AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t talk to me about kindness.” I narrowed my eyes, trying to understand this man before me. He paid people to watch Arianna. But why?
“It’s not that I don’t trust her,” Rob said.
“But you don’t?”
“I don’t, no. She’s troubled, I get that. She has this unquenchable need for love and attention. When she saw how in love Darby is with you, she couldn’t help herself. She had to prove to herself that she could still get him.”
“Have you confronted her about this?”
“Yeah, we had a really big fight just now. But she did admit to me that she can’t stand the thought of him with anyone else, even though she chose me. I don’t expect you to understand. I don’t myself. All I know is that I love her and accept her as she is. I’ve got my own issues, as you probably witnessed.”
“Control. Distrust. Pretentiousness. Cruelty even—when it comes to Darby anyway. Should I continue?”
He grimaced. “No, I think that’s enough. It’s stupid, the way I feel so competitive with Darby. If you’d known us back in the day it might be easier for you to understand. He was the golden boy. Great athlete and student. Teachers loved him. Girls worshipped him. Guys dug him. He had all the friends and the bright future and all of it. I was a geeky little wannabe hanging on to him for dear life. Still, as much time as we spent together, he never told me what was going on at home.”
“What do you mean?” I sharpened. What was he about to say?
“He never told me about his dad. About how bad it was. I didn’t know until graduation when I saw what was happening myself.” He shuddered, as if the memory still scared him. For a slight second, I saw him as he must have been then, skinny and nervous and socially awkward. How had he and Darby become friends in the first place?
It didn’t appear that he was going to elaborate, so I prompted him. “What do you mean—what was happening?”
“You don’t know?” He seemed surprised.
“I know a little, but I’d like to hear it from you. Darby downplays it.”
“Yeah, that’s what he did back then too.” Rob ran the palms of his hands against his thighs. “It was the night of our high school graduation. My parents had gotten me a car as a gift and I offered to pick Darby up for the party. When I got there, I waited for him to come out but after a few minutes, I decided he must not have heard me drive up. I went up to their back door off the kitchen. That’s when I saw it with my own eyes. His dad was whaling on him—beating the crap out of him. Blood was coming out of Darby’s nose, but his dad didn’t stop.” He closed his eyes. “I can see it like it was yesterday. Mr. Hanes just kept hitting him. Darby put his arms up to defend his face but it seemed half-hearted, as if he knew it was no use to try to protect himself. Like he’d been there many times before.” He opened his eyes and looked straight at me, but his gaze was toward the past. “Darby just stood there, taking it. It was a regular occurrence. That much was obvious. All the bruises over the years suddenly made sense. He always made excuses about football practice or a baseball or he tripped in the middle of the night. I never thought anything of it except that sporty guys were often bruised or scraped. I don’t know why it never occurred to me. Except that I never imagined a cop would be bad. Isn’t that stupid? I mean, I’m a smart guy, but I’m also simple. To me, all cops were good. They were not child abusers.”
“Yeah, right.” I’d thought that as a child too. But as in all professions, there were good and bad people. Mostly good. I hoped, anyway. “Darby’s told me he didn’t want anyone to know when he was a kid. Not even you.”
He nodded. “That night, we talked, and I told him to get out of there and never look back.”
“That’s what he did.” I gave him a long, hard look. “I don’t understand how the same person who told him to get away and helped him do so would then steal his girlfriend later.”
“Because love is messy,” Rob said. “I love Arianna. I’d do anything for her. I had to have her. It felt like life and death. As much as you might think so, I didn’t purposely hurt Darby. Was I jealous of him growing up? Yeah. Do I see everything as a competition? Yes. But Arianna, she was different. It wasn’t about winning. I love her.”
“Even knowing what you know about her?”
“Even then.” He stood, seeming a little unsteady on his feet. “Will you check on Darbs? I know him. He’s hurting right now. This will put him back years on the progress he’s made to separate from that bastard. He’ll talk to you. You’re probably the only one who could provide comfort to him. And as far as whatever you think you saw between Arianna and Darby—it wasn’t what it looked like. She told me Darby said he’s madly in love with you and can see now that what happened between them was for the best.”
“He said that?”
“Why should that surprise you?” Rob stared at me with those intense eyes.
“Because your fiancée told me that something had happened between them today. She went out of her way to make sure I knew and acted like she was helping me by telling me the truth. What are you doing with her?”
He fiddled with the silver bracelet on his wrist. “Like I said, I can’t live without her. I have a feeling Darby feels the same way about you. The way he was last night—the way he looked at you—he never looked at Arianna that way. Even before he knew about us.”
I walked him to the door. Before he left, I put my hand on his arm. “Be careful, Rob. Don’t let her wreck your life.”
“I will.” He smiled and for the first time since I’d met him, I softened toward him. Just a little, mind you. He was still the jerk who stole Darby’s girl and spent way too much energy making him feel bad about himself. All because of his own insecurities. How often we let them rule our decisions instead of love, I thought, as I escorted him out of my apartment.
* * *
I knockedon Darby’s door a few minutes after Rob left. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait another moment to see him. He’d told Arianna he loved me. Was that part of the act? Was it true?
“Who is it?” Darby asked from behind the closed door.
“It’s Jamie.”
