Never Say Never, Part Two (Second Chance Romance, Book 2)

by Shaw, Melissa

  “Right.” He drew it out into a prolonged sarcastic exclamation.

  “Seriously. I think the only way you’re going to get over Emily is to have a chat with Janet. You need to deal with the residual feelings of anger and disdain to move towards a brighter future.”

  That made sense at least. He needed to talk to his ex about what had happened, and tell her to butt out of his life.

  “Okay, maybe I should meet up with her. We’ll see. I dunno.” He shrugged his jacket on and unlocked the front door. The cream walls of the hallway sprang into view and the mahogany doors of the elevator at the end of the hall beckoned.

  Chastity left the untouched coffee on the counter and collected her sparkly black clutch from the entrance hall table. She poked her brother on the nose in a signature act of fondness – well, signature for someone who’d recently reappeared in his life.

  “Ponder it.” She swept out ahead of him and he followed.

  They reached the elevator and a man in a smart red suit pressed the button for them.

  “Morning Mr. Newman.” He gave a small tip of his equally red cap.

  “Morning Simon.”

  Chastity wrinkled her nose at the helper. In the years he’d known her, she’d never once spoke to ‘the help’. She considered it beneath her. One of his long-lost sister’s many quirks.

  Some would call them flaws, but he was happy he had any family left after the death of his parents.

  They entered the elevator and the doors slid shut. Simon pressed the button for the ground floor.

  “Everyone deserves a second chance.” She spoke up and Simon’s eyebrows shot up.

  Chastity had pushed hard for this. But she was right. Everyone did deserve a second chance. That meant Emily did too.

  “I know.” That was his answer and his sister examined him with care.

  The doors slid open and he walked out with purpose, stress driving his steps. His meeting would go off without a hitch, no doubt, but that wasn’t why he was nervous.

  He had to talk to Emily again. They had to sort this out and the sooner, the better.

  Everyone deserved a second chance.

  CHAPTER SIX

  What a day.

  He was in the lift again and Simon looked as tired as he felt. Hours at the meeting, and then another after that. Fires to put out left, right and center. He’d picked up the phone on his desk to phone Emily half a dozen times, but had been cut off by business without fail.

  “Hard day?” Chase asked, loosening his tie.

  “I don’t mean to complain, sir, but yes.”

  “Me too. Don’t worry. The only way to go is up.” He patted the man on the shoulder and he stood up a little straighter.

  “Right you are, sir, right you are.” Simon smiled through his exhaustion. “See you in the morning.”

  “Have a good night, Simon.” Chase gave a wave and strolled to his apartment. He needed a stiff whiskey and a night on the couch, relaxing. A couple episodes of Breaking Bad wouldn’t be out of the question.

  He unlocked his front door, walked in and closed it behind himself. He didn’t bother flipping the light switch – the moonlight and city glow shone through his window – and hurried to the cupboard where he kept his booze.

  He’d been meaning to build a bar, but he never got the chance. What with work and women muddying the waters and taking up his time.

  Chase whipped the bottle out and left it on the counter, then clinked a couple ice blocks into a tumbler. The cool rattle set his mind at rest before he’d even had a sip. He sloshed the fluid over the rocks, then lifted the glass to his lips.

  “You’re home late.”

  Chase choked and spluttered, wasting good whisky in a fountain of consternation.

  A figure moved in the living room, in the dark.

  “Emily?”

  No, it couldn’t be her. She’d never intrude on his personal space like this.

  “Seriously?” The figure, obviously a woman, stood and ambled towards him.

  “Janet.” He stated, disappointment settling in his stomach.

  “Second time’s a charm.”

  Chase switched the lights on before she could get any closer. Being in the dark with her wasn’t his idea of fun anymore.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk to you. I’ve missed you, Chasey.” She walked up, picked up his special order bottle of 1955 Glenfarcas and got a glass out. She poured herself a shot and knocked it back.

  “That’s a ten thousand dollar bottle of whiskey,” he observed.

  She was unapologetic. “We need to talk.”

  “How did you get in here?” The last time it’d been Chastity’s key, but this? His sister had been out schmoozing the entire day, surely she hadn’t left her key with his ex.

  Though this morning she’d been set on talking Janet up.

  “I,” Janet started, then poured another glass of whisky and blushed, “I made a copy of Chastity’s key the last time.”

  “Janet, that’s not okay. If I wanted you in my apartment, I’d ask you.”

  “Don’t you?”

  “Don’t I what?”

  “Want me in your apartment.” She slid her glass around on the counter and drew closer to him, inching her body into his. It had the opposite effect than she desired.

  Had it been Emily, he would’ve been on fire, but with her it was pointless.

  No heat, no sparks, no real connection.

  He could picture her naked and it still didn’t get him going.

  “Chase?” She pressed closer and he extricated himself and went to sit on the couch. It was tough kicking a woman out of his apartment, but it wasn’t the first time he’d had to do it.

  “No, I don’t want you in my apartment. Janet, I’m not sure I even want you in my life.”

  She came to sit beside him and he scooched over to accommodate her.

  “Come on, Chasey, you owe me one.”

  “What the hell for?”

  “For ridding you of that treacherous slut.”

  He chewed on a block of ice and glared at her. “Watch it.”

  “Oh get real, baby, she was a gold digger and you know it. She wasn’t someone you could trust, you could talk to.”

  “What do you know about it, Janet?”

  “More than you think,” she muttered, and he shot her a quizzical look.

  She didn’t answer it, but crept closer on the couch, snuggling in and placing her head on his shoulder.

  That touch was familiar and so was the scent of her shampoo. It brought back memories of love and happiness, mixed with the acerbic tang of betrayal.

  “What do you want? Why are you here?” An iota of the pain leaked out into his tone. He still felt for her even though he didn’t want to.

  “We need to talk about what’s happened. I didn’t think this break up was serious until I saw you with her.”

  Chase froze and she lifted her head to gaze up at him. The overheads set off the red of her hair and the freckles across her slightly curved nose. She wasn’t nearly as beautiful as Emily. Not even close. Her insides matched her appearance.

  “You didn’t take the break up seriously?” He asked, incredulous at that particular admission. “You slept with another man!”

  He leapt to his feet and she shrank back on the couch. Another thing Emily would never do. She’d be up and fighting right back, with that fire in her eyes and the sway in her step. God he missed that.

  “I’m sorry, baby, I’m sorry. Okay? Do you get that?” Janet’s blue eyes went teary.

  “Why did you do it?”

  She spluttered for a few seconds, shocked that he’d asked the question apparently, but she owed him answers. Three years, damn straight she owed him some answers.

  “I was lost without you.”

  “What are you saying, Janet? I never left you.”

  “You were married to the job, busy with work, getting home at this time every night.” She point
ed at the clock ticking on the wall, a silver construction, its black hands pointed to the time: 8:00 pm.

  “And that means you can sleep with someone else?” He wanted to refute her claims but the guilt had already gathered. Chase had ignored her when they were together. He’d had the ring because he’d thought it was the right thing to do, but the love he’d felt for her wasn’t as strong as what he’d experience with Emily.

  He saw the flaws now.

  In himself and in her.

  Chase stood and walked away. Janet followed and grabbed him by the arm.

  “You can’t tell me you’ve given up on this.” She leveraged him and tried to swing him around, but he was a rock and she swung instead.

  “I can’t sink with you, Janet.” It was an echo.

  “Give me another chance to prove myself, Chasey. I’ll never let you down again. I’ll treat you like gold and show you what it feels like to be a man.”

  “Why should I?”

  Janet searched for an answer, gaze flicking from side-to-side, desperate to prove herself in some way. Then he saw it. This woman wanted him. She wanted to be with him when Emily had never show that need, that real desire to be a part of his life.

  She’d pushed him aside constantly, made him believe that he wasn’t worth her time or the trouble. Who was he kidding, here? Emily didn’t want him to be a part of her little adventure. That was the real reason she hadn’t let him in on her real past.

  She wasn’t afraid. She was frigid.

  But Janet, she wanted his attention, craved it actually.

  “All right.”

  “You’ll go out with me?”

  Chase took a deep breath. “Dinner, tomorrow night. Pick you up at eight.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The front door was the same as she remembered it. Brian hadn’t bothered to polish the knocker, as usual, but the small carving in the doorjamb was still there. She’d done it with the kids on a hot summer’s day while they were out in the front yard, scoffing down watermelon and giggling.

  Emily shifted her feet in their pumps and stretched her neck. This was it.

  Years of waiting and fearing, but she was finally here. The fear was gone, replaced by that anger and need to see her little ones. To get the life she deserved.

  Brian would open up and tell her to leave and she’d say no. She had every right to see her kids, after all. She wasn’t prohibited from it.

  Emily rapped her knuckles on the wood instead of using the knocker. It was an ostentatious thing anyway.

  There were footsteps on the other side, a scrabbling of the lock, and the door swung open.

  “Jesus H, is that you, Emily?”

  It was Amanda.

  Amanda, her ex-best friend from High School and College, with her bleach blonde hair in an up style and bright pink Barbie lipstick on her overly full mouth. She primped and preened, pasting a white-toothed smile on bronze skin – hours spent in the tanning salon, no doubt. Classy.

  “What are you doing here?” Emily didn’t want to believe this.

  “I live here.” Amanda smacked her lips and checked her cougar-length pink nails.

  Emily let the information sink in.

  They’d had a long standing competition since they were kids, but she’d crossed the line with this.

  “Are you insane?”

  “No, I’m Mrs. Ross.” Amanda twiddled the fingers of her left hand, displaying a fat diamond on an engagement ring and a white gold wedding band. “For what is it, five years now?”

  Five years. That meant they’d married six months after she’d gone to prison.

  “How?”

  “We’d been seeing each other on and off for years before you had your little mishap and went away. Brian was about to ask you for a divorce when it happened and then he did anyway.”

  Emily nodded slowly. It made sense and it enraged her.

  How could she forget? Brian’s long absences during the week, the ‘event’, the trial, and receiving the divorce papers on the morning she was sentenced. He’d never been one for tact, rather one for cruelty.

  “Well,” Emily remarked and Amanda’s eyes lit up, this was still some kind of sick game to her, “I wish you two the best of luck. I’m positive you deserve each other.”

  “Amanda?” A young boy appeared behind her nemesis.

  Emily’s heart froze and her mind went numb.

  It was Jared. He was ten whole years old, five years older than when she’d last seen him, and he was gorgeous.

  Her son. His blonde hair was curly just as she remembered it, but those green eyes had seen more. They were defensive.

  “Jared,” Emily breathed and he peered around Amanda at her. “Jared, it’s me.”

  His mouth dropped open and he backed off until he hit the marble banister behind him.

  Maybe he didn’t recognize her.

  “Jared, where’s Becci? It’s mommy, please will you go fetch her?”

  “Don’t you talk to him,” Amanda threatened, extending a pink fingernail in warning.

  “Jared?”

  “What do you want?” His demeanor hardened and he folded his arms. “Here to say hello and leave us again? Well, you can leave right now. I’m not going to let you put my sister through that again.”

  Emily gripped at the cotton shirt she wore, twisting the bit over her heart.

  “It wasn’t a choice, Jared. You have to understand that.”

  He was so big and already cynical. It made her insides ache to hold him close and wipe away whatever influence Brian and his poisonous new wife had over him. She couldn’t bear this. She had to get them away before they became images of their ‘mentors’.

  “Jared, go to your room.” Amanda turned and dismissed him with a flutter of those venomous-looking talons.

  “I don’t have to listen to you,” he answered, then meandered off with a glance back at his mother.

  “We’re done here.” Amanda gripped the edge of the door and made to close it, but Emily stuck her foot in and blocked it.

  “I don’t think so.” Emily’s snarl whipped through the air and her ex-best friend drew in a sharp breath.

  “Brian won’t like you being here. Get lost.”

  Emily moved in quick and close. “Let me make something very clear, bestie, you might be bedding my ex-husband, but you are not the mother of my children.”

  “Fuck off, you loser.” Amanda banged the bottom of the door into her foot repeatedly, but she didn’t retract it.

  This anger tack wouldn’t work with this woman. She was too stubborn.

  This was her fault anyway. If she’d never left, if she’d stayed sober that night after discovering Brian’s betrayal – she hadn’t realized the other woman was actually her best friend – she’d never have ended up in this situation.

  She studied the woman’s expression and chewed her lip.

  “All right,” she said, relenting. “I’m sorry for interfering, but you’ve got to understand what it’s like, Amanda. You were with me for it all. You were the only friend I had.”

  The door creaked open a sliver.

  “I just –” Emily bowed under the pressure of her rage and guilt and let tears spill forth, using them to manipulate Amanda. If she could get her out of the house and away from Brian, she might be able to get information on the kid’s movements. Then she could meet up with them unfettered.

  “What?” Amanda slipped out onto the porch and shut the door behind her, glancing in either direction, the concern seemed genuine. But so had their friendship during years of marriage when she’d slept with Brian behind Emily’s back.

  “I’ve lost everything and the kids are the only thing I have left. And hopefully our friendship will be too.”

  “I can’t be friends with you.”

  It was because of Brian. Emily could almost taste the fear. He had her under his fat cat thumb.

  “Of course you can. He doesn’t own you.”

  That was Brian’s main operativ
e. Owning women, making them do what he wanted, then tossing them aside when they’d exhausted their usefulness.

  “I don’t want to hear it, Emily.” Amanda started closing up again.

  “Look, you don’t have to be friends with me right away.” Emily interrupted her shut out. “Let’s go out for coffee or dinner and we’ll catch up. We can leave it at that if you want, but I just need a friend right now.”

  Amanda folded her arms again.

  Emily swallowed her pride and focused on the vision of her son.

  “Please?” Her oldest friend didn’t respond. “Come on, Amanda, please?”

  A heavy sigh followed by a shrug and a small smug smile. “All right. But tonight and not a word of it to anyone else.”

  “Who am I going to tell?”

  Amanda didn’t answer but went back into the house and the scrape of the lock sliding home sent a clear message. It was time to leave.

  Emily walked back to her car, jangling her keys along with her nerves. She had to find a way to get custody or at least proper visiting rights, but if Brian was set on disallowing her, then she’d have to use other methods.

  Anything she had at her disposal.

  Things were about to get real.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It wasn’t El Paso and it wasn’t the uppity French place Chastity had taken her before she’d met Chase.

  It was Co. the pizzeria in Chelsea and they sat at communal tables with the pie between them and a beer a piece.

  The wood bar was nearby and the lights swinging overhead set a calm ambience which didn’t match Emily’s mood in the slightest.

  “Nice place,” Amanda remarked, taking a measured sip of the beer and grimacing, “if you like this kind of thing.”

  Amanda had never had an issue with beer in college. In fact, she’d downed plenty of the stuff, directly from kegs at frat parties. Then again, there were many things she’d ‘downed’ during those years and nights.

  “This kind of thing?”

  “Yeah, you know, the whole middle class kind of,” Amanda paused and waved to encompass the restaurant’s interior, “pizza thing. I don’t know, I’m not used to it anymore.”