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I’m not going to ask her if she’s okay, because I want to see how this plays out.
“Don’t tell Chet that we’re taking all this home,” I lean over to whisper in her ear. It’s almost as if my voice relaxes her.
“Why?”
“I’ll explain later. This just stays between me and you.”
She doesn’t have a chance to respond because he comes strolling through the door, smug smile, eyes raking over her body. My blood boils.
“Well, what do we have here? A little office hanky panky?” He laughs. Belle doesn’t even give him so much as a smile.
Interesting.
“I had to pick up a few things. I wanna get some work done tonight, but I wanted to do it at home.”
“Like what? I thought we were caught up on everything.”
Chet has no idea. He’s my friend and he’s a part of this business because when we started, he was the one that had all the money. He doesn’t do much to help keep things running.
“Just some last-minute changes and plans. I’m going to go to the site tomorrow and help the guys.”
“Why would you do that?” He narrows his eyes in my direction, and I watch them subtly flick in Belle’s direction.
“I do it all the time. It’s just not something you’ve ever asked me about.” That’s the truth. Chet never really has much interest in most of the work that’s involved in our business. He enjoys the lavish lifestyle.
“You’re quiet today.” He ignores me and turns his attention to Belle.
“I don’t have anything to say. I’ll meet you out in the car, Maddox.” She’s gone before he gets the chance to say anything else.
“That one’s a real bitch, Maddox. I don’t know how you put up with it. Unless that’s some shit you like or something.” He flops down in his seat, smirking in my direction.
“Don’t talk about her like that.”
His eyes go wide and then he laughs. “Wow, so you’re pussy whipped.”
I decide the best plan of action is to leave before things get out of control. Ever since I got back to town, he’s been strange.
They’re both acting strange, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.
“Don’t put too much thought into it, Maddox. I just know a bitch when I see one.” He shrugs and I walk out the door.
“I’m so sorry, Maddox. Something about him rubs me the wrong way.” She starts apologizing as soon as I get into the car.
“I know there’s more to this story and you’re going to tell it to me. I deserve to know. After everything we’ve been through, I deserve it.”
She doesn’t even look at me, just continues to look out the window. She’s quiet and she doesn’t acknowledge what I said. That just solidifies that I’m right.
The whole trip home is silent. I’m trying to give her the opportunity to come clean about whatever's happening, but my patience is running thin.
“Belle.”
“Just give me a minute. I’ll tell you everything. I just need a minute.” She starts pacing around the living room.
I want to reach out to her. I’d like to pull her into my arms and tell her everything is going to be okay, because it looks like she could use the reassurance.
“You’re gonna need to sit down, Maddox.” She turns to face me; her hand is covering her mouth.
“What’s going on, Belle?”
