Chapter 9
Owen
The guilt is eating me alive.
Guilt from touching her by the fireplace? I thought that would be the problem. Turns out, the pain I feel is for abandoning her when she clearly needs me now more than ever.
I’m sorry, Mei.
I’m really fucking everything up.
Why can’t I be a normal man in a stepfather role?
Mei is so different than Addison. My daughter will always be a little girl whom I take care of.
Though not much older, Mei is all woman to me.
It’s as if my brain and heart are at odds when I’m around her.
The sane part wants to comfort her and the horny part wants to strip her naked.
I’m an animal.
No other way around it.
And, since I can’t seem to stay in control of my fiery impulses around her, it’s best to put the necessary distance between us.
But that fucking sucks.
She’s so sad. Because of me.
I don’t know what to do.
Forcing away thoughts of Mei, I climb out of my car at the house my GPS took me to.
It’s a cute, older home in a cookie-cutter neighborhood.
Though I’ve never seen it before, this property will technically be mine in a few weeks.
It’s strange to think it’s the reason for the whole fake marriage with Jin.
Why was she so obsessed with the old woman who lives here that she’d approach one of her own patients with such a proposal?
I suppose these are questions I should have asked myself weeks ago, but I was in a bad mental place because of Leah, and desperate for my own solutions. Having Jin as my wife has seemingly kept Leah at bay. For now.
A police cruiser pulls up along the curb in front of the house and my stomach tightens. I wouldn’t put it past Leah to try and have me arrested for something stupid.
Like nearly fucking your stepdaughter?
There’s no way she would know about that, plus, Mei is eighteen.
That’s just paranoia creeping in. I toss a wave over my shoulder and stride toward the house.
I hear the cruiser car door open and close as I knock on the front door.
An elderly woman tells me to come inside, so I do, eager to get away from the cop.
As I walk into the living room, I’m hit with a sweet cinnamon scent that makes my stomach grumble.
“Is it Mommy or Daddy?” the elderly woman asks.
Penny toddles into the living room and shrieks with happiness when she sees me. I grin and scoop her up, kissing her on the side of the head. “Hey, squirt.”
“Must be Daddy.” The woman shuffles around the corner just as the door opens behind me. “Oh…my.”
“Who the hell are you?” a deep voice growls.
I whirl around, with Penny tight in my grip, and face off with the person. The cop. Why did he follow me into this house?
“I’m here to pick up my stepdaughter,” I say to the officer and then nod to the older woman. “Ma’am. I’m Owen Monahan. Jin’s husband. You must be Carol.”
“I am,” she says. “Lovely to meet you.”
Penny whines and reaches for the cop. He approaches as if he’s done this a hundred times before, holding out his hands.
“I’m sorry, but who are you?” I clip out, refusing to hand over the little girl I was asked to come pick up.
The cop narrows his eyes at me and his jaw muscle ticks. A flash of anger flickers in his eyes which only makes me distrust him more.
“Owen,” Carol says gently, “this is my son, Christopher. He lives here with me.”
I relax and pass Penny to him. Christopher melts a bit as Penny cackles and blabs on about a cookie. He grins at her and nods, clearly smitten with her. It’s kind of hard not to be.
“Where’s Jin?” Christopher asks. “Or Mei? Why are you picking Penny up?”
“Just helping out my wife.”
Something about this guy puts me on edge. He’s territorial and mildly threatening. It could be that I’m defensive and he’s a cop who could out our little fraudulent marriage. Or, there’s a reason I can’t put my finger on.
Cop or not, I don’t trust him.
“Wife,” Christopher repeats as if the word doesn’t taste right on his tongue. “And how long have you known Jin?”
There’s a knowing glint in his eyes. Like he already has me figured out.
“Christopher,” Carol says, voice tinged in warning. “Let this fella get on his way. Supper’s about ready anyway.”
I find Penny’s backpack on the sofa, shoulder it, and then hold my hands out to take her back.
Christopher glowers at me before reluctantly passing her to me.
Penny starts to cry, making me feel like a dick, but I don’t let it deter me.
With a quick thanks to Carol, I slip out of the house, and hurry to my car where I’ve installed a car seat.
A silver sedan slows to a stop in front of the driveway as I reach my car. It’s then I see a man with a camera, boldly taking photos of me and Penny.
“Hey!” I call out to the man.
He hits the gas and drives off. Fucking creep. With irritation burning through my veins, I buckle Penny in and then hop back into my seat. I fire off a text to Leah immediately.
Stalking is a crime.
Her reply comes before I can even start the engine.
Leah: I’m not sure what you’re referring to, Owen.
Liar.
Call off your watchdog or I’ll be forced to make a police report.
Leah: You sound paranoid. Are you having trouble sleeping? It’s concerning you married your sleep doctor after having only known her for a minimal amount of time.
I hate this woman. She plays these twisted games and I’m sick of it. I’d love nothing more than to go off on her, calling her every name in the book, but I’m not stupid. These carefully worded texts are more tools in her box to take me down.
My sleep is fine and my marriage is none of your business.
Leah: You always were one for denial.
Then, before I can respond, she texts again.
Leah: I’m worried about the kids and your unstable behavior. My attorney is filing a new motion in our case.
Rather than responding, I shoot my lawyer, Dane, screenshots of our texts.
Dane: Stop responding. I’ll see what they’re up to and keep you advised.
“Sorry, squirt,” I mutter to Penny who’s fussing from her car seat. “You want to go see Addison?”
She cheers up for the ride home, but my mood only sours. By the time we arrive at the house, I’m agitated beyond belief. Jin pulls in right after me. Before she can take Penny, Addison runs out to steal her from us. They leave with a giggles and squeals that lightens my pissy mood.
“We need to talk,” I say to Jin as she climbs out of her car. “Privately.”
Her expression remains cool, per usual, and she gives me a curt nod. “I’ll meet you in your room.”
I stalk through the house and then change out of my suit into something comfortable. By the time I’m in jeans and a sweatshirt, and sitting on my bed, Jin enters the room. Her shoulders are stiff and her jaw is set as if she’s bracing for a fight.
“What?” Jin demands, voice sharp like a blade. “You’re angry.”
I scrub my palm over my face and blow out a huff of air. “Not angry with you.”
The tension bleeds out of her and she nods. “Okay, then. What’s wrong?”
“Leah.” I pull out my phone and open the text from my ex to show her.
“She’s reaching,” Jin says, waving it away from her face when she finishes reading. “There’s nothing to report.”
“Maybe not yet,” I say with a heavy sigh, “but she has someone following me. Followed me to the babysitter’s house and was taking pictures.”
Her head snaps my way and she scowls. “Silver sedan?”
“Actually, yeah. He took a picture of me walking to the car with Penny. Have you seen it as well?”
“Carol says it’s been parked out by her house a time or two. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”
I pace the floor in front of Jin, working out what she’s saying and trying to make sense of it. “It’s strange Leah is having some private investigator guy scope out where you take your kid for babysitting on the off-chance I pick her up. Right?”
Jin cuts her eyes away from me and she fidgets. It’s something I notice she does when she doesn’t want to tell me something. Whether the marriage is real or not, we’ve made an agreement, and I can’t be blindsided by shit. Not when the custody of my kids is on the line.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I demand. “Is the investigator following you? Does it have to do with that house? Come on, Jin. Tell me. Does it have to do with Christopher? If this jeopardizes—”
“What do you know about Christopher?” Jin hisses, pouncing over to me. Her normally calm eyes are flickering wildly.
I clench my teeth together. “I know he’s the son of the woman whose house we just got married for in order to save. Carol is Penny’s babysitter, but to be honest, it’s kind of odd you’d want to help her just so you don’t lose where your child is watched.”
Jin scoffs and throws her hands in the air. “Owen, don’t be ridiculous. Now who’s reaching?”
She storms off toward the door, but I follow after her, refusing to be ignored.
“He’s awfully friendly with Penny,” I say to her back. “Am I missing something here?”
As if I’ve whipped her, Jin flinches and then whirls around to face me.
Her small finger flies up to my face, just centimeters from my nose.
“Penny sees him all the time because he lives there. She adores him. Stop grasping for straws.” Then, Jin smooths out her features and contorts her expression into doctor mode. “Have you been sleeping okay?”
I’m an asshole.
A stupid one.
Got rid of an awful, wicked witch of a wife, and snatched up another one before the ink was hardly dry on my divorce.
Fucking idiot.
I’ve been treated like I’m crazy one too many times and Jin’s crossed a line whether she realizes it or not.
“I’m too pissed to have this conversation with you right now,” I say in my most neutral, unaffected tone. “We’re in this arrangement to help one another. Keeping secrets and hiding shit will only have things blow up in our faces.”
Jin’s nostrils flare, the only tell she’s still angry. The rest of her expression is placid.
“I’m fully aware of our agreement,” she says, ice in her tone. “And the second we close on Carol’s house, and the rental agreement is in place, we’ll be done.”
“So, you get what you want,” I murmur coolly. “And all I get is more trouble and another ex-wife.”
There’s a long moment of silence between us before Jin answers me.
“No.” She lifts her chin and offers me a brief smile.
“I’m going to help you. If that takes months or even a year to get Leah off your back, then so be it.
What you’ve done with Carol’s house and saving it from the bank is more than I could ever repay you.
Together, we’re going to get through this. ”
Jin pats my shoulder and leaves my bedroom without another word.
While I’m grateful for her reassurance of our agreement, specifically her end of the bargain, I’m unnerved by why she wanted to save Carol’s house in the first place.
Whatever she’s keeping from me could fuck me over one day.
It’s a blind spot I’m determined to shine a light into.
My head throbs and my mind races.
The anxiety clawing at me reaches new peaks.
I may as well chain my ass to my bed tonight, because there’s no doubt my disorder will rear its ugly head later. It always does. Like a bitter dessert after an ex-wife supper.
Fuck my life.