One Click Love

by T Gephart

  I could feel my blood pressure rising, my muscles twitching with the need to do something as I couldn’t stand still. I paced, reading the message over and over, like giving it another look would change the words.

  Nope.

  No such luck.

  “What’s going on?” Tibbs looked confused, his phone still in his hand instead of up against his ear like I fucking asked. I swear, if it was someone’s idea of a sick joke, heads were going to roll.

  “Hayden sent me a message.” I looked down at my phone again, rereading it for what felt like the hundredth time. “It’s just. . . . she’s. . . .” The words not making sense even as I said them. “Said she was done.”

  I couldn’t even continue, too many emotions going through my body to trust myself to make a coherent sentence. What the fuck had happened in a few hours? We’d been happy, telling each other that we loved each other, and then she what? Decided she changed her mind? Nope, she wouldn’t have come to that conclusion on her own. So whatever was responsible was more than just a change in fucking heart.

  “What?” Leighton looked surprised so at least I knew he wasn’t in on it. “You sure you didn’t read it wrong?”

  “Did I read it wrong?” I laughed, the fucking joke on me because there was no other interpretation. “You tell me.” I tossed my phone to Leighton, the message on the screen still burned into my mind even though I was no longer looking at it.

  Mack,

  It’s over between us. We clearly want different things and if we continue, someone is bound to get hurt. Please, don’t try and call me, I won’t answer. Trust me, this is for the best. Goodbye.

  Hayden

  Tibbs read over his shoulder, shaking his head. “Chief, this has to be a mistake. She doesn’t seem like—”

  “Get your sister on the phone now.” The words barely audible through my clenched jaw. “She was probably the last person who spoke to her, and I want to fucking know what the hell was said.”

  Wising up and not wasting time with stupid questions, Tibbs got busy on his phone and dialed. Not that I even knew what I was going to do with the information, or how I was gonna fix it, but accepting shit was over between me and Hayden wasn’t happening. If she wanted it over, she was going to have to tell me to my face. No way in hell I was giving her the easy way out.

  What was probably seconds felt like hours as we waited for Presley to answer, Tibbs giving his sister the rundown of the situation. I didn’t even give a fuck that my business was out there when previously I didn’t share shit. The need for me to find out what happened, superseding my desire to maintain my privacy. Fuck, if it got me a resolution and I was able to work things out with Hayden, I’d take out an ad in The New York Times.

  “Presley said she left the club a little bit ago, so she assumed she was with you. Bartender saw her go outside to check her phone and didn’t come back.” Tibbs held his phone from his ear, relaying what his sister had told him. “Chief, apparently she’d asked about Melinda.”

  “Fuck!”

  Like a bad dream, every worst-case scenario raced through my mind. The mystery of someone bound to get hurt probably connected to the worst mistake of my life. No, not the time I stood in a church and married a woman who clearly didn’t have a heart or a fucking soul. But not telling Hayden about Melinda’s stupid plan about me fathering her child.

  What had been intended as protecting her, had probably blown up in my face, Melinda’s habit of hanging around Diablo and Hayden’s sudden goodbye, more than just a coincidence.

  I shook my head, unable to think straight. “Ask Presley if Melinda is there, I have a hunch I already know the answer.”

  Tibbs brought the phone back to his mouth, the question asked and answered as he nodded his head. “She’s sitting at the bar.”

  And there was my complete lack of surprise.

  It wasn’t a secret I’d started dating, my new relationship probably reaching Melinda’s ears. And it didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that in an effort to piss me off and get my attention, she’d probably confronted Hayden. Because that’s what Hayden needed to hear, that I—even though there wasn’t a chance—was considering fathering someone else’s baby when I hadn’t agreed to hers. And if ever there was a point I could go back in time, it would have been at that moment.

  “Good, tell Presley to keep her there if she tries to leave. I’m on my way.” I grabbed the phone and started to dial. Hayden’s request for me not to contact her was only going to last until I’d spoken to my ex-wife, and after that, she was going to be shit out of luck on me staying silent. “Hey, Keys, it’s Mack. I know it’s short notice, but I’ve got a personal situation I need to take care of. Any chance you could cover me for a few hours?”

  Tibbs and Leighton looked on, no doubt wondering if they should leave or hang around. Honestly, I didn’t give much of a fuck what they did, my focus making sure I didn’t screw over my crew when I walked out the door. And make no mistake, I wasn’t waiting until tomorrow to work it out, the need for me to set shit straight so high I wouldn’t be any good anyway.

  Keys knew that me asking was enough for it to be an emergency, not bothering to question my motives. He probably assumed it had something to do with North and the baby, and I didn’t have time or the inclination to set him straight. Instead, he was already in the car on his way over, me ending the call and letting Cap know the situation before I left.

  “You need anything?” Cap asked, the serious look in his eyes reflecting the one I was wearing. “I can call Marques down in the precinct, get him to do a wellness check at her address.”

  Yeah, that would go down well. One, for using public resources for sorting out my love life, and two, having Hayden even more pissed off at the invasion of her privacy. Nope, this shit needed to be handled personally. By me.

  “Nope, I’ve got it. But I’ll call you if anything changes. Keys is on his way. I’d wait for him to get here but—”

  “Go,” Cap nodded, knowing the clock was ticking and I had no plans to wait. “We’re good here.”

  Just as well.

  Without a final goodbye, I grabbed my keys and drove to Diablo. It would have been quicker to walk—the traffic on the streets making the journey take longer than it should—but I was going to need my wheels when I went after Hayden, and didn’t want to double back.

  I parked behind the club with no shits given the area was reserved for staff. Getting out of my truck and heading to the side door, going into Diablo through the staff entrance rather than circling round to the front.

  “Mack.” Presley saw me the minute I had made it into the main part of the club. “Just calm down. I know she’s a bitch, but you can’t lose your cool in here or I’ll have to kick you out.”

  It was bewildering to me she even needed to issue the warning, the idea I’d ever hurt a woman so fucking foreign it wouldn’t even be a possibility. But I guess the look in my eyes was new too, so there wasn’t a lot of precedent on what I was going to do.

  “I’ve never so much as raised my voice to that woman, let alone a hand. But I swear to God, Presley, if she has fucked this up for me, you’re going to need a lot more than your beefed-up security to toss me out.”

  Ignoring the warning both from Presley and the one in my head, I stalked over to the woman who once shared my last name. Predictably she was busy flirting with some douchebag at the bar. “Melinda.”

  The sound of her name made her turn, her eyes opening so wide they almost dropped out of her head as she took me in. And I wasn’t sure if it was because I was standing there, or because I was ready to start World War III.

  “Mack, oh my God. I can’t believe you’re here. I just knew you’d turn up eventually.” She ignored the douchebag, jumping off of her stool and launching herself at me. Her hands around my neck felt like acid, her touch so repulsive I had to fight the urge to throw up.

  Ripping her arms from my body, I took a step back. I didn’t know how or what her inv
olvement was, but I was determined to find out. “What the fuck did you do?”

  She had the nerve to look surprised, her brows scrunching in confusion like she wasn’t the devil incarnate.

  “What do you mean? Is this about me offering one of your guys a blowjob? I mean, they’re cute and all, Mack, but I only offered because I knew they’d turn me down and then go running to you.” She laughed, finding the whole thing amusing, as I moved her to the side, my hands around her arm gripping tighter than I probably should.

  “I don’t give a fuck who you blow. This is about Hayden.”

  She pulled her arm from my grasp, narrowing her eyes as the smile slipped from her mouth. “Who the hell is Hayden? Is that why you won’t give me a baby? I swear, you’re such a pussy, Mack. If you don’t want to fuck me, just jack off into a jar and I’ll take care of it.”

  There was a time when I thought I loved her.

  I must have had a brain injury or psychosis, but there definitely was a time when I looked at her and thought she was it for me. What I didn’t know was it had never been love, me mistaking her need for me, the hunger for my attention as anything other than the narcissism it was. And since meeting Hayden, and falling in love with her, there was no denying I’d had no clue before.

  “Melinda, I’m going to ask you one last time.” I leveled her with a stare. “Do you have anything to do with Hayden leaving?”

  She didn’t get to answer, Presley yanking on my arm so hard I was positive it was one of her goons. “Mack, it wasn’t her. I went and checked the surveillance footage. You need to come with me.”

  Hayden

  LEWIS WRIGHT WAS the younger brother of my ex-husband. They didn’t get along, Cooper not having spoken to Lewis for at least two years before our divorce. I knew money had been involved, a cash transfer for five grand from our joint account to Lewis had never been paid back. But like the dutiful wife I’d become, I didn’t ask questions, assuming if Lewis was asking for the cash, there must have been a good reason. And while we’d never been super close, I sympathized with him and his plight of being misunderstood.

  “What the hell, Hayden? I can’t believe you got yourself messed up with these people. They aren’t like you or me.” His eyes looking left and right as he tossed me into a waiting car before getting into the driver’s seat. “That was the staff entrance, so don’t even try and tell me you aren’t involved.”

  When he’d grabbed my arm outside the club, I’d assumed he was some lowlife looking to rob or attack me. I never expected to know the lowlife. But hadn’t it been a not-so-lovely surprise when it was discovered that not only was he my ex-brother-in-law, but Presley’s ex-boyfriend—the same guy Mack and the others had been looking for. I’d thought about struggling, making enough noise to attract attention but something inside stopped me. Knowing he would do something worse.

  “I’m dating Mack,” I answered, wondering if he was going to kill me or had other plans. “It’s new.”

  His head whipped around, eyes widening as he started the car. “You’re dating Mack? Did you lose your fucking mind? What the hell is wrong with you? He’s an even bigger asshole than Cooper. And have you seen his ex-wife? No offense, but she’s sexy as hell. He’s probably just using you to make her jealous, assholes like him do it all the time. Trust me, he is playing with you for sure. And if for some reason he doesn’t end up back with his hot piece of ass ex, he’ll find a new toy. They’re all the same, Hayden. And they don’t give a fuck. You should be thanking me for setting you straight; I’m doing you a favor.”

  Hearing Mack’s ex-wife was beautiful felt like a slap in the face. I’d always suspected, but could’ve lived without the confirmation, ignoring his past and everything that came with it. And I hated that Lewis knew him—knew them both—trying to taint what I knew wasn’t true. Mack didn’t want Melinda, and beautiful or not, he wasn’t trying to win her back. But there was no hiding the hostility, the mention of Mack’s name making the anger rise in Lewis.

  “What are you going to do with me?” I asked, watching as he entered traffic, his Audi easing in behind a huge SUV. “What is it that you want?”

  He sneered, rubbing his face erratically like he was on something. “Well, considering you totally fucked up my plans of getting into the storeroom and robbing the place, I figure you owe me. We’re going to go to your place. I need time to think.”

  “You were going to rob Diablo?” I asked, not understanding how he’d planned to do that. There was security, cameras, not to mention he’d already been flagged for breaking into her apartment. What was he going to do? Pull a pair of pantyhose over his head and try and take it with a single 9mm?

  His jaw clenched, swearing under his breath in annoyance. “Well I definitely can’t let you go now, can I? And yes, I might not have gotten a run at the safe but her storeroom is a fucking sitting duck. You know how much money is just sitting in her inventory? All those fancy bottles of liquor, waiting for cocksuckers to just drop their black AmExes? Please. I know a guy who can move that shit in a night and have ten Gs sitting in my hand by morning. Now, where the fuck do you live? Don’t make me ask again.”

  “Go to 40 West 225th Street in the Bronx.” I shook my head, my grip tightening on the door handle.

  He grabbed my arm, while keeping his other hand on the wheel. “That better be where you live and not some game, Hayden.” He hissed low, his warning unnecessary. “Fucking Mack is stupid, but screwing me over will be terminal.”

  It was dumb luck he’d seen me, questioning my motives for loitering around the staff exit. Assuming it was some freaky coincidence that we were at the same place at the same time. It wasn’t until I saw the gun in his waistband that I started to panic, knowing our meeting—both of us being there—wasn’t so much of a chance.

  “I’m not,” I whispered back, not wanting to agitate him further. The distance between us wasn’t enough. If Lewis fired, there was a very good chance that shot would be fatal, so I needed to play it smart. “I can see the gun, Lewis and I’m not stupid. As for dating Mack, he was a nobody. Someone to distract me because I was lonely after the divorce.”

  He didn’t trust me, keeping the tight grip around my arm as he looked ahead out the windshield. “So where the fuck are we going?”

  “We’re going to where I work, okay. I’m not taking you to my house.”

  Not sure if his plan to rob Presley’s inventory would have worked, but that had changed when he saw me. I had no doubt he probably would have tried to hurt Presley, or someone else, so that I’d managed to get him away from there—and from her—made me feel good even though I was scared. I tried not to shake, refusing to let him see how rattled I was, focusing on the man I used to know when he hadn’t threatened my life.

  “What the fuck? I said I wasn’t playing games, Hayden. You think taking me to a Taco Bell is going to save you? I said I need time to think.”

  Fear bubbled at my throat, wondering if I should’ve put up a fight and risked it at the club. I had no idea what I was doing, literally making it up as I went along. “I don’t work at Taco Bell, and haven’t for a very long time. Target has a big parking lot, no one will even notice this orange car. It’s less obvious than going to my place.”

  “Fine,” he released my arm, returning both hands to the steering wheel. “But I’m only giving you one warning.”

  There was no way I’d bring him to my condo. Not only did I not want to be alone with him, but having him know where I lived was something to be avoided at all costs. My senses screamed with the need to get away, but I forced myself to be brave. I had a chance to change the narrative, and I was going to take it no matter how slim it was.

  Trust.

  I needed to earn his trust.

  “I need to text Mack, he was expecting me.” I fumbled in my purse for my phone, his body immediately tensing. “You can read what I write, Lewis. No funny business, I swear. But if I don’t say anything, he’s going to come try and find me.” Or wors
e—I finished in my head—track my phone and put himself in danger.

  He nodded, his eyes dropping to my screen as I typed out a message I knew would hurt Mack as much as it would hurt me. It was the only thing I could think of that would stop him from coming after us. He’d hate me, no doubt be confused, and think I’d played the game that I promised I wouldn’t. But he’d never pushed, giving me space whenever I needed it, and I was relying on that.

  My body didn’t relax until after I’d hit send, Lewis raising a brow over my breakup via text. He seemed pleased, a smile crossing his lips as he relaxed. “You should have told him you were fucking someone else,” he laughed. “Not like he isn’t used to it, his wife sure was. I wish I could see his face when he reads it. Fuck him. Fuck all of them.”

  I knew what I was doing was stupid. That I needed to call the police somehow and let them deal with it. You know, the people actually trained for these kinds of situations. And if anyone else were doing what I was, I’d have told them they needed to be committed.

  Barely knowing Presley, I wasn’t bound to action like if it had been Gayle or even Penny. But if Mack were in my place, he absolutely would have done something. Without even thinking about it, he’d have put his own safety on the line. If it meant possibly saving someone else, he’d have done it without a second of hesitation. And I had the chance to do that, for once in my life do something that was bigger than myself. Not just for Mack, or Presley, and not to prove the point. But because it was the right thing to do, and I was done being scared.

  “What did she do?” I asked, hoping to gain more information. “It’s unlike you to be angry for no reason. She must have done something to provoke you.” The words felt thick in my throat, my faux compassion making me want to vomit.

  He nodded, believing the lie at least in part as he kept his voice low. “That fucking spoiled bitch used me just like that piece-of-shit fireman was using you. That’s what they do. Treat us—the people beneath them—like garbage.”