Page 77 of Single Mom's Firemen

There’s CCTV footage that can tell anyone what he was thinking in horrifyingly precise detail. Colby is well aware of what he did. He just thinks I’m some kind of idiot. He still wants to be the brightest bulb around. He simply cannot acknowledge that he can’t fool me, not anymore. The ship has already sailed and he can’t accept that.

“Do they know?” Colby asks, seemingly peaceful.

“Know what?” I pause, then pick up on his frazzled thoughts. “Do Luna and Sammy know that you started the diner fire?” I wait for his nod. “No. I did my best to keep them out of earshot for any conversation involving your name.”

“Do they miss me?”

“You saw them just now,” I shoot back. “Do they look like they miss you?”

“They don’t love me,” he mutters, briefly glancing away.

“They’re scared of you, Colby,” I say, slowly leaning forward. “I know you didn’t want to hurt me the way you did but they saw you do it. They saw us together, back at the house, when we were supposedly a family. They may be children, but even they can tell right from wrong.”

He gets up with a furious huff and turns away, choosing to face the window for a moment. “You turned them against me!”

“No, Colby. I did my best to stay neutral but I couldn’t lie to them, either. Luna remembers everything you did, how it was. Sammy’s a little younger but he worried whenever he saw me crying. He understood that when I cried, it meant Daddy did or said something bad. The children saw everything, okay? I didn’t have to turn them against you. You did that all by yourself.”

“It’s gonna be different from now on. I’m gonna change,” Colby declares. “I know what I need to do, Helena. Things will be better this time.”

My blood runs cold. I don’t like the way he’s talking. There’s an underlying tone that sends shivers down my spine. A sort of calm before the storm, the kind of storm that gets people killed in order for Colby to get what he wants. “What do you mean?” I ask with caution.

“It’s those firefighters. They’ve put nonsense in your head, in the kids’ heads. I’ll deal with those fuckers, once and for all. And then we’ll be a family again. You’ll see.”

“Colby, the cops are looking for you. The FBI is looking for you.”

He laughs wholeheartedly, as if I’ve just told him the greatest joke he’s ever heard. “Oh, babe. Like I give a shit about the cops or the feds. Have you forgotten who I am?”

“You are not invincible,” I remind him. “And I’m not sure your mother can protect you this time around.”

In the blink of an eye, he crosses the room and grabs me by the neck, squeezing so tightly that my windpipe almost gives out. “My mother has done more for me in the past few months than you ever did in your entire miserable life, you cheating whore! What, you think I didn’t know about you and the firemen? What was it like, Helena, taking so much cock in one sitting, huh? Is that what was missing from our marriage? I’ll have you gang-banged on a daily basis if that’s what you want.”

“Oh… God… Colby… Stop,” I gasp out, trying to pry his fingers off my neck so I can breathe.

“You broke your vows!” he snarls, then throws me back on the bed. “It’s unforgivable.”

He is rambling and switching gears so fast it’s hard to keep up. He is unpredictable, and I don’t know how to handle him anymore. One minute he’s calm and somewhat soft, the next he’s spinning out of control and itching to hurt me. If we keep this up, I will not survive past midnight, and judging by the reddish sky outside, midnight isn’t that far away.

“Colby, please, we have to reach some sort of reasoning here,” I say, on the verge of tears. “I am a divorced woman, a free woman. The kids and I felt safe—”

“You had a husband!” he shouts.

There’s no reasoning with him, that much is obvious. I have to try another approach. One that makes my stomach tighten with disgust but is necessary. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I say. “Please, Colby, forgive me. It was foolish. I was angry and hurt.”

He stills.

It’s as if all his rage has suddenly dissipated. There’s a warm twinkle in his eyes. A softness I haven’t seen in ages. This man is off his rocker. He’s miles away from sanity, and I need to get miles away from him. Clearly, the only way that’s gonna happen is if I get him to relax. If I stop arguing, if I stop fighting him altogether.

“I’m sorry,” I say it again. “Please, let’s just… let’s talk, let’s figure this out, together. Maybe we can make it work after all, if you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

“Don’t you see, Helena? That’s all I want. You. Back with me,” he sighs, his shoulders dropping. “It’s why we’re here. It’s why I’m going to make sure we stay together this time.”

“You don’t have to make sure, I mean, you said it yourself, I’m here, we’re here. Let’s just make it work.”

He shakes his head decisively. “Oh, no, those guys won’t leave us be. That’s your fault, but I’m gonna fix it.”

“What do you mean?” Dread comes over me in icy cold waves, but I measure my breaths and do my best to keep him from seeing how terrified I am. I know what he’s capable of. “Colby, what are you planning to do?”

“I’m just going to finish what I started,” he says. “The warehouse thing got out of control so fast. I need a more controlled environment. I just need them to die, really. And then we’ll be able to pick up where we left off.”

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