Page 20 of Dirty Girl

8

Five Months Later

Jenson

I’ve been searchingfor Dylan for five excruciatingly long months and I’ve finally found her. Three private investigators working around the clock brokered no results. She disappeared like a dream. One minute she was there and everything seemed perfect, the next she was gone. I’ve been living a shadow of a life since she left and, according to Reg, have become a real bastard. But I’ve found her and now I’m on my way to get my girl back.

Whatever it takes, I’m not leaving without her.

“The pilot has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign—you are now free to move about the cabin.” The nasally voice of the flight attendant comes out of the overhead speakers.

I release the belt, hating the restriction. I stretch my tense muscles and then recline my seat, thankful for being able to snag the last first class ticket on the flight. The thought of spending five hours scrunched between two sweaty bodies while listening to babies cry in stereo, would have been enough to shove me over the edge of sanity.

Truth be told, I’m already skating that edge. Especially, when my thoughts drift to that day five months ago…

“Sweetheart, you’re home,” a voice that is most definitely not Dylan’s, coos from my bedroom.

“Emily,” I snarl. “What in the hell are you doing here? Better yet, how did you even get in?”

She slips from the bed and in what I assume she thinks is a sexy move, but in reality, it looks like a cross between a baby giraffe and a penguin walks across the room toward me. Her hands trailing down her naked body as if to further entice me. She stumbles forward in a calculated move made to get my hands on her, and it works because my hands reactively reach out to prevent her from falling.

She runs her hands down my abdomen, stopping just above my waistband. I jerk away from her, knocking her hands away in disgust. Her lips turn down in a pout and she takes a half-step to close some of the distance I’ve placed between us.

“Don’t be that way. You know you missed me,” she sniffles. “I’ve missed you.”

I don’t even try to hold in my laugh.

“Missed you? You are crazy. You’re supposed to be in Shorewood…”

“Hmph. That horrid place is no place for a woman in my condition.” She runs her hands down to her obviously curved stomach. “You should want better for your fiancée and son.”

It’s then that I notice the ring on her finger—Dylan’s ring. The ring I got from the safety deposit box last week. The ring I was going to give to Dylan tomorrow night when I tell her she’s going to be mine forever. And when I say I’m going to tell her—I mean just that—I won’t be asking, because no isn’t an option. She’s mine.

“Give me that ring.” My tone is deadly serious. I’m furious.

“No,” she says petulantly. “You’re not getting rid of me and our baby. I love you, Jenson. We’re going to be a family. Me, you, and little Jenson Junior.”

Heaven help me.

“You will return that ring; it isn’t for you. That baby is not mine and you know it’s not. You’re sick, Emily. Let’s call your parents so that they can come get you.”

I realize she’s mentally unstable and I don’t want to be cruel, but this is insanity.

One second Emily is on the verge of tears and the next she is staring daggers at me. The switch is so instantaneous that I practically get whiplash. When she rushes at me, her hand raised as if to slap me, I hardly have time to avoid the blow. I side-step and she stumbles into the bureau.

“You cheating bastard! It’s that little slut that was here isn’t it? She’s the reason that you’re abandoning me and your baby!” She screams, spittle flying from her lips. “Well, you can just forget all about her. She’s gone.”

“What do you mean gone?” The fine thread of my control is about to snap as I consider the possibilities. Cold fear slithers through my veins as I fully comprehend what Dylan not being here might mean. If she walked into this mess, there’s no telling what she might have thought. Especially since Emily can be so damn convincing.

“That little slut walked in here like she had every right,” she sniffs indignantly. “I packed her things and sent her away. She’s out of our lives for good. I forgive you, sweetheart. I know how hard it is for a man like you to be without the comforts of a woman’s body.” She says that last part with a sexy purr as she runs her fingertips provocatively up and down her chest—circling her finger around her areola.

A tap on my shoulder jerks me out of the memory.

“Sir, would you like a beverage?” The flight attendant leans in closer, practically shoving her breasts in my face.

“No.” I dismiss her, annoyed by the flirtation.

I relax back in my seat again, trying to shake off the dark thoughts that have plagued me since the day Dylan left, but it’s impossible. It plays like a loop in my mind.

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