Page 53 of Tiny's Law

Turning my gaze to Kourtney’s, I see a small tear line on her lid, and she pushes it away before it falls. She shakes her head ‘no’ as if doing so will keep Evie from saying whatever she’s about to say.

“How about the fact that she dated Benjamin? Yes, my brother-in-law Benjamin, and when he couldn’t do enough for her, she went and fucked my husband for a promotion.”

It’s my turn for my head to whip back as if I’ve just been sucker punched in the jaw. “What?” I scoff. My brows furrow in confusion as my eyes search for the truth in Evie’s hateful stare at the woman sitting next to me. The woman I am no doubt falling for as the minutes tick by.

Is the woman I’ve been infatuated with capable of doing something like that? Sleeping with my ‘Uncle’ for all intents and purposes? No. She’s not like that.

When I feel movement next to me, I reach for her, but I’m too late. Kourtney hurriedly pulls her bag off the back of her chair and dashes out of the room, mumbling something about not dealing with this on her rush out.

Shoving away from the table, I go to run after her but am pulled back by a small hand at my elbow. I turn to see my mom shaking her head.

I slam one fist down on the table and stab the other one in the air pointing at my aunt. “Start fucking talking because your accusations just caused the woman I’m real fucking close to loving to run out my front door.”

My confession appears to shock Evie, and tears begin to fill her eyes. “What do you want me to say, Nathan? Matthew cheated on me with multiple women at his office! Multiple! Your little girlfriend just so happened to be one of them.”

“You’re sure about that?” I yell. “I’m really fucking sorry your husband was cheating on you, Aunt Ev.” I scrub both hands down my face in frustration and point toward the door where Kourtney just escaped. “But are you absolutely fucking sure that she is one of the ones he cheated with?”

My aunt’s face drops, and her lip quivers under my stare. “I… I think so. I never got proof, but why else would she have been fired? And why did she randomly move here right after word got out about Matthew’s multiple affairs at the office?”

“You think it was her!” I roar. “So you just probably ruined any bit of relationship I had with her by the possibility that your douchebag husband is a cheater?”

“A girl at the office told me she was fired because she was sleeping with him!” she cries.

“Okay, let’s calm down,” my mom says gently.

“Calm down? How the fuck do you want me to do that, Mom? From where I’m sitting, it looks like my only choices are to screw over Evie to go after the girl I love or take Evie at her word and believe that Kourtney is a homewrecker, even though I love her. I don’t know how either of those options could be considered calm!”

It doesn't escape my notice that I yelled, not once, but twice, that I love Kourtney. Is it fast? Probably. Is it a surprise? No, not really. I’ve been infatuated with her since the day I laid eyes on her. But now I have to decide what the fuck to do.

Picking my chair up, I throw it against the wall, and even as the wood crumples from the contact, I don’t feel any relief. I stomp out of the dining room and up the stairs to my bedroom. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dial Kourtney’s number.

When it immediately goes to voicemail, I let out a huff in frustration. There’s no way she’s home yet, but I pull up the app to the cameras in her house anyway. No movement, of course. I close it out and call her again. It’s comical that I think it’d ring this time.

I contemplate whether to go after her. But what if Evie isn’t lying? What if Kourtney really was one of the women Matthew had an affair with? Can I really be in a relationship with the woman who ruined my aunt’s life?

Aside from my mom, Evie is the only other blood family I have. It’s Mom, Evie, and the club. That’s all I have.

Could I learn to ignore it? Forget about it? Could I live a life with Kourtney that Evie isn’t a part of?

Part of me thinks it’s silly to feel this strongly about it, considering Kourtney and I just became official, but I would be lying if I said that the thought of her not being in my life already makes me nauseous and ready to murder.

That thought answers it for me.

Picking up my phone from the bed beside me, I press her name again. Directly to voicemail. “You’ve reached Kourtney Walker. You know what to do. – beep.”

“Kourt, honey, please call me.”

Pressing the red button at the bottom of the screen, I immediately hit her name again. Voicemail.

Over the next thirty minutes, I volley between checking the cameras at her house and leaving voicemails and texts apologizing for not going after her. She still isn’t home, so where the fuck is she?

I curse myself for not hooking up her office cameras to my phone, so instead, I rush down to my office and check those.

Nothing.

Fuck.

My fingers fly across the keys as I pull up street cameras and follow her car as she made her way across town to a small gated neighborhood. It takes a little more time to get into those cameras, but once I do, it has her pulling up to a small white house. I zoom in when she gets out of the car and curse myself when I see the sadness clear as day on her face. Thoughts of murder flood my system when I notice a man open the door for her, but when I zoom in, Reggie steps up behind the man and pulls Kourtney in for a hug.

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