Cowards.
“The last time you pulled something like this, you ended up bleeding and in handcuffs,” I ground out.
“You better not be sleeping with him,” Craig growled, his teeth scraping over my ear. “If you are, I will fucking kill him.”
Absolute denial and stark fear flooded me at the direct threat to Adam. “I’m not,” I said, fervently. Once the words escaped me, I bit my lip harder, until I tasted blood. I shouldn’t have said that. Now he knew Adam was important to me.
Craig ground his hips against my backside. A car pulled up at the pump behind mine. “We aren’t done yet. You owe me.”
I stood there for long moments after he jogged back to his car. After swallowing thickly, I turned my head and looked at the woman now pumping gas just feet away.
Our eyes connected, and then she redirected her gaze somewhere else.
I wrenched my car door open and over the sound of the rain, I heard the sleek purring of an engine. I glanced over the hood of the car to see a cherry-red Mercedes Benz convertible back out of its spot.
Craig was behind the wheel. How had I not noticed the car before?
I’d been too busy making sure he hadn’t gotten the best of me.
Yet still he had. He drove off, and I climbed into the driver’s seat, abandoning my coffee and candy to the cup holders in the center. After a couple shaky breaths, I drove away.
I had known seeing Craig again was inevitable. It still caught me off guard.
What I hadn’t suspected was the expensive car he’d been driving. Craig didn’t have money. Holding down a job for more than a month at a time wasn’t one of his strong suits.
Not that he had many strong suits.
So, of course, I couldn’t help but wonder how the hell he had paid for it.
4
Adam
When the phone in my office finally rang I answered it on the first ring.
“Adam here,” I said, gruff. Anticipating this call all frickin’ morning was wearing my patience thin.
“Adam, it’s Sherman,” answered the man on the other end.
“I’ve been waiting on your call, Sherman.”
Sherman was my attorney. After buying the club and having a few marriages fall apart, I figured it would probably be wise to hire an attorney to basically keep on speed dial. I didn’t like dealing with the legalities of life, so I paid him to do it for me.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Court ran long this morning.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tell me she isn’t asking for more shit,” I spat.
“She tried, but I managed to get it all dismissed.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “Thanks, Sherman. I really appreciate it.”
“She wasn’t happy,” he said, and I barked a laugh. “That woman was nearly impossible to please… Well, I’m happy to announce that you are officially divorced.”
A ten-pound weight lifted off my shoulders. I probably shouldn’t feel so relieved that marriage number four was now over. There was also the fact that I had managed to screw up four different marriages, yet I couldn’t seem to find any self-loathing.
I was too damn happy to be free.
Of all the wives I had, she was the hardest to divorce. She felt she was entitled to pretty much everything I owned. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t. After my second marriage crumbled, Sherman insisted I get a pre-nup. It wasn’t that I was worth millions or anything, but I was comfortable. My business pulled in some money, and I only planned to expand on that.
The business, therefore, most of my money, was mine. She knew she couldn’t take any of it if we got divorced. Hell, she signed the papers. That didn’t stop her from trying to fight it in divorce court.
Naturally, she was just bitter and angry. I couldn’t really blame her.
“So that’s it?” I asked Sherman. “Everything is done?”
“Yes, sir. Everything is done.”
“Awesome,” I said. “Before you go, I wanted to ask you about one other matter.”
“Of course,” he replied.
“Were you able to extend the restraining order I took out on the asshole?”
“What asshole would that be, sir?” Sherman said dryly.
“Sherman,” I said dramatically, “you act like there’s a list!”
He snickered on the other end of the line. Then he cleared his throat to answer. “I forgot to mention that. Yes, I was able to get the length of term extended. It’s good for another six months.”
“You really earned your paycheck today, Sherman!” I told him and grinned into the phone.
After I finished ribbing him, we said our good-byes and I hung up the phone.
Finally. I was divorced. Again.
I wondered if this most current ex of mine was as relieved as I was. I knew I hurt her, and for that I was genuinely sorry. I even let her have more in the divorce than she was entitled. I certainly took my share of the blame for the failed relationships in my past.
And this one, well, it was mostly my fault.
I tried to make it work. But something just kept getting in the way.
Actually, it wasn’t a something, but rather a someone.
Roxie.
At first, it wasn’t that hard to fight the raging hormones she created inside me. She was taken. I was taken. And that was that.
So what if I watched her dances just a little longer than everyone else’s? So what if the fact I could bark orders at her and have her sling back some stinging comment secretly thrilled me? I didn’t think anyone noticed the slightly favorable way I saw her.
Until my wife came to the club. Apparently, she noticed it right away. I still remember the fight we had that night when she asked me why I never looked at her the way I looked at Roxie. I had no idea what she was talking about. I looked at Roxie the same way I looked at everyone else.
But she didn’t think so.
And that woman was like a dog with a bone.
She even demanded I fire Rox.
I put my foot down on that one. There was no way in hell I was firing my best dancer.
And yeah, maybe I’d miss her if I did. But I didn’t say that part out loud.
I did everything I could to prove to the wifey that I loved her and no one else. But in all honesty, it was hard to be loyal to one woman when I really wanted to be loyal to someone else.
Even still, I tried. After I heard Roxie was single and had moved in with Harlow, I still tried, even though a voice whispered I might finally have a shot with her.
And then one night changed everything.
Roxie came to work, looking worn out and red in the face. She’d sat in some mechanic’s place half the day with no A/C, waiting for the stupid A/C in her car to get fixed.