Chapter 36
Bargain – impossible to do when you’re the one behind bars
Lucas
W eston stops me outside of the brewery. “You okay?”
I smile, remembering Chloe telling me she loves me. Hearing those words from her will never get old. “I’m good.”
“You sure? Your ex just tried to assault your wife.”
My good mood evaporates. “Don’t remind me.”
He motions to our vehicle. “There’s a very mouthy reminder in our squad car.”
I step toward it but he places a hand on my chest to stop me again. “I’m serious, bro. If you can’t handle this professionally, I’ll have you replaced.”
He’s right. I need to be professional. I inhale a couple of deep breaths. My anger isn’t gone but it’s on a low simmer now and no longer boiling.
“I’m good.”
“I’m trusting you here.”
“All good, bro. Swear it.”
He pats me on the shoulder before leading the way to the squad car. Before we reach it, I can already hear Holly screaming.
“Let me out of here!”
Weston grins. “You leveled up with your second wife.”
“Fuck yeah, I did.”
“The men are falling faster than flies on Smuggler’s Hideaway. First, my best friend falls in love with my little sister. And now my partner falls for the wild child of the island.”
I scowl. “Chloe isn’t a wild child.”
He waggles his eyebrows. “Because you tamed her?”
There is no taming Chloe.
Holly bangs on the window with her cuffs. “Let me out!”
I open the front passenger door and slide into the car. “You’ll get out when we reach the station.”
“Lucas,” she sighs. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“This should be fun,” Weston mutters as he switches on the vehicle. “What do you think? Lights and sirens?”
“Lights and sirens?” Holly screeches. “I’m not a criminal! Everyone in town will see me.”
“Not as stupid as she looks,” Weston says.
“I’m not stupid at all! This is police harassment. I’ll have your badge.”
“I’m…”
Weston holds up a hand to stop me. “If you apologize for her, I’ll deck you.”
I chuckle. “Deck me? I’d like to see you try.”
I’ve got five inches and a good twenty-five pounds on him.
“You’re on. There’s a boxing gym in Rogue’s Landing. They have a ring.”
“I can’t believe this!” Holly yells. “I’m being harassed and you’re worried about a boxing match. What happened to us?”
“I was a fucking idiot who should have got rid of your ass the first time I came home to find Natalia in a dirty diaper.”
“Big deal. Her diaper was dirty. Put a clean one on her and she’d just dirty it again.”
I fist my hands and ignore her for the rest of the drive. I promised Weston I’d be professional. And I will be.
“I’ll book her,” Weston says when we arrive. “You start the paperwork.”
I hate paperwork, but I’ll gladly do all the mindless paperwork to get away from my ex. I exit the car and leave him to it.
“Don’t abandon me, Lucas!” Holly hollers after me but I ignore her. Her pleas mean nothing to me. The only feeling I experience when I consider her is regret.
My phone rings as I enter the station. I check the display. Mom calling.
“Hey, Mom,” I answer.
“Lucas, sweetheart, how are you doing? We haven’t heard from you since Natalia’s sports day. Which we would have come to if we had known about it. We miss our granddaughter.”
I sigh. “Now’s not a good time to make me feel guilty, Mom. I feel bad enough.”
“Why? What’s going on? I’ll get your father.”
“You don’t need to—”
“Lucas! Come to the phone. Our son needs us.”
“I’m right here, Florence. There’s no need to shout.”
“How do I put this dang thing on speaker?”
“Push the speaker button.”
“Which one is the speaker button?”
“It says speaker on it.”
“I don’t have my glasses. I can’t read those tiny letters.”
The phone clicks.
“Hello? Are you there?”
“I’m still here, Mom.”
“What’s going on, son?”
“Holly’s here,” I begin before explaining the events of the past week.
“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Mom asks.
“We could have come down there,” Dad adds.
“I want you to visit when there’s a reason to celebrate. Not because Holly lost her mind when she found out I remarried.”
“Remarried?” Mom asks. “You didn’t mention a wife.”
“Why didn’t you invite us to the wedding? You’re too old to elope, son.”
I rub a hand over my beard. Shit. I wasn’t planning on telling them about my arrangement with Chloe. Hold on. There is no arrangement any longer. She is my wife.
“Why don’t you come and visit now?” I ask. “Chloe would love to meet you.”
“Her name is Chloe? I love her already.”
“She’s the best, Mom.”
“I know she is. You sound happy when you say her name.”
“Pack the car, Lucas. We’re going to Smuggler’s Hideaway.”
They begin discussing how many hours the drive is. I try to interrupt them but they hang up the phone.
I can’t wait for them to meet Chloe. But I have one thing I need to handle before they arrive.
Weston shakes his head when I reach the holding cells.
“Not a good idea, Lucas.”
“I don’t have any keys. I’m only going to speak to her.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and blocks my way. “Not a good idea.”
“You can listen in.”
His eyes sparkle with interest. I knew they would. He loves to gossip. And getting the scoop on his partner’s nasty ex-wife would be a coup for him.
He motions down the hallway. “You may proceed.”
I chuckle. “I thought so.”
“Lucas, you’re here.” Holly smiles at me. “I knew you wouldn’t leave me to rot in here.”
Which gives me a great idea. I know how to get rid of her.
“I have a deal for you.”
She licks her lips and leans on the bars as close to me as possible. I retreat a step. I don’t want her touching me. “What deal?”
“You leave town—”
“I won’t be kicked out—”
I hold up a hand. “Hear me out.”
She purses her lips. “Fine.”
“If you agree to leave town and not return, the owners of the brewery will drop the charges against you.”
I don’t have Chloe and her friends’ permission to offer this deal but they won’t be hard to persuade.
“Drop the charges! What charges are against me? I didn’t do nothing wrong.”
I cross my arms over my chest and glare at her. “This is the deal they’re offering.”
“But if I leave town, I’ll miss the custody hearing.”
Which is the entire idea.
“The custody hearing is a waste of time anyway.”
“Waste of time?” She hisses. “Getting custody of my daughter isn’t a waste of time.”
“Except you don’t care about Natalia. You want custody to get child support so you don’t have to work.”
“Child support is only fair if I have to raise our child alone.”
She won’t be raising my daughter.
“Do you know who was in the restaurant this afternoon?” I ask.
“The slut you’re pretending to be married to.”
I growl and step forward. Weston clears his throat and I stop. I force my anger down. As satisfying as wringing Holly’s neck might be, it won’t solve the problem.
“The judge for the custody hearing,” I tell her.
She pales. “The judge?”
“Yep.”
“How do you know who the judge is?”
“My lawyer, who was also at the restaurant, pointed her out to me.”
“Your lawyer?”
“Yep. I probably have to pay for his lunch seeing as it became a business lunch, but it’s a small price to pay.”
“There must be more judges on this stupid island.”
“Actually,” Weston interrupts. “There are but Judge Clara is the juvenile court judge.”
“You couldn’t have chosen a better time or place to have your little hissy fit.”
She scowls. “A couple of chairs broke. It’s not a big deal.”
“If you don’t accept this deal, you’ll be charged with attempted assault. In addition to spending time in jail, the owners of the brewery could start a civil suit to have you pay for replacing the chairs.”
“Take the deal,” Weston says. “Considering how many people saw you attempt to assault his wife, you’ll probably end up with the maximum time in jail.”
Holly studies my face. If she thinks I’ll be lenient because she’s the mother of my child, she doesn’t know me at all. She tried to injure my wife. She’s lucky I was with Weston when the call came in or who knows how I would have responded.
No one – not even my ex – is allowed to harm my wife.
“Fine. Whatever.”
“You’ll take the deal?” I ask.
“I’ll take the deal.”
“I’ll drive you off the island,” Weston offers.
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
“Thanks, bro.”
He clasps my hand. “Whatever you need. Now, get out of here. Your wife is worried.”
I hurry toward the stairs. I don’t look back. Behind me is my past. My future is waiting for me at a brewery.