Page 30 of Forsaking All Others

“What?” I whisper hoarsely.

“You and I are supposed to be a team. Isn’t that what we said last night when we discussed this whole fucking mess?” I move to my knees and crawl toward him. Reaching out, I touch a hand to his shoulder, but he shrugs my hand away and pushes off the bed. “We were going to figure it outtogether.”

“Colt, we are a team,” I argue. “That’s why I went to Maverick in the first place. I didn’t want you to have to carry all the stress of our problems. H & M was really successful, Colt, and I’ll be bringing in a lot more money working with Maverick than I would if I was bagging groceries at Kroeger.”

He turns around and his eyes find mine. Clenching his fists, his jaw ticks as he shakes his head. In all the years we’ve been together I have never seen him this angry—this out of control.

“Bullshit!” he roars. “You and Maverick, that’s the real team. I’m just a fucking safety net for you, someone you cling to when he’s fucking around with his club or bedding half the county.” He shakes his head and laughs sadistically. “I don’t know why I’m just seeing it now.”

“That’s not true,” I shout. “Maverick and I are a team when it comes to our kids, that’s it.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you? Holly you ran to him the first chance you got. He offered you five thousand dollars and instead of telling him you and I would figure it out, you took the money. Then you concocted this whole fucking scheme about opening up some old business.”

He uncurls his fists and drags his fingers roughly through his hair before bending to retrieve his shirt and jeans from the floor.

“You told me you wanted to get a job to help cover the bills until I got a full-time gig, and even though I hated the idea of my wife working to bail us out of a mess I created, I agreed because I thought we were in this together, but that’s all bullshit. You wanted to be close to him.”

“What? No, I swear—”

“Stop fucking lying!” he roars.

My lips smack together, nothing I say right now will change his mind. He needs to calm down. But as soon as he starts to tug his jeans up his legs, I lose my resolve to keep quiet.

“What are you doing?”

He ignores the question and roughly pulls his shirt over his head. Taking his cell phone from the nightstand, his gaze cuts to me.

“I know he’s Tara and Shep’s father,” he starts. “That he’s always going to be part of our lives, but Holly the man is still in love with you and when you do shit like you did today, it makes me wonder if you are too.”

My body goes completely still.

“You can’t be serious,” I scoff.

“Can’t I?” He stares at me for a beat, then shakes his head and starts for the door.

“Colt, wait! Where are you going?”

“Need time, Holly.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means don’t fucking wait up.” He goes to step out of the room but turns back to me. “Maybe if you call Mav now, you’ll catch him before he gets in bed with someone else.”

No, no, no.

He did not just go there.

Anger pulses through my veins as those words play on a loop inside my head. Colt can be mad at me, I deserve that much, but waiting until I’m naked to confront me and taking a parting shot like the one he just did—that’s not cool. He doesn’t get to cross that line, nor does he get to walk away.

Pushing the comforter off me, I stumble around the bedroom, trying to find my clothes. I manage to get my panties on and throw a t-shirt over my head before rushing into the hallway.

“Colt! Don’t you dare fucking walk away from me.”

My demand falls on deaf ears. I make it halfway down the stairs only to hear the door slam shut.

My fingers tighten around the banister and I bite back the urge to scream. I contemplate going after him, but then I hear Theo call me. Turning around, I lift my eyes to the top of the landing and find my little boy holding a hand to his belly.

“Mommy, I don’t feel good,” he cries.

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