Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Monroe
I was trying my hardest not to eavesdrop on their conversation, but it was nearly impossible. While my two-bedroom apartment wasn’t exactly small, the walls were thin, and sound echoed. When Aspen said she wanted to make them pay, unease coiled around my gut like a vise. If she intended on following through with that, things would only get worse for her. They already almost killed her; how much more of a wake-up call did this girl need? I sighed as the cheese melted within the pot and the steak and chicken sizzled in the pan. She was stubborn and it was going to be her downfall.
After the food was ready, I set the table and positioned a plate in front of every chair that we would be using along with some sweet tea. Poking my head into the living room, I called for them and returned to the table.
It was weird having Rocky Barlow in my home. The kid was a fucking menace. But I couldn’t exactly turn him away when he’d been the only one to risk his neck for her. I never expected him to help anyone other than himself, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Aspen ended up seated between me and Barlow. Usually, Caroline would be here to dine with us, but today, she conveniently had plans. Truthfully, I don’t think she wanted to be around Aspen anymore than necessary. My wife was stereotypical in that way. She viewed the kids at Redwood Academy as troublemakers; she thought poorly of them and thought they were a waste of money. Maybe that was the case for some of them, but a lot of kids at the academy had potential.
“Wow,” Aspen murmured, pulling me from my thoughts. “This looks amazing.”
“Just wait until you try it.” I smirked, scooping up a soggy chip and plopping it in my mouth. The tender meat bounced against my tastebuds, and it took everything in me not to groan from how good it tasted paired with the melted cheese and chip.
She reached for her first chip and repeated my action. Her eyes blew wide in surprise as she chewed, and she reached for the tea to wash it down. “That’s probably the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” Hearing her say that inflated my ego. Cooking was something I took seriously, and I was glad she appreciated it. Caroline wouldn’t eat gluten or carbs, so when it came to cooking, there were restrictions.
My gaze bounced over to Rocky, who had been silent since we all started eating. His face was stuffed full, his eyes fixated on the plate before him. A breath of laughter slipped past my defenses, and I hurriedly covered it up with a fake cough. I did have a reputation to uphold after all.
Dinner was silent for the most part, which I was thankful for. Afterwards, I cleaned up and we all sat in the living room with a glass of whiskey. Aspen ended up seated between the two of us since the armchair was full of throw-blankets and other miscellaneous shit Caroline had stored there.
“You seem to be doing well,” Rocky pointed out, his gaze focused on the purple-haired vixen between us.
She rolled her eyes and brought the drink to her lips, not even wincing as it ran down her throat. “I told you I was fine.” She shrugged. Even though the words left her mouth, and she looked fine on the outside, I wasn’t buying it. There’s no way she could have gone through something as traumatic as that and be okay.
My hand tightened around my glass at the blatant lie. Why wouldn’t she just tell the truth? We weren’t stupid. Hell, we were the only ones she had right now. Lying to us was like a slap in the face.
“I heard what you said,” he replied, clearly on the same page as me about this.
“Then drop it. I’m alive. Isn’t that good enough?”
No. It wasn’t enough. Breathing and being dead on the inside wasn’t really living. I was afraid that all she was doing was postponing the inevitable. Bottling it up would make it that much worse when it all came crashing down. I didn’t want to be here when she finally exploded.
Instead of saying any of that, I just nodded. “She just woke up today; she’s right. Give her time.”
Rocky sighed and sank back into the cushions of the couch. He seemed to really care for her, which was odd to me. The only time I’ve seen them exchange words was in the gym and at the party. Then again, I wasn’t always around. Maybe he'd be good for her. The dude literally risked his life in order to save her. He had my vote.
The front door creaked open, snagging our attention. Caroline stumbled in looking a mess. Embarrassment clawed at me as I took in her disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes, and rosy cheeks. She was completely trashed. When her eyes zeroed in on us, they widened in surprise and a giggle slipped past her injected, glossed lips.
Fucking Christ. Aspen didn’t need this shit. Not today of all days.
Standing, I crossed the living room in long strides and gripped her by the arm in an attempt to help steady her. She didn’t get drunk like this often, but when she did, it was never good.
Caroline turned to look at me, lust coiling around her pupils. We hadn’t had sex frequently, and when we did, it was basic. Despite her looking at me like she wanted to tear my clothes off, it didn’t do much for me. Maybe it was the stress of today.
“Were you at your sister’s?” I questioned, leaning forward, and kicking the door closed behind her.
“No. We went clubbing.” The words came out jumbled due to the thickness of her tongue and I was barely able to decipher them.
Sighing, I glanced over at Rocky and Aspen—both of them holding similar expressions of amusement. This was humiliating in more ways than one. Not only did Aspen have to live with us for the time being, she was already getting the raw end of the deal here when it came to my wife. Usually, Caroline was able to keep herself collected for the most part.
“Why don’t you go lay down?” I suggested, attempting to pull her in the direction of the bedroom.
Without any warning, she jerked free of my hold and glared at me. “I don’t want to go to bed,” she slurred angrily. “It’s too early for that.”
Annoyance burrowed through me at her stubbornness. This wasn’t how I wanted tonight to go. In order to avoid a Caroline-sized earthquake, I needed to let her do what she wanted, or we’d all pay. That’s how it was when she got like this.
Pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger, a small gust of air escaped me. “Fine,” I said begrudgingly. “Go sit next to Aspen while I fix you a glass of water.”
This seemed to appease her, but I didn’t miss the look of distaste that crossed her features at the mention of the young girl’s name. Hopefully Aspen didn’t notice it because that would be a pain in the ass to explain. Caroline carefully made her way over to the couch, and plopped down between the two of them, nearly falling into Rocky’s lap in the process.
Rolling my eyes, I headed for the kitchen and retrieved a glass, filling it to the brim with water before returning and offering it to her. She accepted the cup and took a small sip before placing it on the table in front of her. Folding my arms across my chest, I decided to stand since there weren’t any seats available, and squeezing in next to Aspen would put us hip to hip. Even though she was living here now, I wanted to avoid any kind of physical touching considering the circumstances.
“Caroline,” I began. “This is Rocky. He’s the one who saved Aspen’s life. I mentioned him to you before, remember?”
Caroline turned her head to get a better look at him before her upper lip lifted in a sneer. “And we’re so thankful for that,” she retorted condescendingly.
My jaw might as well have dropped to the floor at that harsh statement. Flicking my gaze over to the girl beside her, I watched with bated breath, fearful of how this would play out. Surprise was etched into her face as she turned to look at the drunken mess of a woman seated beside her.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she demanded in calm voice, but I didn’t miss the bite to her tone in which she said it.
A slow, malicious smile stretched across Caroline’s face seconds before she turned to look at Aspen. I’ve never seen her look so…evil and unhinged before. This situation must have been weighing on her more heavily than I thought.
“People like you are no good,” she answered. “You’re a waste of government funding, a waste of time, and a waste in general. You won’t grow up to live a successful life. You’re destined to steal, cheat, and manipulate the system for the rest of your pathetic existence because you are nothing .”
Rage consumed me. In fact, all I saw was red. Aspen almost died and Caroline was so selfish that her own desires outweighed any kind of logical thinking. I did believe that alcohol only opened you up to being more honest when in a drunken stupor. For my wife, that was accurate considering everything she was saying right now backed up what she’s told me in the past.
“Caroline,” I snapped, angrily. “That’s enough.”
Aspen held up her hand to silence me, her face twisted in what appeared to be pain—as if she actually believed the words coming from Caroline’s mouth. “People like me?” she questioned carefully; her jaw clenched.
“Yes. Delinquents. People who don’t give a shit about other people as long as they get what they want. People like you use people for their own gain.” She released a humorless laugh. “What? You think you’re going to graduate from the academy and go to college? Not likely. You’ll end up in the hood, probably knocked up by some low life who didn’t give a fuck about you, or the baby and you’ll scrape by working some dead-end job.”
Aspen stood so abruptly, even I jumped. Her hands curled into fists at her sides and she visibly trembled, probably trying to talk herself out of beating the living shit out of Caroline. I wouldn’t blame her, but that wouldn’t end well for her if she did. Caroline had a lot of connections and could have her life turned upside down with the snap of her fingers if she wanted. Ironically, a lot of the things she was saying about Aspen were exactly how she was.
“And you’re a trophy wife who will never be satisfied until you drain the man of everything he’s got,” she snapped back. “But as long as you’re happy, who cares, right?”
I wasn’t sure how she knew this, considering I hadn’t told anyone of our marital problems. But it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Our apartment was decorated with expensive items and Caroline, and I didn’t even look like we belonged together.
“You don’t know anything about me,” Caroline sneered.
Aspen snorted in response, her eyes blazing with fury. “And you don’t know me .” Without another word, she turned on her heels and stormed out of the house, letting the door slam shut behind her.
Rocky shifted uncomfortably in his seat before rising. “I’m just gonna…yeah,” he murmured and took off after her.
When the door closed, I turned to my wife, glaring daggers at her. There weren’t enough words to describe how embarrassed and appalled I was by her behavior tonight. Caroline just shrugged nonchalantly and reached for her water, taking a long sip before returning it to the table.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I hissed.
She released a loaded sigh and tilted her head to meet my gaze. “Nothing is wrong with me. What’s wrong is that little slut taking up my space.” I’ve never heard her talk like that about anyone. Was it possible that she knew about the two of us? Unease coiled around my gut at the thought. The only way she would was if Aspen had told her.
I knew I wasn’t going to get through to her like this. A different approach was in order. Sucking in a long breath of air, I slowly exhaled, attempting to regain my composure. Unfolding my arms from around my chest, I made my way over to the sofa and took a seat next to her, turning my body in her direction so we were closer and so I was less intimidating. If she thought I was angry, it wouldn’t work.
“Why do you think Aspen is a slut?” I began in a leveled voice. “You just met her today.”
She lifted her shoulder in a shrug. “Call it intuition. It could also be because she was supposedly raped by multiple guys in a single night, right before she was supposedly killed. Sounds kind of convenient if you ask me.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You think she lied about all of this?”
She shrugged. “I think she put herself in a bad situation. She met up with some guys to get railed and when things went sideways, they tried to kill her and Rocky was conveniently there to save the day.”
Pursing my lips, I mulled her words over while trying to think up a collected response. Truthfully, I’d heard enough and wanted her the fuck out of my house, but things were more complicated than that. This had been an arranged marriage, and it came with conditions.
“Caroline…” I trailed off. “Regardless of what you think, she still went through something traumatic. She’s been out cold for the last week and doesn’t need this kind of drama on top of everything else that she’s been through. Aspen is one of the students at the academy with the most potential. She actually wants to do something with her life, and she’s trying to take the steps to make it happen. I know for a fact she didn’t meet up with those boys willingly. They’ve been bullying her since she started school here.” I hoped my words weren’t falling on deaf ears. It was hard to tell how drunk she was or if she’d even remember this come tomorrow, but it was worth a try.
As if I was getting through to her, she nodded. Guilt contorting her features. “I…I just thought this was another attempt of one of your students trying to get with you,” she admitted sheepishly, her voice smaller now that the buzz was wearing off.
Since I started working at the academy, I’ve had countless numbers of students throw themselves at me. Boys and girls. I’ve stayed faithful up until Aspen. It wasn’t that she was different from the others who had tried in the past; I didn’t know her well enough to draw that conclusion, but my life was complicated at the time, and I was weak. This time, it was my turn to feel guilty. My relationship with Caroline was far from perfect, but I’d never been a cheater. As guilty as I felt about the whole thing, some secrets were just meant to be kept. It wouldn’t happen again. Being faithful was something I prided myself on and betraying her trust again wasn’t an option.