“Cool,” he says, looking out the window. “She always has the cool toys at her house.”
“Actually,” I tell him. “You guys are going to go to a hotel.” His eyes open wide, and so does his mouth. He loves going to hotels and ordering room service while he watches all the movies his heart can handle. “Yeah, knowing her, she probably has a whole suite ready for you.”
“Yes,” he says. “Is Mom going to come?”
“No,” I say, looking out and checking my rear-view mirror to make sure I’m not being followed. “Actually, she went away on vacation.”
He doesn’t ask me anymore questions once we pull up to Becca’s house. Becca is outside waiting for us. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite eight-year-old,” she says, opening the door and grabbing him out of my SUV. “Go get into my car. I have a whole night planned for us.” She closes the door and then looks at me.
“Everything is set up,” she tells me. “I just need you to call me, and I’ll send it out. Candace is also ready for whatever is going to come. I haven’t spoken to Nico.” I rub my hands over my face. “If you ask me, you should be the one to tell him.”
“I’ll call him after I see Evelyn,” I tell her, and she looks at me. “Did you call my mother?”
She nods her head. “She was ready when I called. Good thing you gave her warning.”
“I have to go,” I tell her.
“Manning.” She calls my name before I get into the car. “It’s not too late to turn back.”
“She went after Evelyn,” I tell her. “She went after her, and the only thing Evelyn is guilty of is letting me into her life.” I shake my head. “This ends, and it ends now.” She nods her head at me. I get back into my SUV and make my way over to her house in record time. I see her car in the driveway, and I get out, running over and ringing the doorbell.
I wait a couple of seconds, but it feels like hours. I ring it again and nothing, then I start knocking on the door. I hear the door being unlocked, and the sight that greets me cuts me off at the knees. If I wasn’t holding on to the door frame, I would fall.
Her face is streaked with tears, her eyes red, and she sobs out my name. “Manning.”
Chapter 28
Evelyn
I thought it would be Tim at the door or my mother. I thought it would be anyone but him. But seeing him in front of me looking like he had run seven marathons was just what I needed. “Manning.” The sob rips through me, and I can’t stop it.
“Baby,” he says, rushing in and putting his arms around me. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” He closes the door with his foot as he carries me through the house, only holding on to my waist with one hand. He places me down and moves the hair away from my face to see me. “Do you want water?” he asks, and I just shake my head, not sure I can say anything without making a fucking fool of myself.
My hands are on his chest, and I feel his heart beating under my hand. “Your heart,” I tell him. “It mimics mine right now.”
I don’t know what I’m expecting, but he takes one of his hands and brings it up to my chest, laying it flat over my heart. “I’m so sorry,” he says, and I look up from his hand to his eyes and see tears in them. “I never wanted you to be . . .”
I step out of his touch, and I see his hand fall. “You will not fucking take the blame for this. You will fucking not,” I say, swearing twice and getting angry. “You don’t get to take her shit and make it your own. She is a grown-ass woman,” I tell him. “A mentally unstable woman, I might add.”
“I know that.” He runs his hands through his hair. “I know that, but . . .” He looks at me, and his hand cups my face just like he did at the arena. But this time, I turn my face in his hand and kiss his palm. “What happened?”
“I’m not going to lie to you,” I say, and he nods. “I will never lie to you.” I need him to know this. “Ever.” He nods again. “She came into the office and was pushy with the receptionist, pretending we were friends.” He scoffs and shakes his head. “Then she came down and saw me, and in the middle of my office, she let them know that I was a home-wrecker.” I try not to shed any tears, but they come anyway.
“Oh my god,” he whispers and brushes away my tears. “I know this is hard, but I need you to tell me everything.”
“There really isn’t much more to say. She said you told her about us,” I whisper, “but I didn’t believe her.”
“I would never.” He steps closer to me. “I would never tell her anything about us. That is ours and only ours. It’s yours, and it’s mine, and I will never ever tell anyone about it.”
“I know,” I say, looking at him and putting my hand on his hand. “I knew she was lying.” I swallow now. “I didn’t show her how much it hurt me, and I was really proud of that.” I smile with the tears coming again. “I walked back to my office with my head high.” I shrug now. “My knees were shaking so much I thought that I would fall and my hands . . .” I look down and then back up again. “I couldn’t get my hands to stop shaking.”
“I wish I could make it go away,” he says as he bends his head and puts his forehead on mine. “I wish I could make it all go away.”
“I know it’s not true,” I say. “Tim came to my office after, and I didn’t tell him anything. He asked if I was okay, and when I just shook my head, he didn’t say anything else. He went back to the office floor and clapped his hands, telling everyone to get back to work. Everyone has signed an NDA, so if anything gets leaked, he is going to sue. My father also made sure to remind everyone of that little fact. I’m not a home-wrecker.”
“You’re not,” he says to me.
“How did you know?” I ask, and he lets go of me now and walks to the couch to sit down.
“I got home, and she was cooking for me.” He tells me what happened. “She said she spoke to you, and you told her everything. I knew she was lying. I can’t get into details right now,” he says. “But there is shit happening. It’s going to hit the roof, and I don’t know how the outcome will be, to be honest, and I’m both petrified and anxious about it.”
He looks as if he’s going to war. His eyes are wide, and his leg is shaking. I walk over to him and sit next to him, taking his hand in mine. “Are you going to be okay?” I ask him, my stomach burning with the thought that he gets hurt in any of this. “Is Jaxon okay?”
“I’m going to be okay,” he says. “We are going to be okay. I have to believe that. I need you to know that I’m going to make this better.”
“You don’t have to worry about me,” I tell him. The last thing he needs is the added pressure of me on his plate. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m going to fix this for you,” he says softly and then looks down. When he looks up again, he has the biggest tears in his eyes, and one of them escapes before he can blink it away. “I know that I don’t have the right to ask this.”
“Manning.” My heart beats for him at the same time as it breaks for him.
“I have no right to even think of asking you this, but I’m not as noble as I thought I would be.” His voice goes down so low for the next part. “Will you wait for me?” He doesn’t stop. “I want to be the man who deserves you. I want you to be the one holding my hand at the end of this.” He puts his head back. “I’m such a selfish bastard, and I know that, but when it comes to you . . .”
“Yes,” I say softly, making him finally stop talking. Shrugging, I smile. “Besides, who is going to want to be with a home-wrecker anyway?” I try to joke with him.
His phone rings, and he looks at it. “I wish I could stay,” he says. “There is just so much happening right now.” I want him to tell me everything, but something inside me knows I’m not ready for it.
“Will you tell me?” I ask. “Not now,” I tell him as his phone goes off again, and this time he gets up to answer it.
“Hello?” I hear him say, and he looks at me. “I’ll be there in twenty.” He hangs up, and I get up to walk him to the door.
�
��I want you to know something.” He starts to say, and I look at him. This man who I met walking into a restaurant. The man who I spent the night flirting with, the man who I left the next morning thinking I would never see him again. The man who has snuck into my heart without even me knowing.
“I didn’t just start this.” He swallows now, and I see his finger tapping the back of his phone. “When you told me that you couldn’t be with me, I walked out of here, and I’ve never felt hurt like that before. My chest felt like an elephant was stepping on it.” I listen to him, shocked that he went through the same pain as me. “I left here and put my plan in motion. Then when I saw you again, I pushed for it to go faster.” His phone rings again.
“Go.” He looks down at his phone and then looks up again at me. “You need to go, and it’s okay. I’ll be here.”
“I don’t know if I’m okay with you being by yourself,” he says, and I look at him.
“I dare her to come here,” I tell him. “She blindsided me at work, but she isn’t going to come into here and taint this house.”
“I want to kiss you,” he says to me, unsure if he can or should.
“Well, then, get your ass over here and kiss me,” I say, and he smiles as he charges to me. One of his hands wraps around my waist, lifting me off my feet while his other hand cups one of my cheeks, and his lips crash down on mine. I wrap my legs around his waist, and I kiss him like it’s the first time. His tongue comes out and twirls with mine.
His phone rings again, and I let go of his lips. “You have to go.”
“I do,” he says. “I don’t want to.”
“I don’t want you to leave either,” I say, slipping my feet off his hips as he holds my waist until my feet are on the floor. “Can you just send me a text later to tell me you’re okay?”
“I will,” he says. “As soon as I can, I’ll call you.” I nod at him, and I hold his hand in mine as I walk him to the door.
He kisses me one more time, and I watch him jog to his car. He stops and looks over at me. “Don’t open your door!” he shouts. “If she shows up here, you call the cops, and then you call me.”
“I’ll be fine,” I say, and he puts his hands on his hips. “Don’t you think me calling you and you showing up is going to add fuel to the fire?”
“Evelyn,” he says my name, and I roll my eyes.
“Fine,” I tell him. “Now go,” I say when his phone rings again. He gets into the SUV, and I watch him drive away. I close the door and lock it and then walk back into the house. I turn the lights off, then grab the throw blanket and snuggle up on the couch.
I’m watching television, but my head is just thinking about Manning, wondering if he’s okay. I want to text him to ask if he is okay. No, actually, I want to be with him and support him. Hold his hand or even stand back in a corner as long as he knows I’m there for him.
My phone rings, and I jump up, seeing it’s Veronica. “Hello.” I answer her right away.
“Oh my god,” she says, her voice coming out in a rush. “Where are you?” I turn off the television and sit up, my heart sinking. “I just sent you a link. Jesus, Evelyn.”
My hands shake; they shake so fucking much it takes me three tries to click on the link.
Pictures start to load, and I gasp out in shock. There is a picture of Murielle in a back seat of a truck, and she is sitting on a man, her head thrown back in the middle of what looks to be an orgasm. The next shot is of the man kissing her and then one of him with his face buried in her tits.
But the one that kills me is the one of her getting out of the car, trying to make sure she is covered. She buttons up her top, and the guy comes out of the back seat. His hand is on her hip, and her head is turned to him as he devours her lips. Then she walks away from him and smiles and then turns back to blow him a kiss.
I scroll back up and see the headlines:
Dallas Captain is hot on the ice, but apparently not hot enough to keep his wife satisfied. The captain’s wife is seen here getting hot and heavy with an unnamed man in what looks to be someone’s car. From the looks of it, she left him looking mighty happy.
Chapter 29
Manning
Getting in the car, I watch her as I drive away from her, and then I call Becca. She answers right away. “Hey.”
“Hi, it’s me. Everything okay?” I ask, and I hear Jaxon laughing in the background.
“Seems your mother was already in town,” she says, and I know that she did this. She knew it was coming and made sure that I had backup.
“Where are you?” I ask. I hear her walking now.
“Don’t freak out,” she says, and she knows I’m about to freak out. “I got you a house.”
“What?” I ask her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I knew this would be coming down, so I rented you a house.”
I close my eyes. “Thank you,” I tell her. “Okay, I’m on my way over to Nico’s.” I look at the clock. “I have an hour and a half.”
“Yeah, you do,” she says. “Let me know if he’s playing hardball, and I’ll call him.”
I hang up the phone and then dial Nico. My heart speeds up just a touch. “Manning,” he says, answering after two rings, and I can hear that he’s out of breath. “What can I do for you?”
“Are you home?” I ask as I make my way over to his house. “Can I drop by?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I’m here.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” I hang up the phone with him and make my way over to his house. The rain finally stopped, almost as if the sun is shining for me today. I park my car in his driveway, and he’s waiting at the door for me. He’s wearing his basketball shorts with running shoes and a towel slung over his shoulders.
“Hey,” he says, taking a look at me. “Is everything okay?”
I put my hands on my hips. “No,” I say.
“Are you in trouble?” he asks. “Did you get arrested? Do you need a lawyer?” He looks at me.
“I’m good,” I say, knowing he is probably thinking the worst. “I’m leaving Murielle.”
“Okay,” he says, not sure what to say.
“I tried to leave her four years ago,” I tell him, and he stands there listening. “She took Jaxon and ran away with him. Refused to come back until I told her I would not bring it up again.”
“I had no idea,” he says, and I can see in his eyes he’s shocked. “We would have done whatever was necessary to make sure you got your son back.”
“I know,” I tell him. “But it’s changed. I’m done. I can’t live like that anymore.”
“I have the best attorney you can find,” he offers.
“I have it all taken care of. Well, Becca took care of it.”
“That woman has a brass set of balls,” he says, smirking.
“I went to her three weeks ago. We hired a private investigator to follow Murielle and catch her cheating on me.”
“No way,” he says, shocked now.
“I knew she was cheating, caught her spread eagle on my weight bench being plowed by her trainer.” I look down, embarrassed, but it only lasts a minute. “I didn’t care. I don’t care. But now I just want out.”
“Is she worth it?” he asks, and I look at him. “The girl who put the spark back in your eyes.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say.
“I didn’t know you were having problems with Murielle, but I did notice your eyes lighter and brighter the past couple of weeks. I didn’t know what it was, but now . . .” I smile and look down, thinking of Evelyn. “I won’t ask you about it, that is for another time, but I hope you know that if she finds out . . .”
“I’m leaking a story at three thirty,” I say. He looks at me, and I hand him my phone, bringing up the pictures. “I just wanted you to know that I’m going to be putting my life out there for the first time, and it’s not going to be pretty.” He shakes his head as he looks at the pictures.
“Whatever you need. T
he organization and I stand behind you,” he says. “Now, I have to call Becca so we can go over a statement.”
I nod at him. Another thing I can scratch off the list that came together so fast I didn’t think I would be able to work it out.
“I have to go,” I say, “but I wanted you to hear it from me.”
He slaps me on the shoulder and squeezes. “Whatever you need, brother, I’m there for you.”
“Thank you,” I say, a weight lifted off my shoulders.
I make my way to the house, knowing she must have left to get Jaxon at school. I also know that I only have a few more minutes before it’s showtime.
I’m sitting in the formal living room, the room with just the light coming in from outside. I look at my clock and see it’s three thirty. The last three hours have been a fucking blur.
My phone lights up, showing me that it’s Murielle. “Hello,” I answer, my voice as calm as a cucumber. Meanwhile, I’m burning inside.
“Where the fuck is Jaxon?” she hisses. “I came to get him at school, and they said you picked him up.”
“I did,” I say, picking up the glass of scotch that I had poured myself. “I am allowed. I’m his father.”
“Don’t fucking play games with me, Manning,” she hisses, and I laugh. This time, I’m in charge, and I’m the one calling the shots.
“I’m home right now. I don’t know what games you think I’m playing,” I say, setting the scotch down. I’m not lying. I am home.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” she says and hangs up the phone.
I pick up my phone and call Candace, who answers after one ring. “Do it,” I say. When her voice goes low, my head starts to spin, and I know I don’t have time for this. Not now.
“Are you sure?” she asks again. She’s been asking me this every five minutes since I called her this afternoon.
“Candace,” I say, and she groans.
Only One Night (Only One Series 3) Page 16