Page 66 of Two Wrongs

Her lip curls for a second, then she tries to make her expression more neutral. “We’re friends,” she says, noticeably dropping thebestlabel.

This time it’s my turn to give her a look. Except, I make no effort to remove the condescension on my face. “Is that so?” I make a show of looking her up and down. “Because my guess is you were the one Wren and I caught Liam fucking in the backseat of his car. Now you’re here at my house, dressed like a bag lady, probably thinking no one will realize you’re knocked up by the husband of your best friend. So, how did you see this going? You were going to show up here, and I was going to help you?”

Audrey glares at me. Her hands fall to her belly, and when they stretch the fabric, there’s an obvious bulge in her midsection. “Yeah, I did. This is your grandchild. Liam is leaving Wren, and he wants to be with me.”

“Then why did he beg me to stay with him?” Wren’s voice startles me, and I jump.

Gone is the woman who pretended to be Wren’s friend. Her hatred is written all over her face. “There’s no way. He told me he’d help me with the baby. He’s leaving you to be with me.”

“When did he tell you this?” I ask, trying hard to keep from scaring her, at least until she confirms my suspicions.

Audrey fidgets. “Well, he didn’t say it exactly, but I know that he’s a good man. He’ll take care of us.”

Wren starts laughing. “He’s going to take care of you? With what? He has no money, and I sure as hell am not going to give him anymore. He doesn’t even have a car. Shit, he’ll be lucky to stay out of jail.”

Audrey’s sallow face twists up into a sneer. “What would you know about how much money he has? He told me you don’t want anything to do with the finances, and he made sure you don’t have access to it. He’s been hiding money from you for almost a year.”

Wren nods. “That’s probably true. After all, he did commit identity theft and fraud. Hiding money is the least horrible thing he’s done lately, and that includes screwing your skanky ass in the back seat of the car I bought him with my parents’ insurance money. So go ahead, take my husband. I don’t want him anymore. Good luck getting him to be on board with the whole baby thing, Liam doesn’t want kids.”

Audrey starts to tap her foot. She ignores Wren and addresses me, “Just tell me where he is. I lost my job because I’m too sick to work. I need his help.”

“We’re going to see him later next week. I’ll tell him you are needing to talk to him, and that’s all I can do,” I tell her. If it’s true, he does have a responsibility to his child. Whether he wanted children or not, he probably has one on the way.

Her attention swings back to Wren, and I tense knowing she’s starting to realize it’s not normal in our relationship for us to be hanging out. “Why are you here?”

I expect Wren to slip up and give us away, but I didn’t realize how good of a front she can put up. “I really don’t think it’s any of your business why I’m spending time with the only family I’ve got.”

Audrey makes a big show of putting her hand on her swollen stomach. “It’s your family for now. Don’t get too comfortable.”

There’s one more thing I need her to tell me. “When did you tell Liam about the baby?”

“A few weeks ago,” she answers.

“Was that the last time you spoke to him?” I ask.

She bites her lip and nods.

“That’s very enlightening. Now get the fuck off my porch. If he wants to speak to you he’ll call. I’ll make sure to let him know you filled his wife in on all the dirty details,” I say and slam the door in her face.

I expect Wren to crumble. Hearing another woman is going to have the one thing I know she’s wanted for the last couple years has to be like rubbing salt on an open wound. But she doesn’t appear to be feeling anything, and that scares me more than her tears.

27

Wren

My hands start shaking the moment Griffin closes the door. I need to try and hold it together, because the rage building up inside of me is the kind that destroys. “I need a minute,” I say to him and rush out of the room before he has a chance to respond.

By the time I make it to his room I’m breathing hard through my nose. I’m surprised by the level of calm control I’m able to exercise as I slowly close his door, because I really want to slam it. I grab the pillow I’ve been using, bury my face into the fluff, and scream.

It’s the cleansing kind of scream that releases all of my anger, frustration, and intense disappointment. I pull it away to suck in a breath, then repeat until the razor sharp edge of my fury has dulled. My kitten, Patches, deciding the danger has passed, crawls out from under the bed and hops into my lap. I haven’t spent as much time with her since I’ve been either working, or with Griffin.

She bumps her head into my arm to get me to pet her. I scratch the top of her head, letting the pillow fall back onto the bed. Her purr soothes the rest of my jagged corners, and I’m able to slow the painful racing of my heart.

“A baby.” I shake my head and make a sound that is a mixture between a laugh and a sob. Patches purrs louder trying to comfort me. “He wouldn’t touch me for half a year, but his stupid ass will knock up his mistress.”

“Would you rather be the one carrying his child right now?”

I jump, having not heard Griffin’s loud steps come down the hallway, or him opening the door. I drop my hand to my stomach. Did I want that?

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