CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
I sat at my classroom desk, staring nervously at the email I’d just sent to my publisher.
I’d finally completed the first draft of my manuscript, and I was a nervous wreck—an anxious ball of worry and excitement, itching to go off at the slightest inconvenience.
My phone rang, and I glanced down at the screen, seeing it was another unknown number.
I immediately dismissed the number and blocked it.
It had been two weeks since my run-in with Seth at Declan’s workplace, and ever since then, Seth had been blowing up my phone with random unknown numbers.
I’d mistakenly answered the first few calls, then immediately blocked the numbers when I realized it was him. Still, the calls kept coming—unknown number after unknown number.
Once Declan had gotten home that night, we stayed up talking for hours.
He’d informed me that the board had indeed decided to terminate Seth’s employment after it was discovered that he was laundering money through the company and embezzling funds.
And after months of investigation into his gross misconduct, they finally had enough evidence—which was on the hard drive Declan had asked me to take to him that faithful day—to fire him and convict him for his crimes.
As it turned out, Declan truly hadn’t known I was Seth’s wife.
Which had then led to another conversation about the assumption that I had only agreed to go with him because he was Seth’s boss, which I vehemently denied.
As a matter of fact, had I known he was Seth’s boss, I probably wouldn’t have given him the time of day.
And I understood why Declan had to ask these difficult questions.
Had I been in his position, I would have done the same thing.
Seth had planted the doubt in his mind, and Declan simply wanted to know if my intentions were pure.
I knew it wasn’t a slight to how he felt about me.
Back then, Seth was my lawfully wedded husband.
Theoretically, he would have been the best person to interpret or verify my actions.
Fortunately for everyone, that was not the case.
And Seth’s motives were as foreign to me as mine were to him.
Which was also why, when Declan had asked me if I knew about his illegal dealings in his company, I had no qualms about being honest. I genuinely didn’t think Seth was capable of such terrible things.
Then again, I also didn’t think he would use, manipulate, hurt, and abuse me the way he did, so maybe I wasn’t the best person to ask.
Safe to say, I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did.
Which proved that no matter how long you were with someone, you never truly know them.
It was a scary thought, but that didn’t make it any less true. And I didn’t know Seth at all.
I was told Seth was arrested shortly after the meeting was adjourned, but had since made bail and was now waiting for his court date. He’d been bombarding me with phone calls ever since.
My phone rang again, and I was seconds away from hurling it across the room when I saw Declan’s name on the screen.
My heart did a little pitter-patter, as it always did, whenever he called me, and I was still at work.
I simply couldn’t forget the way he’d manhandled me onto my desk and fucked me senseless all those months ago.
And every time I sat in front of my class, that was all I could think about.
Which I suspected was his ultimate plan.
“Hey, babe,” I said, answering on the third ring.
“Hi, darling, are you almost done?” came Declan’s smooth Irish accent.
I smiled at the way his voice melted my insides. God, I was falling so hard for this man.
“I am,” I replied breathlessly.
“Good, because I’m on my way to pick you up.”
I glanced at the Cheshire cat clock above my classroom door and noticed that it was after seven. School had long been dismissed, and I stayed behind to fine-tune my manuscript and send it off to my publisher. I hadn’t realized the time had gotten away from me.
“I thought you had a meeting,” I inquired. “Is it done already?”
“Postponed. One of my department heads has a family emergency, so I figured we could reconvene some other time. Plus, it’s Friday. I wanna take you out.”
“Like… with a sniper or on a date? Because either way, I’m game.”
Declan laughed, and my insides did a somersault. “No snipers, my dear. Just me trying to ask you out on a date.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I know I’ve been busy lately, but I wanna make it up to you. Starting tonight. And since I rode my motorcycle to work this morning, Steven will be driving us, and I can dedicate all my attention to you.”
I sighed inwardly, thanking my lucky stars for blessing me with this wonderful man. It was times like this, when he said just the right things, that made me fall in love with him more and more every day.
“Okay, I’ll start packing up my things. I’ll be ready in five,” I said softly, the smile evident in my tone. I was just so incredibly happy.
“Take your time. There’s no rush. It’ll take Steven another fifteen or so minutes to get there, so you have a little time.”
We said our goodbyes, and I got to straightening up my classroom. Packing away toys, reading materials, crayons, markers, pillows, and blankets used for cozy circle time. And before I knew it, the room was back to the way it was when I walked in this morning.
Going back to my desk, I stuffed my papers and laptop into my messenger bag with as much care as I could muster.
Then the realization hit me, and I gently ran my fingers over the printed words on one of the sheets.
My very first novel, unedited and unrefined, but still mine and still very much completed.
My heart swelled with so much pride and joy. I’d done it. I’d achieved my biggest goal. And I couldn’t help but think it was all because of meeting Declan.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway, followed quickly by a knock on my open classroom door.
I looked up, expecting to see Declan, but froze when I realized who it was.
“Seth?” I asked, confused. “What are you doing here?”
He scoffed. “Well, you weren’t answering my calls, so I figured I’d pay you a visit.”
He leaned casually against the doorframe, and though he hadn’t done anything to make it seem like I was in danger, something about the rigid way in which he held himself had all the alarm bells in my head going off.
“Seth, you can’t be here,” I said, surprised when my voice shook a little.
Seth must have noticed it too because he smirked and stepped further into the classroom.
“Oh, come on. Don’t be like that,” he leered. “Can’t a husband come see his wife at work?”
“We’re divorced. You know that.”
He scoffed again. “Nah, Mellie. Once I'm married, I’m married. You know that.”
I gritted my teeth. “That didn’t stop you from straying now, did it?”
“Stray? I didn’t stray, love. You gave me your blessing, remember?”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not how I remember it.”
He was closer now, and I realized that I’d unconsciously backed up, and my back was now tightly pressed to the whiteboard wall. I was trapped.
Seth smiled, a vicious and perverse thing, and stepped even closer.
“Declan’s on his way,” I said quickly, caring very little that my voice was shaking now. “He’ll be here any minute.”
“Oh, Declan, is it?” Seth sneered. “Not Mr. McKenna? Though, I suppose he wouldn’t make the women he’s fucking call him by his last name. No, the asshole probably only reserves that for his employees.”
“He’s not an asshole!”
“No? But he is a criminal,” he growled out the words.
“Did you know that, Melodie? Did you know that your precious Declan has ties with the Irish mafia? For Christ’s sake, his fucking uncle is their deadliest enforcer.
You know, the guy who chops people’s heads off and disposes of their bodies?
Matter of fact, his whole family is in the mafia.
I looked into him. You remember that last business trip I went on for two weeks?
It was to investigate the fucker. He’s a fucking criminal, Mellie! ”
Okay, Seth was insane. I saw that now.
He’d told me work was sending him on a last-minute business trip. Instead, he was investigating his boss? And for what?
I wanted to say all of that, but what came out of my mouth was, “If he’s a criminal, then what are you? Money laundering, Seth? Embezzlement? Now that’s just stupid, even for you. ”
In retrospect, I should have seen the blow coming. But as always, I thought I knew Seth, and that he wouldn’t hurt me. So, when the back of his hand connected with the side of my face, snapping my head sideways and into the wall behind me, I was just as shocked as I was dizzy.
My knees gave out from under me, and I crumpled to the ground—face stinging, head aching.
“Fuck!” Seth bellowed in the silence that followed. “Look what you made me do, damn it!”
I wanted to swear at him, to curse him, curse his mom, his siblings—his whole family, really. Because they all contributed, in some way, to shaping this bastard into the crazy he was today.
Instead, the ringing in my head got louder, and I could have sworn I blacked out for a second or two, because when I came to, Seth had me by the bicep and was struggling to haul me upright with one hand, while the other was wrapped around something hidden on the inside of his jacket.
It struck me then that I might actually die. My ex-husband could kill me right here, and no one would be the wiser. He would get away with taking my life. Then he would run off into the sunset with his mistress and baby. And I would be a fading memory of what once was.
No!
Fuck, Seth!
Fuck him and his crazy.