Page 83 of The Fate of Us

Claire is on the other side of the landing as I make my way to the stairs.

“Oh hi, Anna. I didn’t know you were here.” Her voice drips sarcasm.

I shoot daggers at her as I step over the discarded clothing on the stairs and head out the front door without another word.

25

Noah

I watchAnna walk out the door again and I feel like I lost her for real this time.

“Hey baby.”

The sound of Claire’s voice jolts me from my trance.

“You naked for me? I can be too.”

I grab a pair of shorts out of a drawer and slide them on. “Fuck off, Claire.”

“That’s no way to talk to your wife.”

“You’re not my wife.” I growl.

“We’ll see about that,” she retorts.

I push past her and head down the stairs and grab Brutus’ leash and my keys. I cannot be around that woman. Anna was right. I should have told her no.

I jump in my car and head to Carson’s office. It’s Saturday but that man doesn’t know how to take a day off. I need him to get this shit figured out fast.

I bring Brutus with me as we head inside. I storm past the empty reception desk and down the hall to his office.

I burst through the door. “We need to figure this shit out.”

He looks up at me, startled, from whatever he was searching through on the internet. “Christ. You could fucking knock.”

I pace the floor as Brutus plops down on the expensive carpet. “I don’t know why I listened to you. Why I let you talk me into Claire staying at my house.”

He turns away from his computer screen and looks at me. “You haven’t done your part of the plan.”

I grip the short strands of my hair. “I looked through her shit when she left the house the other day but there is nothing there.”

“What about her purse?”

“She always has it with her.”

“Even when she showers?”

I stop pacing and stare at him. “I’ve never seen her shower.” I sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Fuck. She must only do it when I’m not home. There’s got to be something in there.”

Carson stands and walks over to the credenza. He pours us each a glass of bourbon and I gladly take it. “Maybe you should go back to your house after you leave for work.”

I nod. “I can try. But I don’t know what she does when I’m not there.”

“We could send Mason.”

“I’m not pulling him into this more than he already knows.” I sip on my bourbon.

Carson stares at me like he is trying to read me. “You told Anna?”

---