by Sam Crescent
“Kevin is no competition.”
Chuckling, Vicki waited for him to secure his bike outside the building.
“I can see the attraction with Kevin. She can train him to be exactly what she wants, whereas you, you’re damaged goods.” She pointed at him.
Stefan growled.
“Come on, let’s go and say hi to the mysterious Marla.”
Vicki opened the door in time to see Kevin handing the other woman a flower. The single red rose shook as it passed from one hand to the other.
“Thank you, Kevin,” Marla said.
Marla looked past Kevin’s shoulder and gave a sigh of relief. “Hi, Vicki. Tristan’s expecting you. Lunch hasn’t arrived yet, but I expect it to be here soon.”
“Hello, Marla,” Stefan said. His voice was dripping with charm. Vicki rolled her eyes.
“Don’t worry about lunch. How are you settling in?” Vicki asked, ignoring the two men.
Marla’s gaze flitted between the two men. On the one side was sweet and innocent Kevin, and on the other was domineering Stefan.
“I’m doing great. The cookies you brought yesterday were amazing.”
“Do you have a last name?” Stefan asked.
“Don’t be rude. I’m pleased you liked them.” Vicki gave the woman the best reassuring smile she could. She wanted to put the other woman at ease. Stefan wasn’t a horrid man, even though he held a presence that promised danger if he was pushed.
“Last name is Gates. I’m Marla Gates.”
“Lovely to meet you, Miss Gates.”
Vicki had enough of the flirting. She started to say as much when a feminine cry came from Tristan’s office.
Frowning, Vicki followed the noise and ignored Marla’s warning. Who could be inside Tristan’s office making a pleasurable noise?
She opened the door and gasped. A woman was bent over his desk. Her skirt was pulled up and panties pulled down. The marks on her flesh were hideous. Tristan turned to her. “Vicki?”
He looked at her then at the woman bent over his desk.
“Why have you stopped?” The woman’s head turned, and Vicki was struck through the heart. His wife, very current wife, was the woman bent over the desk.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” he said.
Kate moved from under him. Vicki watched with her mouth open staring at the other woman.
“Tristan, who is this?” Kate asked.
His wife was even more appealing in the flesh than Vicki could handle.
She stared at him with tears in her eyes. Stefan, Marla, and Kevin stood behind her watching the scene.
“Don’t start, Kate. Vicki, I promise this isn’t what it looks like.”
“I only came for lunch. I didn’t come for this.”
The first tear started to fall, and she wished with all her heart she could make the pain stop. She needed to get over this.
“I can’t do this. This is unfair even from you,” Vicki said.
“Please, I swear, this is completely innocent. I didn’t know she was coming here. I would have told you.”
She had no choice but to believe him. Tristan didn’t explain himself.
“Excuse me, who are you?” Kate asked. The other woman offered her hand with a smile to her lips. Vicki stared at the hand then at the woman.
“No one.”
Turning on her heel she walked away. She brushed past the three people behind her and rushed out of the door. Vicki needed the fresh air to help her breathe. She felt like air had been cut off from her lungs. Breathing was a problem.
Crashing through the door, she ran around the building to get to the shaded part. With the sunshine bearing down, Vicki couldn’t think, let alone deal with her pain.
She’d heard her name being called on the way out of the building. Ignoring her name and everything else, Vicki closed her eyes.
Kate was back. What did it mean? She didn’t know the answer. His wife looked way to comfortable for this visit to be fleeting.
“Vicki, are you all right?”
Opening her eyes she saw Stefan staring down at her.
“I can’t deal with this. It’s too much. Will you take me home?” she asked.
“Of course.”
He didn’t say anything else. She climbed on the back of his bike and let him take her the short distance home. Stefan saw her to her door. “Vicki, who was that woman?” he asked.
“Her name is Kate. She’s Tristan’s wife.”
Chapter Six
Vicki had run away from him again. Not that Tristan could blame her. If he’d seen one of Vicki’s ex’s in such a position as Kate was with him, he’d have run, or would he? For the longest time he looked at the space where she’d been standing. His woman looked broken all over again. He was reminded of the time he’d seen her in the hospital after she’d lost the baby.
Never in all of his life did he ever want to see that look on her face. The sadness he’d witnessed in her eyes tore him apart. He was the cause of her sadness.
“Well, she’s a strange girl,” Kate said.
Anger unlike anything he’d ever felt ran over him. “I think it’s time you took a break, Marla. Kevin, take Marla to lunch.” Staring at Stefan he gave him a nod and then slammed his office door. Without waiting to hear if the outer office door to the station closed Tristan turned to his wife.
He’s never known such anger. Even when he’d found Kate with another man who gave her what she needed, he’d not been angry. Disappointment was the only emotion he recalled. The woman who was supposed to have loved him betrayed him.
“Well, Tristan?” Kate took a step back.
“Don’t start, Kate. You haven’t got the right to be questioning me,” he said.
“You’re a married man. The girl who ran off looks a little in love with you. I think you should be careful.”
The chair in front of him went crashing to the floor. Looking at his beautiful wife made him feel nothing but disgust and anger.
“Married? You’ve been shacking up with your fucking pain slut of a boyfriend. Remember, the man who can hurt you more than I can. Vicki is no strange girl. She’s the fucking woman I love.”
His words were a revelation to him.
“Please, Tristan. She’s a passing fancy. There’s no way you can be in love with such a girl. It can’t happen. I won’t let it,” Kate said.
The woman Tristan never met stood in his wife’s place. Kate looked older and more sinister than he ever recalled. This woman before him wasn’t used to being passed over. Her intelligence, beauty, and overall cunning never allowed a person to look over her. He’d once fallen for her charms.
No more, Law Castle had cured him of her. He was in love with Vicki and had been for a long time. She was an addiction to him.
She was also going to be the mother of your child.
You broke her heart because of Kate.
What commitment do you really have to Kate?
“I want a divorce,” he said.
“What?”
“I want a divorce. I want you out of my life. I never want to see you again.”
“You can’t mean that,” Kate said.
Frustration bloomed inside him at her words.
“What part are you having trouble with? That girl, as you call her, has put up with more shit from me than she ever deserved. I was her fucking first, and instead of giving her a ring, my name, and house with a fucking picket fence I didn’t, because I’m married to fucking you.” Tristan started yelling the words. He no longer cared who heard his business. Everything he said needed to be heard, especially by Kate. “She was pregnant with my baby. You know, I fucked her without a condom, and a baby started to grow. You got your pissing tubes tied because you couldn’t stand the thought of losing your figure. Vicki didn’t ask for anything, and she lost the baby—but I could have been a father. Mine and Vicki’s baby couldn’t have taken my name because of you. No baby of mine is growing up a bastard. Give me my divorce, Kate, or
I swear to God, you’ll live to regret it.”
Tristan stormed out of his office without looking back. No one was in the building as he passed the front desk.
“Like that you’re going to leave me?” Kate asked, shouting at him.
Turning back to face her Tristan snorted. “You were never mine to keep.”
“Divorcing me will never be easy, Tristan. I will make you pay.”
“Bring it on, bitch. I’m ready for this to be over.”
He moved out of the station and saw several of the locals gazing in his direction. Stefan was waiting for him across town next to Noah and Drew’s mechanic shop. Jake, Brent, and Connor were stood with him talking instead of working. They stopped when they saw him.
“The blonde was your wife?” Stefan asked.
“Vicki tell you the truth?”
“Yeah, what I want to know is why a fucking married man screwed around with Vicki.” Stefan grabbed the collar of his uniform and slammed Tristan against the wall.
Tristan took everything the other man gave. He deserved to be hurt and more for what he’d done to Vicki. The young woman deserved so much better from him. “It’s a long story. Vicki knows the truth.”
“Yeah? I don’t think Vicki would have slept with you if she’d known you were married from the start,” Stefan said.
“You’re right. She hasn’t slept with me since. Is she home?” he asked.
“Zoe is comforting her,” Connor said. “I took her over as soon as Stefan gave us the heads-up about you.”
All six men stared him down. They made a scary combination, Noah, Drew, Stefan, Connor, Jake and Brent. All of them looked at him as if he was a piece of shit, and he relished it. He needed their punishment.
“You know, the Law Castle Bad Boys may be a bit of a joke to you, but we take it seriously. We live by our own set of rules, and there has never been much trouble,” Stefan said. “We don’t fuck unwilling women or hit on other men’s women. Cheating is not something we allow. The women we fuck know the score. Our women know they can trust us. Once you’re our woman, you’re our woman.”
“I fucked up. I’m not one of your gang.”
“The only thing stopping me from putting you in the grave, Sheriff, is the fucking marks on your wife’s ass. She’s only just turned up in town. I know you weren’t the one to put them there. You and your wife have a different story. I don’t want to fucking hear it.” Stefan folded his arms. “But you tell me why I should postpone Vicki’s parents from collecting her?”
Running fingers through his hair Tristan looked off toward Vicki’s house. He wasn’t used to explaining himself, and he didn’t like it. However, these men with their circus clown of a club helped to run and keep this town decent.
“A lot of shit is going on between Kate and me. I won’t deny that. I love Vicki. I really do, and it has taken Kate showing up for me to realise it. I will never hurt Vicki. She’s my future even though she’s too fucking young for me.”
Stefan stared at him for several minutes. “We don’t judge here.” He moved out of the way. “You hurt Vicki again, and I’ll be putting her on the back of my bike and driving her out of town in the next instant.”
Tristan nodded. He accepted the terms before making his way back over to Vicki’s house. He needed to make things right between them. No way would he accept anything less.
****
“Yuck, this coffee is disgusting. I think I need to give you coffee lessons. How do Stefan and the others cope with this?” Zoe asked.
Vicki burst out laughing. She poured some whisky, left over from when Tristan visited, into her coffee and made her way into the room. Zoe scented the air and scowled at her.
“It’s a little early to be drinking.”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere.” She sipped her drink feeling the disapproval rolling off Zoe. “What? I’m not an alcoholic. I just need to forget everything that has happened. Surely you can appreciate that?”
Zoe reached out, pushing the hair off her shoulder. “What’s the matter? Stefan looked worried, and then everyone is talking about that woman visiting Tristan.”
News travelled fast in Law Castle. It was one of the pitfalls to living in a small town.
“Should you be drinking coffee?” Vicki asked, trying to change the subject.
“One sip was enough. Do you have a fruit juice or water?” Zoe asked.
Vicki took the mug of acrid coffee and poured it down the sink. She’d never been great at making coffee. Laughing about it was easier than crying. Still, tears poured down her face even as she grabbed a fruit juice she kept in the fridge.
Her friend was stood in the doorway with a hand on her stomach. Vicki recalled the feeling of pressing a hand to her stomach. There was once a life inside her. A life created by her and Tristan. Pressing a hand to her stomach, Vicki felt empty all over again. The doctors at the time assured her she’d feel fine. She wasn’t feeling fine. There was no one to mourn the loss of life with.
Tristan had a beautiful wife. There was no way she’d ever be able to compete with something like that. Kate was better looking in person than in the picture.
“The woman in Tristan’s office was his wife. I don’t know why she’s come back, but she has.”
Returning her gaze to Zoe she saw the pity in the other woman’s gaze.
“Please, don’t pity me. I can’t handle the pity. It’s not fair to either of us.”
“I’m not pitying you, Vicki.” Zoe walked further into the room. “Do you remember when I first came to town? You talked about everything, and I mean everything. There was nothing I could do to stop you from talking. All you ever did was talk, talk, talk.”
Vicki smiled, remembering. She drove Zoe insane at the bar where they worked together.
“Feels like a long time ago,” Vicki said.
“It wasn’t that long ago, Vicki. You’ve changed since then. I’ve changed, and nothing we say or do is ever going to go back to that.”
“What’s your point?” Vicki asked, sipping her spiked coffee.
“I’m not pitying you. I’m here for you. You may not think it, but it’s a huge difference,” Zoe said, taking the bottle of fruit juice from her.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll go and answer that.” Before Zoe left the room to answer the door she took the spiked cup and threw it in the sink.
“Hey, I was drinking that,” Vicki said.
“I don’t care. It may be five o’clock somewhere, but it’s not that time in Law Castle.”
Rolling her eyes, Vicki started retrieving bits of broken mug from her sink. “You know, Zoe, you could have poured the coffee down the sink.”
“Zoe’s gone back to her men,” Tristan said.
Vicki froze. She lifted her gaze hoping to see his reflection in the mirror, but it was still morning out. All she saw was her back garden.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, collecting the last of the coffee mug. The scent of whisky was strong. She felt ashamed by how easily she’d been succumbing to alcohol.
“I needed to talk to you.”
“Why? Kate’s back, so I don’t see there’s anything to talk about.” Kate would get her husband back while Vicki remained alone. She was always alone. There was no one in Law Castle besides Tristan she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
“You’re pushing me away.”
“I’m not. I’m being a realist.”
“I didn’t ask for Kate to return,” he said.
“But she’s here for you.”
He let out a sigh. The sigh sounded full of frustration.
“I asked Kate for a divorce.”
Turning to face him Vicki saw the honesty on his face. “You asked your wife for a divorce?”
“Yeah. I’m not taking no for an answer. She’ll grant me a divorce, or I’ll make things difficult for her.”
Folding her arms Vicki stared at him. “How?”
He leaned against the wall.
The arms of his shirt were rolled up revealing the dark ink of his tats. “For a start I’ll bring adultery into the mix, either hers or mine.”
Heat bloomed in her cheeks. She felt it happen. If he chose to implicate himself, he’d be implicating her. She never knew about his marital status.
“I wouldn’t hurt you, Vicki. She left me first and shacked up with another man. I’d find some way for the judge to know she was the one to break our marriage apart.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked.
“I want you, Vicki.”
She stared into his eyes. They were dark as they looked back at her. “What?”
His arms went down to his sides as he moved closer. “When you told me you loved me, I pushed you away because I was married. You didn’t know I was taken by another woman. I thought if I kept you at a distance then you’d be safe, and so would I. I didn’t anticipate falling for you.”
Vicki snorted. “You expect me to believe you fell for me?”
He crossed the distance between them. Tristan cupped her face in his large palms. “You can believe what you want, baby. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m going to prove to you I mean every word.”
She really wanted to give in and believe his words, but every time she thought over their past she couldn’t help but feel it was another game or trick.
****
Vicki knew with all of her heart that she shouldn’t deliver cookies and cakes to the station. She couldn’t help it. Baking helped to relax her, and when she was relaxed, she was able to get over some of her fears. The only problem was eating the food she’d baked. Tristan was known for his sweet tooth, and he liked what she made.
Opening the door Vicki discovered the front desk was bare. It was Sunday, and she was due to work at the bar that night.
“Hello,” she said, calling out. The word echoed off the wall. Tristan’s head popped round his office.
“No one’s here but me.”
Staring at the box of baked goods Vicki felt the blush building up in her cheeks. The station was hot, but her body had suddenly heated faster than a volcano, or at least that’s the way it felt.