Chapter 38
Dax
How do you convince a woman that you’re not just using her to keep custody of your kids when you are actively fighting for custody of your kids?
If I had known that the whole Jax slash Dax thing could come back to bite me, I would never have done it.
The right thing to do was obviously to let her know the scumbag stood her up and that I would gladly buy her a drink so she could forget about the guy, and I could forget that it was the anniversary of the day my wife died.
Of course, that’s not what happened. I lied to her, pretending to be her blind date with no intention of sleeping with her, and honestly no intention of seeing her ever again.
How was I supposed to know that I would later buy out her bookstore and have to see her every day, pushing both my patience and my urge to make her mine again, over and over?
So, I made a lot of mistakes. But the one thing I did not do, and I am still not doing, is use her to keep custody of my girls. That part of the train wreck was just an unfortunate timing in the crossing of tracks.
As I make my way home after talking to her (with no success) I am wracking my brain on what I can do next.
But between the fact that my love life is derailed, and my home life is headed down the same path, I feel helpless.
It’s like the there’s a bridge over the top of me and the whole thing is collapsing and I don’t know which end to hold up.
And as if that’s not enough, my phone starts to ring, a number I don’t know. I ignore it, assuming it’s spam. But the voice message begins to place anyways.
“Mr. Hemingway, this is the Boston Police department. We are calling in regards to a break-in at the Way With Words bookshop. Please give us a call at–”
What the fuck?
The voice message cuts off as another call comes in over the top of it. It’s Kai.
“Hey, what the hell is going on?” I ask before waiting for him to answer.
“Apparently someone smashed a window. Not sure if they looted the place or if they were just drunk and fucking around outside the shop. But the cops are there.”
“Any idea who?” I ask, pulling into the left lane to make a U turn back in the direction of the shop.
“No one saw him. Cops apparently scoped the area, but we got nothing.”
“We got security cameras,” I say. “That’s not nothing. Why don’t you pull those up and check them out. I’m on my way.”
“What about Libby?” he asks and it’s like a knife to the heart. “What about her?”
“Does she know?” he asks like the question is obviously.
I shove back my initial panic over the question and do my best to act normal, despite my entire life being engulfed in flames right now. “No. Not unless you told her.”
“The cops couldn’t get ahold of her, and neither can I. I swear to God she’d go to war for her precious bookshop and here we are in a crisis and she’s nowhere to be found. She’s probably out with that friend of hers who’s always trying to get away from mom life.”
“She’s not out with her friend!” I snap, then swallow my words. Fuck.
“So, you’ve talked to her?”
“No. I mean yes. She’s sick. She’s probably asleep. Let’s just take care of it. We owe her that much,” I say.
“I mean I don’t feel like I personally owe her anything. But I supposed it’ll be less dramatic if we leave her out of it.”
I want to strangle him through the phone.
In all the time I’ve known Kai, I knew he had a sister.
A sister that he didn’t really get along with.
But to be honest, I don’t know a lot of people that get along with Kai.
I’ve only stuck around because he’s good at business and in times I’ve needed him, he shows up. He’s loyal in his own way.
“Listen. Like I said, I’m on my way. Pull the security footage and see what you can find,” I tell him.
“I will. Though it might take a minute. That camera hasn’t been updated since 2001. It’s the same from when our parents owned the shop. I’m going to have to fast forward through weeks’ worth of shit to get to today, but I got you, brother.”
“Thanks,” I say before ending the call. Like I said, there when I need him. Even if it means playing with a VCR to find the people who smashed into our shop. Libby’s shop.
I don’t even want her to know about it. If she finds out that her store has been broken into, her heart will break twice in one day and that I simply can’t allow. I park directly out front and sure enough, the window is gone, glass everywhere and caution tape.
“Where are the cops?” I ask as soon as I march up. I don’t even have to wait until I’m inside for Kai, who is standing with his back to me, to hear. That’s how bad the window is.
“Left,” Kai’s tone is flat.
“So, you got the footage?” I ask, stepping around the glass. “Jesus this is a mess. It’s going to put us out for at least two days. Libby is going to be devastated.”
“I bet you’d know a lot about how she’s going to feel don’t you?” he says, back still to me.
“What are you talking about? Kai, I know you two don’t exactly see eye to eye but–”
The next thing I know, Kai is spinning around and with the force of his entire body, he smashes his fist into my face.
We box in the gym sometimes, and even though I have ten years on him, I can usually knock him on his ass.
But right now, without gloves and no idea that it’s coming, I don’t stand a chance, and the hit takes me to the floor. The all natural, hard wood floor.
“What the fuck? What was that for?” I groan, the taste of warm blood filling my mouth.
But Kai is just standing over me. “I watched the footage. And I was right. I did have to fast forward through a lot.”
As my head spins in wobbly, painful circles, I am struggling to get my bearings. “I don’t see what that has to do with–” Then I stop.
Weeks’ worth of footage.
Footage of the shop.
Footage of everything happening in the shop.
Before…and after…hours.
Fuck.
“What did you see?” I ask, spitting blood onto the floor and wiping my mouth with the back of my wrist.
“Enough. The pause button doesn’t work great, so I just ripped the whole cord out.”
“Great. So, you broke it. Now how are we going to press charges?” I ask.
“I should be pressing charges against you! How long have you been hooking up with my sister?!”
It suddenly occurs to me that with the window shattered all over the floor, half of Beacon Street can hear him screaming at me.
“Listen. It’s not how it looks.”
Kai laughs bitterly and shakes his head. “No? Because I watched footage of how it looks, and it looks an awful lot like you’re sleeping with my sister. I thought you hated each other.”
“We did. Well, not hate. That’s a strong word.”
“You know what else is strong?” he goes off. “My fist. So, I suggest you start saying words that actually make sense right now. How long has it been going on?”
“Since we went on a date a while back,” I admit.
“You took her on a date? Knowing she was my sister?”
“I didn’t know she was your sister!” I shout back, peeling myself off the floor. “It wasn’t supposed to lead up to this. It was supposed to be one night.” I say the words and then realize how much worse that sounds. “Fuck. Not like that. I didn’t take advantage of her. I just.”
“You know what? I don’t want to hear it,” Kai says, heading to the door. “I have too much to deal with. But do me a favor and go fuck yourself. Not my sister. Yourself.”