Page 29 of Deal Takers

“Excuse me, what is going on here?” The blonde stands, revealing an obvious baby bump. My hand is still on Rainey’s forearm, so I can feel the tension in her body ramping up even more when she notices it. “Would you care to tell me why you’re interrupting my anniversary dinner with my husband?”

Now Rainey’s speechless as she homes in on the woman’s pregnant belly. Tears gather in her eyes, triggering every instinct in my body to want to shield her from this somehow.

“Husband?” Rainey chokes out, in barely more than a whisper.

The blonde glares. “Yes, myhusband.”

Dr. Dickhead finally joins the conversation. He stands up and gently pulls on the woman’s arm. “Norah, sit down. Rainey and I know each other from the hospital.”

“The hospital,” Rainey scoffs, as she wipes away tears. “I can’t…I can’t deal with this right now.”

Rainey quickly spins around, practically knocking me over as she runs for the exit.

“Rainey, wait—” Adam calls.

Rainey is almost out the door, so I need to hurry, but not before giving this douche a piece of my mind.

“You never fucking deserved her.”

The guy actually has the nerve to give me acondescending smirk. I don’t even consider my actions before my fist cocks back and slams directly into his face. His wife screams, and the entire restaurant is now buzzing with the scene we’ve caused.

Adam goes down, with his hand over his bloody face. “You broke my nose, you asshole!”

Charlee pops her head out to see what the commotion is about. I don’t have time to explain, so I give her an apologetic nod before running after Rainey.

CHAPTER 20

Rainey

“Rainey, wait!” Brody yells from behind me.

I keep walking, needing to put as much distance as possible between myself and Adam. I pry off my engagement ring off my finger and throw it down the sidewalk, as it’s now a useless piece of shit, and I can’t stand having it on me any longer.

Brody finally catches up with me. “Hey, are you okay?”

I give him awhat do you thinklook. “Fucking peachy.”

I pick up my pace even more, swiping angrily at my tears. “God, how could I have been so fucking stupid?”

Brody pulls on my elbow, halting my steps. “Hey, don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself for this.”

“Go ahead, get theI told you soout of the way.”

He puts his hands on my shoulders and crouches down so we’re eye-to-eye. “Princess, listen to me. You didnothingwrong. This isn’t your fault. How could you have known?”

I throw my hands up and release a sardonic laugh. “That’s the best part! It all makes sense now! I’ve felt something was wrong fora long time, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. But now…now that I know the truth, all the signs wereright in front of my face. He’s married, Brody! And he’s having another kid! How could I have not known that? We’ve been together foryears!”

Thank God my place is only a few blocks away because I need a drink. Or ten. I’d much rather wallow in misery in the comfort of my own home.

I stop when we reach the entrance to my building. “I’m just going to go upstairs and have a lengthy conversation with Jack and Jim.”

Brody frowns. “Rainey, I’m not comfortable leaving you alone right now.”

I don’t have the energy to bicker with him. “Whatever. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The elevator is taking too long so I take the stairs up all three flights with Brody hot on my heels. I head for the kitchen as soon as I’m inside my apartment and begin filling two shot glasses. I manage to down one before Brody can even close the door behind me.

He puts his hand over mine when I reach for another. “You should probably slow down there.”

---