Page 34 of Resolving Rumors

“Maybe so, but I don’t think Mom hates you. Everyone is under a lot of stress and things we don’t know about, obviously.” He looked pointedly down at me. “I’m going to kill Dev, though.”

“No. You’re going to pretend like you know nothing.”

“Nah, fuck that. He fucked with my big sister and broke her in a way I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. That fucker lied to me, for years, and still had the nerve to call me his best friend.”

“He did it for me.”

Dallas shook his head. “No, he didn’t. He might have said so. He might even have lied to himself that it was for you, but he did it for himself too. His parents wanted him to settle down with a girl from his office a couple years ago. Well, his mom did. His dad thought he was too young to settle for anyone. Both of them have tried to dissuade him from the crush he had on you for years.”

I huffed and shrugged out of my brother’s hold then.

“I don’t think they did that because they don’t like you. They did it because it didn’t seem plausible and they wanted him to live his life instead of being sunk neck deep inside a crush that went on for way too long. I told him the same fucking thing many times, granted a few of them were while you two were dating secretly.” Dallas gave me a knowing look. “If I thought you were interested in him, I never would have tried to push him to date other people.”

“I know that.”

“All right. Good talk.” He said as he walked to the door. “No more secrets. They’re not good for our family.”

“Take your own advice then!” I shouted back as he closed the door after he walked out. I ran after him. When I got the door opened, I yelled to my brother as he put his helmet back on. “Where are you going?” I wanted to add, ‘so abruptly,’ but that was a given.

“I have a nose to break, big sis. Go back inside and lock up. If you need me, call, but not for the next hour or so.”

I didn’t even bother to beg him not to break Devin’s nose. My ex deserved a little pain for everything he put me through.

Chapter

Twenty

DEVIN

“Go to hell, you bastard!”

I chuckled as mywifeleft the house angry with me once again. It was the only joy I had in life anymore. Vic blocked me weeks ago, so I couldn’t call or text to check on her. Once in a while, I would drive by her place to see if she would notice, but she never did. Her house was always dark, though, so it was hard to tell.

I wanted to go to her. To be with her. To promise her that she is my everything and the only future that could possibly make me happy. I couldn’t though. Not yet.

Our time was coming and I had just sent off step one in getting Victoria Mercer back in my life. More than that, I wanted to be in her heart again the way she still was in mine. Unfortunately, I had some legal hoops to wade through first, and then we would be able to have the future we always hoped would be possible.

My parents were finally on board, but then again, I wasn’t sure they had a whole lot of faith that I could win my girl back. Truthfully, depending on the day, my own hope wavered, especially the longer I went without being able to talk to her. I knew there was no way we could try again so long as Justice wasstill in the picture, so that was priority number one. I had Justice served with a 60-day notice to vacate my property. She defiantly said she would fight it because we were married and even if I had video to prove that there was a prenup, I didn’t have any proof of what was in it. So, technically the house was marital property and we lived in a no-fault state.

If I thought it would get me free of her quicker, I would sign the fucking house over to her. Not that I wanted to. I owned the thing free and clear, thanks to money my grandfather left me when he died. Still, my lawyer told me to hold off as long as possible and play the long game because grifters didn’t deserve a piece of the pie. He wasn’t wrong about that. Besides, I didn’t want her to be rewarded for coming between Vic and me.

“Are you sure you don’t want to press charges against her for sexual assault? It was clear from your security footage that you were inebriated when things happened between you.”

I shook my head and cringed as my lawyer laid it out for me. “No.” It took me a while to find the moment in the video where I lost faith in my relationship with Vic and stepped out on her. I did that, even if I didn’t remember afterward. “I’ve seen rape cases where women were just as messed up and they couldn’t win. I won’t file charges under the same circumstances and hope for better. I’m not sure why I can’t remember the evening, but I was speaking clearly for the most part when it happened.”

“Yes, you called out another woman’s name repeatedly and it was slurred at that,” My lawyer offered and if we weren’t on the phone, I’d bet money his eyes rolled. “You didn’t even know who you were with that night, Devin.”

“I don’t want to press charges unless it is a last resort measure.”

“Fine. I’m keeping the video just in case. It will remain secured and still falls under attorney-client privilege even if you choose not to use it to your advantage.”

“Great.” Someone banged on my door and I swore under my breath as I got ready to hang up with my lawyer.

“One more thing, Devin. We’re double checking the surrounding counties, in case she took it upon herself to go file the certificate, but my investigator was not able to find any public record of your marriage.”

“That means no one ever filed it, right?”

“We’ll check in with the idiot who runs the quickie wedding spot you used, but it doesn’t look like it. Besides, the certificate you gave me looks to be the original one without the state seal on it.”

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