Page 2 of Redemption

He glares at her. “Diane is a fucking liar.”

That bitch never should have sent anything to Lex. She took a naked picture without his consent, and he sure as hell didn’t knock her up. If she’s pregnant, that kid isn’t his.

Smirking, she crosses her arms. “Say I believe you. Still doesn’t take away the fact it’s a bullshit excuse because being busy nursing a bottle of vodka while your wife tries desperately to reach you after she gets a picture of you stark naked from the twat who’s been taunting her for months saying she’s taking you from her. And vodka’s an even worse excuse to ignore your children, Colt.”

“She’s got to be with her dad.”

She stares at him, and he can tell she believes he’s a moron. “Really? You think she’s going to go to herfatherfor help after everything he and Zane put her through as a kid? Besides, don’t you think you’d have heard from him?”

Taking a deep breath, he tries to remain calm. His wife and kids are somewhere he can’t find them, and he shifts between panic and hatred and back again. “They’ve rebuilt their relationship.”

“She called him about you being in Black Valley so much, and he basically told her to fuck off.”

“She has to get over the past. I’m tired of hearing it over and over again whenever she feels a certain type of way.”

“You guys all pushed her away, and now you’re mad she finally let you? Do you hear yourself right now?”

“Where the hell would she have gone then? I know she won’t be at Zane’s. And if she’d gone to Ky and Felicity, they would have called me. Must be Lily.”

She shrugs. “I honestly don’t know. I wish I did. But she knew you’d ask me, so she wouldn’t tell me. But I have to ask you something. Did you do something you shouldn’t have with that bunny, Colt?”

Leaning back, his eyes fly up to her face. Is she serious? “What the fuck did you just ask me?”

“No judgment, believe me. But Lex said there was a sonogram in the pictures the bitch sent. She believed it could be yours, but she didn’t know because, well, you didn’t answer your goddamned phone. But it looks really bad, sweetheart.”

“I didn’t fuck her! She just hangs all over me at the fucking clubhouse. And sure, part of me liked the flirting, but I’d never. Not again. Shit with Lex and I got so twisted, and it was nice to get some type of attention.”

“What do you mean?”

He’s an asshole. There’s no way around it. “Since Calla was born, the world has revolved around the kids. And I know I sound selfish, but as soon as we’d get close, the baby would start crying. She’d have to go take care of her, or Noah needed her. I came last. Then, when I was in Black Valley, the distance made it harder.”

“But you voluntarily stayed out there that much! You realize the distance piece was your choice, right?”

He wishes people could just understand that he had to be. Casey deserved it, and he owed the man everything. “I needed something to do. Something that wasn’t helping clean up puke or fixing something around the house. I needed a break, and I guess it went a little too far.”

“But you never crossed any lines? I know you said you didn’t fuck her, but you can do a lot of betrayal with someone without having sex.”

“No, she gave me attention, and I’d entertain it for a total of about thirty seconds before she’d annoy the shit out of me. I’d ignore her, but she was always there. I swear, I never even thought about doing anything with her.”

“Really?”

Clenching his fists, he snarls. “Okay, fine! I thought about it, but I didn’t do anything about it!”

Leaning forward, she rests her elbows on the counter in front of her. “You realize how this looks, though, right?”

Yep. It looks like he’s been stepping out on his wife. “I need to talk to her. I need to tell her it’s not what it looks like. She’s blowing this all out of proportion, and she’s going to feel fucking stupid when she realizes it.”

“No, don’t you dare do that. This is not her fault. You put yourself in this position, Colt. I love you, and I’ll never judge you for a mistake, butyoudid this. There is absolutely nothing that girl needs to feel stupid about. Except maybe putting up with it for as long as she did.”

“Excuse me?”

“She has every right to feel the way she does. She tried to reach out to you to talk to you about what happened before she left. And what did you do? You ignored her call. She gave you an opportunity most women wouldn’t to try and save your family. And you failed her. Do you see that at all?”

She gave him a phone call. That’s not exactly moving mountains. And at the end of the day, they’re married. He’s the father of those children, and she should have waited for him to get home. Even if it took a while, she shouldn’t have taken the coward’s way out.Shedid this.

“She walked, Mom. She gave up when things got tough instead of fighting.”

“God, you and your father are one and the same, you know that? When will you realize your pride isn’t worth losing your family? You did this once before, and where did that get you?”

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