Page 38 of Crashing Without Justice

“Owe you?” I echoed. “Paige, I’m giving you damn near everything. All I want is my truck and my money.”

“How am I expected to live off only one income?” she bit out, her anger making a stellar appearance.

“The same way millions of other single people manage it,” I shot back. “However, if you want to fight this in court, it’ll just be a waste of time for the both of us. This is California, Paige.”

Her dark eyes narrowed, and I could see her hate for me burning bright in her intent gaze. “If you think that I’m not going to get a lawyer, you’re wrong.”

“For what?” I snapped. “By California standards, I’m offering you more than you even legally deserve, Paige.”

“Get out,” she hissed. “Get out of my house.”

“Paige-”

“Get out of my house before I call the police,” she threatened, and it was on the tip of my tongue to bring up Officers Boone and Clinton, but I refrained. Seriously, I didn’t need her coming at me with a knife.

“Not before I grab a couple of things,” I told her, taking a risk.

Paige straightened, arching her brow. “Because you think that I’d be so cruel as to ruin or throw away your stuff?”

“Considering everything that you told me about your divorce from Patrick, it crossed my mind,” I answered honestly.

“You can get your stuff when the courts order it,” she replied snidely, and that’s not what was going to happen.

“You can let me get my stuff now, or I can call the police to assist me,” I told her. “It’s up to you.”

Her face turned red at the threat, and considering her recent run-in with the police, I wasn’t surprised. “You just won’t stop until you’ve turned everyone against me, huh?”

“I’m not turning anyone against you, Paige,” I replied, trying to keep my own temper in check. “You’re doing a fine job of that all on your own.”

After a few seconds of silence, she said, “Fine, grab whatever you need to make your hotel stay more comfortable.”

I shook my head, feeling like such a fool for not having seen it before. “It didn’t have to be like this, Paige.”

“You’re right,” she retorted. “Had you kept your dick in your pants, then none of this would have happened.”

Ignoring what neither of us could change, I headed to the kitchen, grabbed a couple of trash bags, then went straight to the bedroom for whatever I could grab right now. When I was done there, I headed to the den to grab any important documents that belonged to me. There was no way that I was going to leave this woman with my birth certificate or passport. Seriously, it was bad enough that she knew my social security number by heart, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she had spent the past week opening random credit cards in my name or something stupid like that.

Paige had also remained in the living room as I gathered my stuff, which I could admit felt a little odd. With the way that she kept behaving, I’d been certain that she’d be on my back as I gathered my stuff, but she wasn’t, and I would happily take that little win right now.

When I was finally done gathering as much as I could, I eyed her as I reached the living room. “Do yourself a favor and respond to the papers, Paige,” I told her.

“Get out of my house, Harding,” she bit out, and I was happy to do just that.

Chapter 26

Paige~

It had taken me all day to calm down after Harding’s visit, but when Kirk had texted me to confirm our date, I had immediately begun to feel better. While I was still very much in love with Harding, he wasn’t the only man on earth, and I wasn’t about to let him dictate my happiness.

“Are you sure that you’re ready for this?”

After the loveliest dinner in a while, when Kirk had suggested us going back to his place, I had insisted on going to my house instead. Unlike with Gil, Harding was going to get pictures and videos of me and another man inourbed, not some cold motel room. So, we were back at my house, and because Kirk was a gentleman, he was more concerned with how I felt than he was with getting his dick wet.

“I’m absolutely sure,” I told him. “After learning so much about Trista, it’s obvious that Harding is going to have to learn the hard way, and I’m not interested in putting my life on hold for a man that would choose that horrible woman over me.”

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Kirk replied kindly, and I believed that he meant it with how sweetly he said it.

“And she didn’t deserve you,” I told him in kind. “She did you a favor by leaving you.”

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