Page 47 of Break

“What are you doing here, Danny? Haven’t had you show up in a long time.” I know I need to put up a front, but luckily, I’ve always been an asshole, so this should be expected.

Sighing, he leans back and completely relaxes. He doesn’t see me as a threat, and I wish he would. “I know I’ve been bad about coming by. Things with Mina have been tough, and I’ve been trying to focus more on ‘us’, you know?”

No, I don’t know, and it’s a bunch of bullshit. He’s sitting here trying to play the good husband and there’s no way I’m going to buy it. But instead, I nod my head like I understand. “I get that. So, what brings you by today?”

He blows out a breath like he’s gearing up for a long-winded story. I pull out pieces of my latest project and start hand-sanding them down since I destroyed my power-sander while I wait him out. I’ll have to replace that sooner rather than later.

“So, I’m sure you know the shit I’ve got going on right now, which I don’t really want to talk about. It’s just all so ridiculous, and pretty embarrassing if I’m being honest. I can’t believe how society today is so quick to judge someone before they know the whole story, you know? Like now that we’re in this ‘me-too’ movement, the guys are automatically pegged as guilty before they even have time to tell their side.”

He pauses like he’s waiting for me to agree. I can’t. My first reaction is to snap at him and slam him with the fact that he knows about my mother and what that bastard did to her, but I keep it in. And frankly, that movement has been a godsend for so many women who felt like they were voiceless. But Danny would never understand.

Instead, I ask, “What was it you needed then?”

I catch a flash of irritation cross his face, but he schools it. “I’ve been telling these cops that this is all just a misunderstanding and things didn’t go down the way they think it did. My wife was having a bad day. She can sometimes get worked up and become over dramatic about things to get back at me if I piss her off. I checked her phone to see where she was at, but the damn thing is turned off and her last location was the station. I know you got this side business where you do protective work and shit, and sometimes help people that run to the cops. You think you could talk to someone down there and let me know where she’s run off to?”

I pause my sanding to stare at him. It’s mind-blowing that he has the nerve to come in here and ask me something like that. “Dude. They don’t justtellme that kind of stuff. It’s always been on a need-to-know basis. You’re going to get yourself in trouble if you go looking for her.”

A flash of anger lights his eyes, and he bares his teeth at nothing in particular. “I don’t give a shit. If they’d just let me talk to her, this could all go away. It’s ridiculous that she’s acting like this after I saved her sorry ass!”

“What do you mean, ‘saved her’?”

He relaxes when I don’t continue telling him what he’s doing is wrong. Jerking his shoulder up like he couldn’t care less, he says, “You know, from her shit at home.”

“What are you talking about?” And I’m serious. I have no clue what he’s getting on about and wonder if he’s just making shit up right now to keep the narrative in his court.

“Come on, you know her dad was beating the shit out of her.”

“I didn’t know that!” I exclaim.Is he serious right now?

He keeps going like I said nothing. “And I gotta be honest, after living with her for five years, and I’m not saying she deserved it, but I get it. She’s a pain in the ass to deal with. I saw it a few times from my house and heard it.Youheard it too, so don’t play dumb. I caught her trying to make plans to leave, so I offered her an out.”

Offered her an out, my ass. She’s already told us how their whole marriage came into fruition, so I know this savior story is a load of bullshit. What I don’t know is what she went through prior to moving in with Danny. “What did he do to her?”

“I dunno, hit her a lot. It was more that he and her mom were really strict. Some benefits, though.”

“Benefits how?” I scowl at him, but he doesn’t notice, picking at the grime under his fingernails. He’s not looking at me, just nonchalantly playing with his fingers like he has all the time in the world. I’d give anything to grab him by the neck and throw him down so he understands how much of a piece of shit I think he is.

“Well, she was raised on how to be a housewife. I told her I’d marry her to get her out if she did that shit at my home. Make dinner, keep it clean, that sort of stuff. Saw it as an even trade.”

“You’re a piece of shit, you know that?”

Finally, he looks up at me and narrows his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean? Fat Mina wasn’t going to have any better options and I’m a good guy! I fucking saved her! And that bitch owes me for it!”

Shaking my head, I hold up my hands to stop him. “Look, I’m not saying I think you’re a bad guy. What Iamsaying is that’s a really fucked up reason to marry someone. I don’t want any part in all of this if for no other reason than it could fuck up my business.”

“How is being my friend going to fuck upyourbusiness?” He snarls, jumping down and planting his hands on my worktable to stare me down.

“Are you kidding me? I work with them. If I fish around for information on one of their victims and give it to you, I’ll be done. They’ll never trust me again and I can’t risk that. This is my career.”

I think that was a fair enough explanation for why I won’t help him, whether or not it was the truth. Turns out, it’s not a good enough reason for him.

He’s staring at me, slowly shaking his head like he’s never seen me before. “So, you’re going to stand there and tell me you’re refusing to help me?Your best friend?Just because you’re worried about your precious business?”

Standing taller, I face him, planting my hands like him and glare back. “Andyou’regoing to stand there and ask me to riskmylivelihood because you can’t wait a few weeks? Trust the process to get you out of this if you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“If?” he snarls.

Huffing out a laugh, I let my fury at him filter out of my system. “Are you kidding me, Danny? That’s all you heard? Trust the process, man. Do this right and keep yourself out of trouble.That’swhat you need to do right now. Not running around and trying to hunt her down simply to clear the air. Talk with a lawyer and set up a mediation between the two of you if they’ll allow it.”

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