Bringing him lunch, fawning over him like he was so masculine and appealing to her, while staring at me the entire time was a fucking joke. I hid out in the Captain’s office for the hour she was there, and when I emerged, they were all teasing me once again about Nolan. First he stole the innocence of Chloe and now he was dating my ex. It was all I heard about the rest of the night. Nolan looked smug, and the dick almost faced the anger that had been building inside of me for weeks. Anger over what Holly was putting Chloe through and anger that she was now showing up at my place of work.
This shit had to break; it had to end. I thought it would fade, but it would appear she was only getting more aggressive with her attempts.
I left the station and drove straight to the gym, where I continued to pound out weightlifting and anything else to burn off the irritation. Problem was nothing seemed to ease the ache inside of me. The aggression I felt was fueled by adrenaline, fed by the endorphins, and now I wanted nothing more than to make the crazy bitch suffer as much as Chloe had.
There was also the irritation that Chloe had not told me about the things she had been going through.
I’d seen them all watching me, each wanting to ask but holding back. Part of me was thankful because these guys were family of my girl; I knew they too would like to make someone pay. But then another part of me felt like if I didn’t get this shit out soon, I was going to explode.
“Why do you look like you’re about to kill someone?” Terrance leaned in, and then when I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, he quickly retreated. “Seriously, what the fuck is up with you? You look nuclear.”
“Just a bad night.” More like a bad couple weeks, with the exception of my time with Chloe. I felt like we’d grown closer, spending more time talking and getting to know one another. Thankful that she was able to look past the lie and knowing that I’d never pull that shit again. Trying to not taint our relationship with shit I thought she didn’t need to know almost had the opposite effect I was hoping for.
Hearing a beep from my gym bag, I paused and grabbed for my phone. An unknown number showed an image attached.
“What the fuck?” It’s too late to hide it; the image filled my screen, and Mike got full view.
“Why in the hell are you getting nudes of some chick’s tits?”
I closed the image and threw, not tossed, the phone into my bag before turning around to face him. Only now, with his loud booming question, I had all three of them looking at me with snarls.
“Before the three of you decided to go all big fucking brothers on me, you should know that this bitch has been harassing Chloe. Now it seems that she’s going for a new tactic.”
“Who’s messing with Chloe?” Rhett dropped the weight in his hand, and Terrance jumped out of the way before it landed on his foot.
“Holly.” Mike knew who I was referring to right away. He’d heard all about her from start to finish after I’d dodged the bullet and our session was interrupted the night outside the bar. None of them had been given any details about the most recent events, though. Chloe had been handling it all on her own, which of course only pissed me off all over again. She kept it from me, but she kept it from all her people, too. She truly was alone in this, but not anymore.
“She works with Chloe, and for weeks, since she and I started dating actually, the nut job has been giving her shit. She’s cornering her at the office, making her life hell, and—”
I paused, wondering if I should hold off with the rest of what I had.
“And what?”
I should have known they’d demand to know it all. I couldn’t blame them; I felt it, too, that need to protect. The desire to shelter her from everything harmful. The knowledge that until now I’d failed in every aspect of doing what I should have been doing from the start.
“She flipped the switch and somehow convinced the docs and the office that Chloe was the one harassing her. Now Chloe is on a leave, a forced leave.”
Rhett was fuming, his nostrils flaring and his eyes blazing. Mike’s fists tightened at his sides, as if any moment he was going to release the anger and punch anything within reach.
“She never said anything about any of it to anyone.” Fuck, that burned my chest. “She kept it all inside, pretending everything was great.”
“My momma taught me to never lay a hand on a woman,” Terrance snarled as he cracked his neck from side to side. The muscles in his shoulders and upper arms coiled with tension. “I’ve never actually considered the possibility,” he took in a deep breath and his stare locked on mine, “until now.”
I understood exactly what he meant. A woman should never feel the wrath of a man; it was what had been taught to me from day one. Women are delicate and should be treated as such. Respect, love, and kindness, anything more was forbidden. I was pretty sure none of those rules applied to a devil such as Holly. The woman was nothing but evil, she was ruining the life of the woman I adored and something had to give.
***
I slipped in the front door behind Mike and Rhett and remained quiet, taking all the time I was allowed to just observe before being noticed. I
