Page 78 of Hell & Back

When Tuck arrived home, he pulled his bike into the garage while Miles parked in the driveway. He entered through the kitchen and immediately found Kylie sitting at the table eating ice cream right out of the tub and Cutter sitting on the opposite side eating a piece of chocolate cake. Damn. Things must not have gone well.

“Miles is waiting outside to take you back.” Tuck tipped his head toward the living room, wanting a moment to speak with him.

Cutter nodded his head and wiped his mouth with a napkin before setting it next to his empty plate. He got up and pushed his chair in, while saying, “Thanks for the cake, Kylie. It was really good.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it.” Kylie’s smile didn’t quite meet her eyes. She obviously had a lot on her mind, but at least she made the effort.

Tuck followed Cutter to the front door so he could have a word with the prospect. “Thanks for having Kylie’s back and thanks for letting me know what was going on. I know she made you promise not to tell me anything and that’s fine. I’ll get the details from her. All I want to know is how did she look when she left his room? Was she crying?”

A muscle in Cutter’s jaw twitched as his mouth turned down. “She wasn’t crying but she looked upset and emotionally drained.”

Tuck clapped his shoulder and thanked him again, locking up after he jogged off to catch a ride with Miles. He returned to the kitchen and pulled a chair close to Kylie’s. “Baby, are you okay?” He did a quick head to toe scan and saw that physically she was fine. Not that he worried she wouldn’t be with Darren.

“I guess you know I went to see Darren at the Red Oak Inn?” She took another bite of the Chocolate Cherry Chunk ice cream. From the looks of it, she’d put a good sized dent in it. All that sugar couldn’t be good for her. She needed to save room for real food. Whatever she had cooking in the Crockpot smelled so good his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he never did get to eat earlier.

“You did? How did you find out that was where he was staying?” He had no problem letting her believe he didn’t know. He didn’t want her hiding things from Cutter when she roped him into doing something she probably shouldn’t be doing.

“I overheard you, Trick and Jackson in the kitchen talking.” Her eyes started filling and she dropped the spoon in the tub.

Damn it. He pushed the ice cream away, reached for Kylie and settled her sideways in his lap. He held her head to his chest and rested his chin on top of her head. “I’m guessing you got to see him? How bad was it?”

She sat back far enough that he could see the tears she’d been trying to hold back leaking slowly down her cheeks. “It was bad.”

“Oh, baby, why didn’t you let me go with you?” He wished he’d have gone with her so she didn’t have to go through all this alone.

“You would have tried to talk me out of it or unwisely forbidden me to go.”

He chuckled and admitted she was probably right on both counts. “How did it go? What did you say to him?”

“Well, once I steadied my hands enough to get the key card in the lock, I let myself in. They were so into it they didn’t hear me come in, which both hurt and pissed me off.”

“They? He had someone with him?”

“You know he did. Trick told you he brought a woman to his room.” He hated that she’d heard that part. Regardless of whether she knew there was a woman with Darren or not, it still had to cut deeply.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and went on to tell him more. “She was on top and riding him like a damn rodeo queen. She was really pretty with long black hair.” She sniffed, the tears she’d been holding back broke loose. She closed her eyes tight, replaying the scene in vivid HD color in her mind. “She was riding him and he had his hands on her hips helping her move faster. And there were empty bottles of alcohol all over the room and opened condom wrappers on the nightstand.”

“What did you do?” He slowly rubbed his hand up and down her back in comforting circles.

“I told her she had really pretty hair and that if she didn’t get off my man, I was going to yank it all out. Then I pulled my gun out and pointed it at them.”

“You what?!” he choked.

“Yeah. I was so angry I started counting and told her she didn’t want me to get to three.”

He could just imagine his sweet Kylie pulling a gun on the poor unsuspecting woman. Darren had to be a little freaked out as well. “What happened with Darren after she left?”

“I told him he was an idiot and that I knew about him and Sadie because of what I did to Crockett and how Crockett got even by sending the video. He was crushed that I’d seen it.” She wiped the last of her tears with the back of her hand. “At onepoint he said he never wanted to hurt me and I told him he already did when I walked through the door and found another woman fucking him. Then I told him he was coming home, but we were going to make a pact first.”

“What kind of pact?”

“A pact that there will never be any mention of what happened between the time he was with Sadie and the woman I caught him with. He will never fuck another woman again and whenever he needs to fuck, he’s supposed to come to me. I told him he was going to pack his shit, take a shower and be home before dark or we were through. No second chances.” She wiped at her tears, then added, “I wish I would have remembered to tell him I knew he never would have cheated on me if Crockett hadn’t drugged him, but I was kind of in a blinding rage.”

He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her closer. “All of that had to hurt. How are you doing, baby?”

“It hurts really bad. I hate that he went to other women for sex. I don’t know that I’ll ever get over that hurt, but I can’t and don’t want to live without him. I love him every bit as much as I love you.”

“But?”

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