Page 41 of Sinful Sorrow

“I do know her!” My words come out in a snarl. On a barely there, quiet enough not to travel, but ferocious all the same, growl that has the man licking his lips. He’s the wolf, we’re in the woods, and he’s angry enough to eat me alive. “I’ve met your wife, Charlie. More times than you know. Because we both come from the same world, and although she’s supposed to be sober, I see her in the same clubs I’m in. Though only one of us is routinely plastered, half unconscious, and making shitty choices. Oh, and she knows who I am. You know how I know that?” I take a step back and regard him with a sneer, trying with all my heart and soul to stop caring about what he thinks of me. To stop caring about him, full stop. “I know, because she makes damn sure to seek me out on the dance floor and call me a dirty, home wrecking slut who wishes I could be her. No one really wishes to become a train wreck, so I can only assume she means I wish I were Mia’s mom and your wife.”

Shaking my head, I take another step back and leave the bear, and the man, behind.

“I didn’t insert myself into your marriage. But somehow, I’ve been tugged in anyway. And the irony is, we’re not even together. We’ve never been together. I care about your daughter, because she deserves a woman in her life who chooses her over the crack pipe. And you deserve someone who isn’t the reason you lose weight and sleep, because you’re overcome with stress instead. But you’re right,” I throw my hand toward the door, gesturing toward the woman he keeps hidden on the other side. “You’re choosing well. This is just…” I click my tongue. “A fantastic decision on your part.”

“Why don’t you just go away, Sera?” He bites out his words and takes a chip from my heart with the cold dismissal in his tone. “If you’re not here to help me, or support me, then you’re a waste of my fucking time. And right now, I have so little of that to spare.”

“You’re choosing wrong. You’re gonna look back on today and wish you’d listened to your friends.”

“I’m not choosing anything except to keep my daughter’s mother alive long enough to get her into rehab! But you’re too fucking self-centered to see that. You’re a train wreck too, Sera! You think I deserve someone who doesn’t stress me out? And yet, you’re the single most stressful woman I’ve ever met. You’re high maintenance, highly strung, and you carry trauma from your own abusive mommy like you think it qualifies you to tell me how to raise my daughter.”

Every word he throws is a lash across my heart. A thorn in my veins.

Worse, a reminder to never give myself to a man again.

Been there. Done that. Gave the engagement ring back.

“Focus on yourself,” he sneers. “If the only thing you can offer me is judgment, scorn, and pity, then stay the fuck away. I don’t have room for you in my life.” He tears the apartment door open and turns his back on me. Then he crosses the threshold without another word. Because he already has so little time to spare. “Mia, honey?”

“Here, Daddy.” Little feet pad across the apartment. But if I could hope, only for a second, that she’d come out and greet me, that idea is squashed as Charlie slams the door until the frame rattles. “Is that a Care Bear? Oh my gosh, Daddy, it’s so pretty.”

MINKA

“Ithink we should go over there and see them in person.” I pace my kitchen and burn under the heated stare of two separate Malones. The third, of course, is next door, running his bar and probably stalking Aubree while she eats. While the final two live in New York and exist in a way wholly different to how we do it here.

I stop by the fridge and glance across at twin expressions. There’s more than a decade between them in age, but the more Cato grows and spends time with Archer, the more their DNA proves their biological connection. “Stop looking at me like that! Say something intelligent.”

“I think the intelligent thing would be to call him at eight,” Archer rumbles. “Which was the plan. He needs time to settle Jada in, and get Moo to bed. And he needs a minute to come down from his day from hell. Us turning up at his door is gonna make a mess.”

“Because you won’t be able to hide the expressions your face makes when you’re near that chick?” Cato turns just his head and studies Archer. He hasn’t met Jada. In fact, I’m not entirely sure anyone has even discussed her in great detail in all the months he’s been here. Because she was either in rehab or spiraling. But most of all, she isn’t directly in Fletch’s life.

Out of sight. Out of mind.

“She cheated on your best friend and fucked his colleague in his home. On their couch. And he caught them?” He folds his arms, just like Archer does, and scratches his jaw. Though his is far smoother than that of his brother’s. “That’s dirty and mean. She deserves to have his friends look at her like she’s shit on the ground.”

“Hardly a supportive way to treat someone trying to beat addiction,” Archer rumbles. “She needs help. Not to be stomped on.”

“She had help! She had the luxury of attending rehab, when many others can’t, and she was given somewhere to stay when she got out. She had the tools to get clean, but instead of doing better, she abused her daughter and treats everyone else like shit.”

“So now we vote to toss her on her ass and lock the doors?” Archer scrubs a hand over his face and releases a long, tired groan. “I’m mad at her too, okay? What she did was fucked up. The way she treats everyone is wrong, and her complete lack of accountability is bullshit. She screws with my best friend, over and over and over again, and my ability to keep that rage in check is growing weaker every single day. But I need you to cool off and have her back. Someone has to keep this situation balanced.”

“No. I think we should go over there.” I head toward the door and yank my coat from the rack. “We’re not there to cause trouble. And she’s injured, so it’s not like I’m gonna pick a fight. I just want to see inside that apartment for a few minutes and make sure things are under control the way they’re supposed to be.”

“You going over there is gonna aggravate the situation.” For the first time in his life, Cato becomes a voice of reason. Sort of… “I’m not opposed to stirring some shit up. In fact, I think I get some kind of a psychological thrill out of instigating fights and pissing people off. But if your goal is to calm things down for Fletch, then going over there right now while he’s mediating a tense situation isn’t gonna have the effect you think it is.”

“Going over there is gonna end with me and my best friend throwing hands,” Archer growls. “I won’t mean for it to be that way. But he’s gonna defend her until his dying breath. And I’m the asshole who’s gonna call her out and maybe not be as delicate as he wants me to be.”

“So control yourself!” I slip my arms into the sleeves and pull my coat on. “You’re a grown man, Archer. Regulate your emotions.”

“He’s also a Malone,” Cato sniggers. “And I’m pretty sure Malones lack that switch when someone they care about is being screwed with. Besides,” he pushes away from the couch and swaggers my way. “Remember that thing I said about stirring shit up? I’m only eighteen. Still a kid not all that long ago. Means my emotional regulation switch isn’t completely developed yet. I’m gonna walk in and call his ex a trashy whore. I doubt that’ll be the start of a fruitful conversation.”

“For god’s sake.” My entire body trembles from the rage vibrating through my veins. But then Archer’s phone trills. Like a siren in the night. He reaches into his pocket and snags the device. While between his legs, our slutty cat plops down to curl up as close to him as possible. “If that’s Fletch, hang up and drive us over there instead.”

My teeth snap together as he makes a show of swiping to answer, then setting his call on speaker and grinning.

“Hey Fletch. Everything okay over at your place?”

“Here you go, Doc.” Cato grabs my coat and peels it off, forcing me to simmer and stay, even when I’d rather we were already moving. “We don’t siege someone’s castle till we’re ready for war.”

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