Chapter Thirty-Seven
I need help, and that becomes very apparent as I linger over the dead body of my ex-husband. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with him. I swallow hard and swoop up Jared’s phone. There’s only one contact on his phone that I can think of to call.
And she’s going to freak the fuck out—if she even answers.
I click on Lydia’s name, wiping the blood from my hand onto my jeans. I put the phone up to ear, trying to conjure up how the fuck to explain myself.
“Hello?” Lydia sounds confused, and I can only imagine why.
“Hi,” I choke out. “I was wondering if maybe… It’s Emma.”
“I know,” her voice breaks into a cry. “I was really hoping you’d call.”
“I did something…” I glance down at Jared and step to the side to ensure I don’t get blood on my shoes. “And I, um, I really don’t know who else to call. I-I-I don’t have the phone number I need…”
“I’m on my way,” Lydia’s voice soft. “It’s okay.”
I freeze as the words register. “How do you know where I am?”
“Oh, Emma,” Lydia says. “It’s a long story, but um, could you tell me what you did?”
I purse my lips, glancing down once again at Jared. “I… don’t think I should say anything over the phone…”
“Was Jude able to get ahold of you?”
“He left a voice—” I stop once again. “Jude. Like Jude. Like the Jude that called me in the car? Or is this a different Jude?”
“Same Jude.”
“How do you know him?”
“He’s Henry’s best friend… And business partner.”
“My Jude is your Jude?” I’ve never been more relieved, confused, or surprised. I start to laugh as she confirms it. “Are you saying that Henry is… He’s a…”
“Yes, but are you alright?” Lydia asks, her voice tinged with concern.
“I’m not,” I laugh, shaking my head. “I am not okay. I stole the man I’m head over heels for’s car, money, and dog—and I think he’s going to kill me.”
“Jared’s?”
“No,” I draw out the vowel sound as I sink to the floor. “Luca. He’s going to kill me. I was going to tell him—I was. I wanted to tell him I was sorry for the shit I said, and then I was going to tell him what I wanted. I just wanted to make Jared answer to me, not Luca. And I thought Jared would be way more shell-shocked than he was. It didn’t make me feel any better. But I got my answers.”
“That’s good…” Lydia says, and I can’t tell if she’s shocked or if she just thinks I’m insane.
“And I’m sorry I didn’t call more. I’m sorry that I shut you out. I felt like there was something wrong with me, and now I know for sure there was. But I feel so much better now. He was such a coward, hiring someone to kill me. He needed to die. I just realized that I wanted to be the one who did it.”
“Yeah…” Lydia’s voice is soothing. “You’re going to have to sit tight for a little longer though.”
I glance down at my shirt. “I have extra clothes in the car outside when you get here. I can’t walk out like this.”
“You’re so chill about this that it’s terrifying,” Lydia says, hesitance in her voice. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I am. I just hope he’ll take my apology before he kills me.”
“Misunderstandings happen,” Lydia says. “Sounds like maybe you just need to have a good conversation… Or something.”
“Do we need to call in a cleanup?” I hear a voice in the background. “I can have them there before we can get there.”
“Um, so this is going to be weird,” Lydia comes back on the line. “But you, um, took care of Jared?”
“Yes,” I say flatly.
“Yeah, she needs one,” Lydia says to whoever spoke. I think it was Henry. “Pronto, probably.”
“We need to know the scale.”
“Did you hear that?” Lydia says into the phone. “Henry needs to know the scale—so what happened, I think.” I’ll put you on speaker.
“Um,” I begin, eyeing the body and the blood—that I now realize is everywhere. “I stabbed him in the neck with a filet knife. I don’t… There’s a lot… There’s a lot of, um, blood.”
Someone laughs, but it”s too distant to recognize.
“Are you hurt?” Henry, the voice asking the questions, speaks up.
I glance down at my hand, cut from the force of the blade. “Maybe… I have a cut on my hand. I think it’s fine though.”
“And the dog?”
“He’s good. I don’t think I could’ve done it without him.” I pet Major’s head as he lays down next to me. “I can’t believe I did it. I finally got revenge. All by myself.”
“Yeah, someone will be there in an hour,” Henry says. “Take some deep breaths, don’t tell them anything. They’ll be in an HVAC van. Just stay out of their way, okay?”
“Okay…”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can. We’re making great time.”
“Okay.”
“This is Jared’s phone?” Henry asks.
“Uh huh,” I answer.
“Okay. We need to hang up then. You hold tight and wait. Don’t touch anything. It’ll just make their job harder.” He hangs up, without giving me the chance to say goodbye to Lydia.
I sit in the spot on the floor, zoning out as I stare at Jared’s body. Will Luca still be mad at me? Fear tugs at my heart.
“I fell in love with him,” I tell Major. “And now he’s going to kill me for this.”
Major lets out a sigh.
And we sit there until the strange HVAC van shows up an hour and a half later—thirty minutes past when they said it would. I stay out of their way as they pull the van and Tahoe into the three-car garage.
“Do you know when the wife will show up?” One of the people asks me.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. She works until six though.” I fold my arms across my chest as they assess the scene. All I can do is wait. My stomach churns as they pour over the house, and I remain in the entryway. Major sits beside me, and when the doorbell shatters my stupor, my heart begins to bang unevenly in my chest.
I swallow hard, picturing Melanie on the other side for some reason. One of the men working rushes past me, peering out the peephole. And then he opens the door.
In walks Lydia. And Henry.
Her eyes grow wide as she takes in the body still on the floor. “Holy shit, Emma…”
I bite down on my lip, suddenly realizing just how psycho I probably look to her. I’ve gotten so used to violence as my norm that I never even… “I… I’m not… I…”
Lydia rushes me, wrapping me up in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I really fucked up, didn’t I?” I choke out through the sob.
“You made a hell of a mess,” Henry chuckles. “No wonder Luca is so into you. It makes so much fucking sense now.”
I cringe at his name. “He’s going to murder me.”
“Maybe,” Henry mutters. “You need to get out of here.”
“He’s on his way,” I say softly. “Jude left me a voicemail.” I’m still processing the fact that all these people are somehow linked together—with my best friend.
But maybe it’s just that small of a world.
“He’s here, Emma,” Lydia says, drawing back from our embrace. “And you don’t have to see him if you’re not ready.”
“He needs to see this,” Henry reasons, shaking his head of dark hair. “Jeez.”
“Just let him in then,” I say, my eyes drifting back to the body.
“Good,” a voice booms behind me. “I was coming in anyway.”
I cringe at the sharpness in Luca’s tone and shut my eyes. I don’t know if I have the guts to face him.
“This is a nasty mess you’ve made.” His voice grills me.
“Give her a fucking break,” Lydia snaps. “She’s been through a lot.”
“Haven’t we all.”
“I need to change,” I say, avoiding his gaze, though my eyes skim over his Vans, covered in blood. The sight surprises me, and I whip my head up, shocked at the shape he’s in. “What happened?” I gasp at the gashes across his face.
“I left you a note.”
I shake my head. “What note?”
“You two can talk later, we need to get out of here,” Henry cuts in. “Here.” He hands me a black hoodie. “Put it on. You’re going with Luca.”
“No, she’s not,” Lydia cuts in. “You heard him on the way here. He’s pissed at her. She needs support—”
“It’s fine,” I cut her off. “We have to settle the score at some point.”
Luca lights up in a jarring sardonic laugh. “So, it’s settled then. See you guys back in California. You can take Major with you. I’ll get him when I get back.”
“You don’t have to go,” Lydia grabs my arm. “If he’s dangerous, you don’t have to go.”
“Lydia,” I grab her hand and squeeze it. “I’ll be okay. Promise.”
She sighs, letting me go then. I follow Luca into the house and then through the garage door, Major leashed and left with Henry and Lydia. My heart thrums in my chest, as we step into the dark garage.
“I’m sorry,” I grab his arm, desperate to stop him. “I’m sorry, Luca. I just needed to do this. It had nothing to do with my feelings for him… I needed to make him pay.”
Luca stills. “I heard the phone call.”
“Oh.” My face flushes with embarrassment. “I thought you left me again, and I couldn’t wait. I needed to—”
He spins around and jerks me to him, our bodies colliding with a thud. “This is by far the fucking worst I’ve ever been done.” He pins me against the Tahoe, his fingers wrapped around my throat. “But I’m so fucking turned on right now.”
“So does that mean you forgive me?”
He squeezes, cutting off my air and running his lips across my jaw. “You’re my biggest fucking failure, Little Red.”
I begin to panic, my hands flying up to his fingers, desperate to pry them from around my neck as I struggle for air. “I’m sorry.”
“You owe me for this,” he murmurs into my ear. “You’ll spend the rest of your life paying me back.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, and suck in a sharp breath. “No.”
“What did you say?”
“I said no.” My eyes flutter open, meeting his. “I’ll spend the rest of my life loving you—and I think that’s better than pay back.”
His eyes soften, his forehead pressing to mine. “And I’ll listen better next time. Though, I think our biggest relationship issue has been taken care of.”
I can’t help it. I laugh.
He chuckles and then presses his lips to mine. “I love you, too, Emma. But next time let me know before you go on a murderous rampage across the country. Please.”
I lean forward, pecking his cheek. “Promise.”