Page 46 of Moore to Love

Ellie let out an exasperated huff. “That’s never going to happen.”

“That’s not true,” Thad denied, starting to look frantic with his wide eyes, red cheeks, and hair standing on edge. “You didn’t even want to get divorced in the first place.”

“For about five seconds until I found out you’d been cheating on me!” Ellie yelled.

Thad proved he was disconnected from reality when he said, “But Penny isn’t an issue anymore. She moved out of my place, and she’s not working for the practice. I’ll never see her again, if that’s what it takes.”

“Just when I thought it wasn’t possible, you go to a new low.”

Thad’s brows drew together. “What do you mean?”

“You came over here, all pissed off that I hadn’t told you about Finn when I didn’t even know that Penny had moved in with you.”

“I’m sorry, but she’s gone now.”

Her ex wasn’t truly listening to a word Ellie was saying, which made it hard as fuck to stand back and let her handle him.

“I’m stunned, actually.” She shook her head with a laugh. “I would’ve thought you’d be thrilled that I found someone else before the three years of alimony payments are over. It wouldn’t have surprised me in the least if you’d tried to push me down the aisle to Finn so you’d be let off the hook.”

“I would never do that,” Thad denied.

“How would it be any different from going in front of the judge over and over again with ridiculous excuses for why your payments should be reduced?” Ellie asked, jabbing her finger in the air. “Except that this would actually be successful.”

“Because I don’t want you to be someone else’s wife,” he yelled, his face getting redder. “You’ve always been mine.”

“I was yours…until you threw me away.” Ellie sounded exhausted as she heaved a deep sigh, and I pulled her against my side so she could lean against me. “The worst part is that you already knew you were going to cheat on me before we even moved back. That’s why you had us buy the house in Mooreville instead of Stuart. You have nobody else to blame but yourself for the fact that I met Finn. I never would’ve been here if you hadn’t tried hiding what was happening with Penny from the beginning. And I never would have taken the job at his clinic if I hadn’t needed the extra money. Again, because of you.”

I hated all the pain she’d gone through, but I was also grateful that the guy had been such an epic failure of a husband because it had brought Ellie to me. I’d happily spend every day of the rest of my life making up for his mistakes. I loved her that much.

“I didn’t…I wasn’t…” he sputtered.

“Please don’t ruin the happiness I’ve finally managed to find after you did your best to destroy me,” Ellie pleaded, a lone tear streaming down her cheek. “I’m not yours anymore, Thad. I’m Finn’s now.”

“Ellie, no,” he cried, shaking his head.

“You heard her.” I stepped between them and jerked my chin toward his car. “You made your play, as fucked up as it was, and Ellie shot you down. This is over. You need to leave.”

“No, I’m staying here until she listens to reason and takes me back.” He jabbed a finger at me. “You’re the one who needs to go.”

“You need to get used to me being around,” I warned. “I love Ellie. She loves me. I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”

My words pushed him over the edge, and he shoved me, trying to get to Ellie. There was no way in hell that I would let that happen, so I pulled my arm back and landed a solid punch against his nose. Blood spurted from one of his nostrils, and he fell back onto his ass. “Fuck, I think you broke my nose.”

Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, a police car pulled into the end of the driveway, and John climbed out. His gaze jumped between the three of us as he made his way to the front porch. “Good morning, Finn. Ellie. Is everything okay? We got a noise complaint from one of your neighbors.”

“I want to press charges for assault.” Thad pointed at his bloody nose. “He punched me for no reason.”

“Actually, he had a great reason,” Ellie argued, leaning against my side as she glared at her ex. “He was defending me, pure and simple. You wouldn’t leave my home no matter how many times I asked.”

“Sounds as though you’re the one in the wrong here, sir.” John approached Thad with his hand where his handcuffs were clipped to his belt. “If Ellie asked you to leave, then you need to get going.”

Thad gestured at his face again. “What about my nose? Are you just going to ignore the fact that I have blood streaming from it?”

John shrugged. “I don’t know you, but I do know Ellie, and I’m inclined to believe her version of events.”

“What the fuck?” Thad gaped at Ellie. “Have you been with him too? When did you become such a slut?”

I clenched my fists at my sides. He earned a hell of a lot more than a punch to the nose with that insult, but landing myself in jail wouldn’t do Ellie any good. Knowing that was the only thing holding me back.

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