Page 38 of Soul Deep
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ah, the magic words. Mary Beth’s entire demeanor shifted at the sound, suddenly quite cheerful. “Just a small loan.” She shrugged as if it was no big deal, “Say, fifty thousand?”
Christian felt his eyes bulge as he sputtered. “Fiftythousand? Jesus Christ, Mary Beth. You got half of everything in the divorce! What the hell did you do with it all?”
Mary Beth sniffed, her voice indignant. “You can’t have expected me to move back into that house, and my car was absolutely falling apart.”
Christian closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “That car wasn’t even two years old. What, it needed an oil change so you thought you may as well just buy a new one?”
Mary Beth’s back stiffened and he held up a hand to forestall whatever tirade she was about to launch. “You know what, never mind, I don’t care, but I sure as hell don’t have fifty grand, so try again.”
“Don’t be cheap.” She pouted.
“Cheap?” Christian choked. “Are you really that spoiled?” Shaking his head he furrowed his fingers through his hair in agitation. “Don’t answer that. Stupid question.” Letting out a weary sigh, he eyed the female he’d imprisoned himself with for ten years. Ten. Years. His penance. “Ten thousand.”
“Christian,” she whined with a little stomp of her foot.
“Fine, eight.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open with disbelief, “But…”
“Five.”
“I’ll take the ten.” She gasped out.
Christian debated for a heartbeat whether he wanted to be difficult and tell her that she had lost her chance, but decided against it. The important thing was to get her gone and if writing a check for ten grand assured that outcome, then it was money well spent. With a nod, he walked into his house and shut the door in her face.
In a matter of moments, he returned, check in hand. Before she could snatch it up in her greedy little fingers, he held it away. “This is it, Mary Beth. You take this and you stay away from me. I don’t want to see you, or hear from you. Are we clear?”
Mary Beth’s shoulders drooped, that telltale quiver back in her bottom lip and the tears rimming her eyes. Christian sighed and made like he was going to rip the check. The theatrics immediately stopped. “Fine.” She snarled, snatching the check from his hand and tucking it away in her bag.
Having gotten what she wanted, or at least a portion, Mary Beth’s expression once again changed – back to the seductress. “You really do look good, Christian.” She purred, her eyes moving over his form. “Are you sure you don’t want to invite me in? For old time’s sake?”
With a snort of disbelief, he walked into his house and once again shut the door in her face. A moment later, he heard a hard bang and knew she had kicked it, “You could at least walk me to my car!” She yelled. “Christian?”
Not bothering to answer, he instead moved off to his bedroom to pick out his clothes for the night. He’d just crossed the threshold when he heard a snarled, “Bastard!” and chuckled. He refused to let that female ruin his day, especially when the night looked to be so promising. He was taking his love, his Lily, out to dinner.
Typically he scented Lily when she walked past his house on her way home from work, but he’d missed her this time. Probably when he was in the shower. Unconcerned, he took his time getting ready. Tonight, it was go big or go home, so he was fully decked out in his favorite black business suit over a pristine white button down, paired with his red and black striped silk tie, ruby cuff links, and Gucci belt and shoes. The clothes of his old life didn’t fit as well on his new body – his shoulders and arms filling out the shirt and jacket a bit too snugly, the waist of his pants needing to be cinched in tighter with the belt – but he still looked good. He just hoped that Lily agreed.
Whistling a jaunty little tune, he walked over to her cabin and rapped on the door. Nothing. Drawing in through his nose, he picked up her scent, but it wasn’t recent. Frowning, he checked his watch. Had she taken another shift at the diner? Possible. After all, this date was meant to be a surprise, so she’d think nothing of taking on extra hours if the diner needed her.
Hurrying his step, Christian was practically jogging by the time he reached his truck parked on the pull off at the side of the road. Previously, he’d always owned cars – expensive ones, flashy ones – but this purchase had been a symbol of his new start on life – a commitment to clean living. Oh, the bright blue truck was still a bit flashy, decked out with plenty of chrome and had all the bells and whistles, but it was rugged, built to last, built to work, and represented the shape he wanted the future him to take. With Lily by his side, that future was coming together better than he ever expected.
Driving into town, he sang along to some old school Dio, his hand banging out the beat against the steering wheel. Pulling into one of the parking spots in front of the diner he frowned when he didn’t see Lily’s car. He hadn’t missed her on the road, and it wasn’t like there was another way to get from here to there. Where was she?
Shutting off the engine, he hopped out of the cab and practically leaped toward the door. Customers, but not so many that they were in the middle of a rush. Had Lucy called out sick? Apparently not, since the woman in question was bearing down on him like an avenging angel and screeching, “You’re married?!”
Christian felt the blood drain from his face and his stomach drop. Why had it never occurred to him that for Mary Beth to have found him, she would have had to ask someone for directions? And what better place, than the diner?
Taking a deep breath Christian closed his eyes. Just how much damage had his ex-wife caused? Knowing her it could be anything from minor annoyance to catastrophic. Where was Lily? Was she hurting? Pissed? Ready to finish what one of her brethren had started and tear out his throat?
“Well?” Lucy demanded, breaking into his rioting thoughts.
“Divorced.” Christian bit out. “Where’s Lily? Is she all right?”
Lucy leaned forward, her lips just shy of snarling as she stabbed a finger in his direction. “You’ll leave her alone.”
Like hell he would. He needed to fix this. His inner bear was clamoring to break free and sniff his female out, find her, explain… But he couldn’t do that because the town was being watched. Feeling eyes on him, he looked around at the diner’s patrons – currently all wolves – and growled. The sound fierce enough to have them quickly lowering their gazes.
Knowing he wasn’t going to get any assistance from Lucy, Christian turned on his heel and left. Taking a deep breath of the cool evening air, he tried to clear his mind. If he were a pissed off feline that couldn’t shift to take his anger out on the trees, where would he go?
Determined to find her, Christian got back into his truck and headed out of town.
