AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I visited my mom, she was in the kitchen, and stacks of papers sat in front of her—legal documents, receipts of money transactions, and papers covered with texts. She demanded the documents or threatened a divorce. My father surprisingly had his attorney drop off everything. When I asked if she was leaving him, she only shook her head and grabbed another piece of damning evidence against Chloe.
I sat down and skimmed through them with her, grimacing with every check made out to Chloe for thousands and thousands of dollars. My mom hasn’t commented on my involvement with her, but I won’t be inviting her to dinner in my mother’s home again.Shit.Inviting her to dinner,period.
When I went back to work, all eyes were on me. People had questions but were too timid to ask them. Then, Claudia was brought in, making everything worse. She talked shit to me the entire time the arresting officers booked her. She announced I was having sex with her sister and threatened to release more family secrets if I didn’t get her out of trouble.
I didn’t.
Her threats only sped up her booking process.
* * *
“Give them to me,you stupid cunt!”
The loud voice wakes me. I throw some clothes on, grab my gun, badge, and phone, and rush outside to find Roger standing in front of Chloe’s house, throwing rocks at it.
Not again.
I look away from him to see Chloe standing on the porch in her robe, begging him to leave.
I walk closer, and it’s no surprise Roger is wasted off his ass. He drops the rocks in his hand when he notices me approaching.
“What’s going on here?” I ask.
“He’s trying to make me give him the kids,” Chloe shouts, worry clear in her voice.
Roger takes a step forward, causing me to do the same and block him from getting closer to Chloe.
“I told the little shitheads not to leave,” Roger slurs. “Claudia said they couldn’t stay unless she bailed her out. She didn’t, so I’m here to collect the brats.”
“They’re not going anywhere with you,” Chloe answers, her hands going to her hips. “Keep throwing rocks at my house all you want. I’ll call the cops.”
“Whyhaven’tyou called the cops?” I ask her.
She shrugs. “I didn’t know what was going on at first. I came out here, saw him, and figured asking him to leave would be easier than involving the police and having every town bigmouth talking about it tomorrow.”
“Roger, you need to call someone to pick you up,” I demand. I want him gone, but he’s too drunk to drive anywhere.
“Fuck you, dude,” he spits. “Go back home. You have nothing to do with this. Don’t you hate her now?”
“I’ll call one of my friends and ask them to pick you up then.” I grab my phone. “You can keep your girlfriend company.”
He lets out a cruel laugh. “At least my girlfriend doesn’t keep secrets from me.”
I freeze up at his words.
I can’t help but laugh at myself for my stupidity.
I pull out my phone and call the station while making my way up to Chloe’s porch. Douchebag can’t say or do anything. Dude is dumb but not dumb enough to fuck with a police officer.
The police cruiser pulls up five minutes later, and they arrest him for public intoxication and disturbing the peace. Chances are, he’ll be out tomorrow if he makes bail.
* * *
“Thank you,”Chloe says when Cliff and Pete leave, Roger in the back of their cop car.
Standing on her porch, I nod in response. I should walk away and go back to my house, but for unexplained reasons, I can’t. The need to make sure she’s okay, not shaken up, is there … and so is the need to be near her.
I’m so fucking conflicted, and I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t miss her.
