Page 64 of Driven to Love

Addison jumped, a startled look on her face. “What the heck? Is someone bleeding to death out there?” She started to rise, but he snagged her arm.

“No. Let me check.” Nash pushed off the couch, passed her, and peeked out the window. A figure dressed in a hoodie and sweats stood in the doorway, a bat in hand. Nash turned to Addison. “Stay there. Call the police.”

He cut across the room and slipped out the back door.

The back door closed, and Lu jumped onto the couch. Addison scooped him up. Phone in hand, ready to dial 911, she paused. Curiosity burned in her gut. It won out over the fear. She jumped off the couch, flipped the edge of the curtain back, and peeked out.

“It’s a little warm to be in full sweats.” She stared at the figure pacing on her step. She swallowed back the fear rising in her throat. Who could this be? Was it the same person who threw a rock through her window? The same person who sabotaged her car? She peeked out again, and the person turned. Addison jumped back, dropping the curtain. Shit.

“I know you’re in there, you tramp!” Amber screamed from the front step. Another bang crashed against her door—bat cracking against wood.

Why was Mark’s wife on her step, and what was with the incognito look and the bat?

No way she would fear this woman. Sure as hell, she wouldn’t hide in her house and let Nash handle it.

Addison rolled her shoulders and set her cat down before she yanked the door open. “What are you doing here, Amber?”

Surprise crossed Amber’s face. The woman stumbled back, then raised the bat. “Where is he? I know he’s here.”

“Mark isn’t here. I haven’t seen him in weeks.”

Amber swung. She went wide, but Addison pulled back. “I don’t work there anymore. Thanks to you.” Anger crept up her spine, chasing any fear away.

“Bullshit. I know you were with him last weekend.” She wound up, ready to swing for the fences.

Hell, no! Addison moved in and grabbed the bat.

Amber struggled for a minute, then dropped her hold on the weapon and lunged at Addison, her fingernails in claw mode. “You bitch!”

Nash flew from the side of the house and tackled Amber to the ground before the confrontation amped to full-on catfight.

“Get off me! The hussy has it coming. She’s screwing my husband!” Her hood fell back, exposing her face. No makeup. Messy hair. The woman had a crazed look in her eyes.

Nash pinned the woman to the ground, throwing the bat to the side. “What the hell is she talking about? Who is she?”

Addison shook her head. The explanation escaped her. What could she say other than… “She’s wrong?”

“Who. Is. She?” He stared, questions rolling through his eyes.

“She’s my ex-boss’s wife.”

“The one who fired you?”

“Yes, but not because I was sleeping with him, but because I didn’t.” She turned to Amber, currently pinned facing the dirt. “I never slept with him. I swear.”

“Why should I believe you? You were dating him behind my back. I gave that man twenty-two years, two children, and this is the thanks I get? Someone like you has no respect for that.”

Shame rolled in her gut. She might not have slept with Mark, but she knew the divorce wasn’t final. Somewhere in her gut, she’d questioned whether it was right to be seeing him.

“I know you’re still seeing him. He took you to dinner a couple of weeks ago. I saw the receipt. Why else would he come to this sad little town?”

“Yes, he took me to lunch. I thought he was going to offer me my job back, but he didn’t. He wanted to start our relationship again. A relationship I ended months before when I found out he wasn’t getting divorced, like he’d said. He lied to me too, Amber.”

Amber scoffed. “Why should I trust you? You don’t think I know? I called the hotel last weekend. He checked in with a brunette.”

Addison shook her head.

“She was with me. There are witnesses. We were at a ball game,” Nash spoke up.