Page 84 of The Fate of Us

I groan as I lean over my knees on my elbows. “Yeah. She didn’t take it too well.”

“Your ex-wife is living with you. I can’t imagine she would.”

I glare at him. “You told me to do it and you told me you would talk to Anna about it.”

“And I thought we would have this figured out before Anna came back.”

“She was supposed to be back a week ago. You know we wouldn’t have figured it out by then.”

Carson shrugs as he walks over to the window looking out onto the park behind his office. “I told her to stay longer. In Nashville. I was hoping this would all be cleared up by then.”

“You did what?” I growl.

He turns toward me, sympathy etched on his face. “I’m sorry, Noah. I didn’t want to tell you and piss you off.”

“What did you tell her?”

“It’s not important,” he states.

“It’s fucking important, Car. She was already upset when she came home. And then I had to walk around the truth and all it did was piss her off more. She fucking left, Carson. She left and I don’t think she is coming back this time.”

Carson sits in the chair next to me. “I’ll make this right.”

“It’s too late,” I mumble.

I feel Carson’s hand on my shoulder as I hold back tears. I am not crying in front of him. But I feel as if my life is falling apart again. But this time it feels worse than when Claire left me.

* * *

I groanas I roll over and look for my phone.

Carson and I got shit faced after our conversation.

And it was a stupid idea because I am on-call this weekend. If I got called in last night, I could have been suspended.

“Fuck,” I groan as I look at my phone. It’s my partner. “Hello?”

“There’s been another murder.”

“Okay. Text me the address. I’ll meet you there.”

“You sound like shit.”

“I’ll be there.”

I hang up on him and grip my head. It feels like a thousand drummers in my brain, banging against my skull. I sit up and see my bedroom door is wide open. Did I forget to lock it in my drunken stumble up the stairs last night?

I rub my eyes and look around the room. Why the hell is there women’s underwear on the floor?

Footsteps sound up the stairs and Anna walks into the room. She stares at me and I stare right back. Did she come home last night?

“I just came to get some things.” She pauses. “You look like shit.”

I nod as I get out of bed. The urge to puke rising up my throat. I watch Anna as she heads toward the closet but stops in front of the panties on the ground. “What’s this?”

Fucking hell.

“What the hell, Noah? You really did decide to move on. Didn’t take long.”

---