. God knows by tonight I’ll need another break from Jeremy.”
She tried to laugh but failed. After Jade left it only took Chloe a matter of minutes to gather her things.
“Jennifer, I’m going home for the day. Cancel my last two appointments and you can head home yourself unless you want to stay. Either way, I’ll pay you for a full day.”
She walked to the door and ignored her secretary’s look of surprise. “But Dr. Wolfe, you have messages.”
“Just leave them until tomorrow.”
She walked to the parking garage in a daze and climbed into her car. She still had a few hours until the boys got off the bus and a nap sounded … necessary.
The hazy sky thickened with clouds and the air smelled of rain. With the sun tucked away, the day felt later than it actually was. She cried most of the way home, afraid she’d screwed up the best possible thing in her life because after all this time her past still haunted her. After all of these years, despite her training, there were still crippling issues she couldn’t get over.
She parked her car and grabbed her purse from her backseat, tipping it by accident in haste but catching it before everything dumped on the floor. As she headed up the walk the first spits of rain moistened her cheeks, followed by a loud crash of thunder.
Before she even had the door unlocked the rain turned to big fat drops pelting her clothing and destroying her hair. She rushed over the threshold and quickly shut the door, flipping the lock back in place.
“Hello, Chloe.”
Her heart lodged in her throat at the dreadfully familiar voice and she spun around, certain she was hearing things. But he was there. In her home. “Marcus.”
“You’ve been a very bad wife.”
Chapter Twenty
A scream ripped from her lungs as she pivoted, clawing at the door and jerking the knob, making no progress due to the locks. Her head smacked against the door as he spun her around and shoved her into the wood so hard her teeth clacked.
“What’s the hurry, wife? We have some catching up to do.”
Her heartbeat roared in her ears, as familiar hazel eyes narrowed, so full of venom and hate. She needed to call the cops. She needed to stop Dayton and Mattie from taking the bus home, figure out somewhere to send them, and find a way to get a message to the school. There wasn’t enough time!
She shoved past him only to get dragged back to the door and slammed into the wood again. “Marcus, don’t…” His smirk twisted as his hand closed around her throat.
In her nightmares, he never aged, but now his hair had faded from brown peppered with gray to silver peppered with ash. This was no dream.
His thumb dug painfully into her throat and she wheezed, “Marcus, please...” Tears blurred her vision.
Disgust hissed out of him like noxious gas. “Chloe, Chloe, Chloe… How you’ve played a game with me. Did you think I’d never find you? That you could take my sons and never pay the consequence?”
Her eyes watered. The more she tried to pry open his fingers the tighter they closed around her throat. Her phone was off and in her purse by her feet. So close yet too far.
“Marcus,” she begged, pulling at his tightening fingers.
“Let’s hear what you’ve got to say for yourself.” His fingers loosened and she gulped in a breath only to have them tighten again.
“It doesn’t have to be like this. I was scared. If you want to see the boys we could arrange some sort of legal visitation.”
“Legal?” She flinched, covering her face as he slammed his fist on the wall beside her head. “What kind of fucking fantasy world are you living in? They’re my sons! I have every legal right in the world to see them. I’m their fucking father!”
“I know. I’m sorry—”
The back of his hand knocked her head to the side as pain exploded in her cheek. “Shut up!”
She sobbed in terror, struggling to get past him, but he blocked her.
His saliva dotted his lips as he shouted in her face, making her flinch as he raised his fist again. “You’re the one who’ll need legal counsel. What you did was kidnapping! I could send you to rot in prison for what you put me through over the past six years. Then you wouldn’t have to concern yourself with your family anymore, you selfish bitch! You’ve kept them from me all this time—in my aunt’s fucking home!”
Spit mixed with the lingering drops of rain on her face. His words spread through her like poison. Sweat broke on her skin as her stomach knotted painfully and her heart stampeded in her chest. Pressure mounted as she tried to calculate a way to escape and find help. She was going to vomit.
“Look at what you’re doing, Marcus. This is why I left.”
“You left because you’re a selfish cunt!” His fist slammed into her stomach, radiating pain through her kidneys. She wheezed and he jerked her away from the door, shoving her toward the couch.
“No! No!”
“Shut up!” The back of his hand collided with her head, sending her sprawling onto the floor.
Coughing, she wobbled to her hands and knees. “Please. The kids will be—”
Nausea cut off her begging. Her eyes watered and she dry heaved, the fear of what was actually taking place too much.
“Get up.” He wrenched her arm behind her back, twisting her off balance and her face hit the floor. He dragged her to the couch.
She screamed in pain and tugged the coffee table, desperately trying to stop him. If he got on top of her she’d never get him off. “Get off of me you sick fuck!”
Pain exploded in her side as he drew back his designer shoe and kicked her. She collapsed, gasping for air. The carpet pressed into her cheek as she blinked through blurred vision and retched. Her labored breathing burned her lungs as she struggled to find her bearings and settle her stomach.
Where is he?
Wiping her eyes, she turned her head and stilled. He stood over her, a satisfied glint in his malicious eyes. “You always were pathetic.”
Her gaze went to the door and her panic surged when she didn’t see her purse or keys. She needed to call the police. Call the school and tell them not to release her sons.
He pulled an envelope from the front pocket of his shirt and dropped it to the floor. The white square fluttered and fell to the carpet with a foreboding tick. Her heart stopped beating when she recognized not only Dayton’s handwriting on the front but the return address stamp with her aunt’s name and information in the top corner.
“Do you know how much trouble and money you’ve cost me? How many professionals I’ve hired over the years? Thousands of dollars! You stole that from me, and time I’ll never get back with my sons!”
What was in that envelope? Oh, God, Dayton, what have you done?
“…the first man I hired found you, but lost you around the border of Mexico.”
Mexico? She tried to follow his words, but her thoughts were chaos.
“You’ve led me on a merry chase and to think, this entire time, you’ve been right under my nose in my relative's home. You’re a criminal, Chloe. Even your children hold your crimes against you. Go ahead…” He toed the envelope closer to her with his loafer, his every subtle move making her flinch. “Read what our son thinks of his dear old mom.”
“Marcus—”
“I said, read it!”
With shaking hands she reached for the envelope, afraid he would kick her again. The torn edges showed the same pale pink lining of the envelopes she kept in the basket on her desk. This was her envelope. It had been her son rummaging through her desk not long ago. That was why her things were out of place.
“Read it!”
Tears flooded her eyes as her hands shook violently, pulling the paper free. Dayton’s youthful script marked the page on both sides.
Dear Dad,
How are you? I am good. By the way, this is Dayton, your son. I am in 3 third grade now and go to a school called St. Ignatius. I miss you. Do you miss us? I love you. I was wondering if you could come visit us. We can show you our house and you can see my room. Maybe I can even show you some of my video games. I am on the third level of
Do you still live in Virginia? We live in Aunt Gina’s house, but she died. Sometimes I miss her. Mattie is good. Can you come get us? I was wondering how come you do not visit. Mommy says you will never live with us again, but I think if we all talk and try real hard we can be a family like we used to be.
We have nice naybers neighbors and friends here. You would like our home. You could sleep over. Mommy’s room if maybe you gave her a present. Mommy has a big bed like at the old house. You can sleep there. I do not want to have a different dad. Last week I found a letter from a man Mommy says he might is her friend. You need to Please visit soon so Mommy remembers that she is married to you. I just want us to be a family again.
Are you lonely all by yourself? I think about you at nighttime and in my prayers. Mommy told me she still loves you. Do you still love her? I told her if she tried real hard maybe you would be happy. She works every day when we are at school. We have an extra chair at the table where you could sit. Who makes dinner for you? Do you still have a red car? Our car is yellow.
Something Borrowed (New Castle Book 3) Page 19
