Broken Cheaters (5 page)

“I did. Just had a very weird dream.”

“What about?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. I guess today’s been more stressful than I thought.”

“You need rest.”

I laid back down on his lap, but I didn’t close my eyes. I watched the minute hand on the wall clock tick closer and closer to the half-hour mark, at which time we were expecting the doctor to show up. He finally did, and we both got up to meet his smiling face.

“Everything went well. He’s in recovery now and should be waking up soon. He’ll be confused, so it would be best if he woke up to a familiar face. Please follow me.”

Axel tucked my hand in his and we walked behind the doctor. Trevor was sleeping, and a nurse was checking his pulse. As soon as we walked up to him, he opened his eyes and smiled.

“I have a waptow claw.”

Axel laughed. “Yeah, you do.”

“Whewe awe we?”

“You’re at the hospital, Trevor. The doctor fixed your tummy.”

He looked down to where he was covered. “Whewe is my tummy?” he asked, panic setting in.

“It’s right here, buddy. Under the blanket.” Axel lifted the thin cover.

“I thought I lost my tummy. Hi, Twish.”

I chuckled.

“I have a waptow claw.”

The nurse turned toward us. “It’s very normal to be confused after sedation. He’ll be sleepy for a while, and we’ll keep him here until the sedation wears off.”

“Thank you.” Axel gave her a sincere smile and turned back to Trevor.

“You’re a brave little man, buddy.”

“Just like my daddy.”

Yeah, definitely just like his daddy.

As Trevor examined his raptor claw once more, I turned to Axel. “Looks like he’ll be good. I should probably go.”

“I’ll have Charlie drive you home. Thank you for staying with me, Trish.” He typed a few words on his phone, and I assumed that he was texting Charlie.

“It was my pleasure. I mean it. Definitely one of the best dates ever.”

He laughed. A spark of devilish charm flashed in his eyes. “I’m not sure what I’ll need to do for the next one to top it off, but I have a few ideas.”

“Now you have me intrigued.” I stepped up on my toes and, given that it was probably inappropriate to lock my lips with his, I kissed him on the cheek.

“I’ll see you soon, Trish. And when I do, I promise to finish our date the proper way.”

“See you later, Raptor Man.” I kissed Trevor on his forehead.

Axel walked me out to the hall, leaned down, and lowered his mouth to mine before I left. The kiss was so sensual, I wanted it to mean more than it probably did. But before I got more involved, there was one more issue to resolve: Bradley Watson.

I
ordered
Julia’s coffee and waited for her in the booth at Starbucks. Desperate for advice, I called Julia, the doctor I’d met at the Cheaters Anonymous meeting I’d attended last week. She seemed to have her head on straight, and since I didn’t know anyone else in the city, she was my only option. I needed advice, and I needed it badly. I was technically engaged, had another date with Axel tomorrow night, and hadn’t seen Brad since the night at the club, two weeks ago to the day. When I finally got through to him and told him that I needed to see him, he’d agreed to meet me here today, but then never showed up. I chose a public place so he wouldn’t make a scene. Although knowing Brad’s temper, I was afraid that man wouldn’t have cared about his behavior if he were at a Papal Mass.

Two hours later, I was sitting here by myself, drumming my fingers on the table, wondering whether I should just forget him and find another asshole. Except I didn’t want another douche to deal with. Since the night I met Axel, my craving for a good man like him had only grown. I was beginning to doubt I’d be able to resist him. In fact, I didn’t want to resist him. Axel had called me each day with an update on Trevor’s recovery at home, and it sounded like the dinosaur expert had already forgotten that he’d been in the hospital.

Outside, the sun was moving across the sky, finally easing its heat this mid-afternoon. I removed my summer scarf and stuffed it inside my purse. I had two hours left before work. I’d agreed to do an evening shift before the weekend to cover my sick day earlier in the week.

The door swung open and Julia rushed in. She looked around before pinpointing me in my seat and headed my way.

“Hi, Trish. Is everything okay?”

“I think I’m ready to leave him.”

She slid into the seat next to me and sipped on the coffee I’d ordered for her. “Are you sure you can’t work it out? Trish, I know flings can sometimes make us confused.”

The problem was that it had made things much clearer for me. I wasn’t sure what my purpose was in life, but I knew I’d met Axel for a reason. I just had to figure out what it was.

“I don’t think it was a fling with this guy. We’ve talked since then. He wants me to break it off as well.”

She looked at me in the funny way doctors did when they knew more than you, but she didn’t say anything for a bit.

“Have you told your fiancé about your affair?” she asked.

“Not yet. He hasn’t been home in over a week. I asked him to meet me here so that I could tell him the truth in a public place. I didn’t want him to make a scene. But he didn’t even show up. I think at this point, I should just pack up my stuff and leave.”

“I’m so sorry.” She touched my hand from across the table.

“I think it’s for the best.”

I hadn’t felt hope in years and I could only attribute its new presence in my chest to a man I barely knew, yet felt as connected to as if we’d been together for years.

“The guy from the club. What’s his name?” she asked, as if reading my mind.

“Axel. He’s... amazing.”

I shook my head. He was on my mind each minute of the day and night. What was I expecting from him, anyway? I was a nobody, and he was… everything.

Jesus, I don’t even know him that well, and I’m acting like a fifteen-year-old girl.

“I feel so guilty because I can’t stop thinking about him.”

“Does he feel the same way?” she asked.

“I’m not sure if I can repeat in public how he feels about my fiancé or about me. But he says he’ll support any decision I make. Yes, he wants me to leave him. He wants us to have a chance.”

“Do you have a place to stay after you leave him?”

“I do. Am I making a mistake? Because it sure doesn’t feel like one.”

Hopefully the new apartment I was about to move into would be ready after this weekend. At least that’s what Mr. Sanders, my new landlord, had promised.

“From what you’ve told me, I don’t think you are, Trish. You should follow your instincts, but make sure you’re safe. Some people don’t take rejection well. And when you tell your fiancé it’s over, it would be smart to have someone there with you.”

“Tell who it’s over?” Brad’s voice boomed toward us. I met his angry gaze above Julia’s head.

“Brad! You’re here.” My body went rigid. How much had he heard? I could only imagine what would happen if he didn’t take the news well. Maybe it was better that Julia was here. Maybe I shouldn’t go to my apartment – which he had keys to – but just forget that the new one was unfurnished and leave. At this point, I preferred to sleep on the floor so long as I’d never see Brad again.

“I should leave you two alone,” Julia whispered from across the table.

Please, don’t leave me alone with him!
Was that fear real? For the past year that I’d known Brad, I hadn’t allowed myself to admit just how much this man scared me. I deserved to live in fear, and Brad was as bad as they got. He’d never hit me, but the threats he spat were definitely real. The sanctions he’d made for me to stay at home and work, see him when he wanted, serve him as he asked, fuck him at any hour of the day, were small payments for my sins.

“I think it’s best you stayed, Julia.” Brad shoved his ass into the seat beside Julia, squeezing her against the window. And why was he looking at her that way?

“You two know each other?” I asked.

“We’re old high school friends. I’ve been trying to get her to put out for years, but have yet to succeed.”

I lowered my head. He was trying to embarrass me again. “Brad, please.”

“Are you lecturing me, Trish? Because for a whore who fucks in clubs, you have no right to chastise me.”

He knew what I’d done. Was that why he’d stayed away? Was it possible that I’d gotten to Brad Watson? I didn’t think so.

“I think you should leave.” Julia spoke toward him, but her voice was much quieter than earlier. Brad had that effect on people.

“Trish, leave,” he barked, ignoring Julia.

What would he do if I left? The fear I saw in Julia’s eyes from across the table made the hairs on my arms stand tall. How deep was their history? Was she as fearful of him as I was?

“I… I can’t.” I lifted my head higher.

“If you don’t, you’ll find your friend in the dumpster at the back,” he threatened. “Shredded to pieces.”

I felt my eyes well up. He growled and his nostrils flared. I knew the kind of trouble Brad was capable of; he bragged about it enough. I didn’t want to be the reason Julia got hurt, and I sure as hell couldn’t do anything to stop him on my own.

“It’s okay, Trish. I’ll be fine.” Julia tried to ease my worry. Well, if I couldn’t help her here, then I had to do it from elsewhere. I walked out of the café without looking back and dialed the new number in my phone. I might have deserved Brad’s wrath, but she didn’t.

“Trish?” Axel’s voice did something funny to my throat. Why did I want this man to be
the
man in my life? I barely knew him. I didn’t even know where he lived.

“I need your help. Actually, it’s for myself and a friend. My fiancé, Brad, is here, and he’s mad. Like, really mad, Axel. I’m afraid he may hurt her.”

“Where are you?”

I gave him the address.

“I’m five minutes away.”

He hung up. I stood across the street, watching as Brad and Julia walked to the back of the café, his body almost pressing against hers from behind. I found that gross – disgusting, actually – because I knew that Julia wasn’t Brad’s type, so the forceful way in which he was guiding her scared me.

What if he hurts her? I’d never forgive myself.
I’d let one man hurt my sister, and promised myself to never let another one hurt any other woman I knew, but this was different. I wasn’t at a university frat party where drinks and drugs swayed men to be braver— this was the real world. And Brad didn’t need any drugs to be gruesome.

The passing minutes before an expensive sports car pulled up in front of the café lasted too long. I might not have known a lot about cars, but I knew this one was unique. Axel jumped out the front door before the engine got a chance to shut down.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“He took my friend to the back. They’ve been there for a couple of minutes now.”

Axel turned to run, but I grabbed his wrist, “Axel, he’s dangerous.”

His eyes darkened as he replied, “So am I.”

My heart pounded as Axel ran inside the café. Minutes later, the screech of car wheels echoed from the back alley, and Brad’s SUV pulled out. His tight grip on the steering wheel and look of hate in his eyes reminded me of the man who had used and abused me over the past year that I’d been with him. For the first time ever, as I remembered what he’d put me through, a sickening feeling filled my stomach.

I ran into the alley. Axel was holding Julia’s limp body in his arms, look of fear and desperation covering his eyes. His hands and light gray shirt were covered in the blood that was still dripping from Julia’s hand. I removed the summer scarf from my purse and wrapped it around her palm.

“I can’t let her die,” he kept repeating. “She can’t die.” Pain flourished on his face, tremors vibrated through his body, and fear flowed in his eyes. Axel was looking at me, but it felt like he was looking through me, as if searching for a miracle. He was somewhere else, in a different place and time, completely lost.

Sirens sounded in the distance, and I assumed that Axel had already called 911. Everything happened so fast that the next thing I knew, I was sitting in the passenger seat of Axel’s luxurious car, following the ambulance to the hospital.

“I wanted to break it off with him officially. I wanted to make sure he was out of my life.”

“Well, let me make it easier for you, Trish. You’re officially not dating that asshole. How did someone like you end up with Bradley Watson?”

“You know him?”

“You could say that. He’s a nutcase, Trish. Fuck!” He hit the steering wheel with his hands before resuming his grip. “Brad is a man who lives by his own rules, and that’s dangerous.”

No one had to tell me how dangerous he was. It was one of the reasons I stayed with him, but at this point, I didn’t want to risk my life — not anymore. Death was too easy.

When we arrived at the hospital, doctors and nurses swarmed around Julia. Most of Julia’s injuries were external, and her doctor friend, Chris, went above and beyond her duties in taking care of Julia.

I gave Axel all the details of how I’d met Brad at the restaurant where I worked. I omitted how I offered myself to him, because that would lead to too many questions, but I did tell Axel where he lived – or at least where I thought he lived, because he’d never officially told me after he moved. Brad told me he worked at a bar, but he’d never said where.
His schedule was unpredictable, and he could show up at my apartment at any time. He had keys, and the past few months had practically lived with me.

Loud steps thundered through the hospital hallway as a man ran toward us. The door swung open and a stressed man, sporting an identical tattoo on his arm to Axel’s, barged through.

“What the fuck happened?” he asked Axel.

“Brad got to her.”

“Fuck!” the guy swore, drawing attention from a nearby nurse who gave him a stern look.

“This is Scar, my brother. He’s Julia’s boyfriend. They’ve known each other, and Brad, since high school.”

Axel went on to give Scar the details of Brad’s attack, and I stepped out into the hallway. I leaned my back against the wall and slid my body down to the floor. Lowering my head onto my knees, I wondered whether Brad knew Axel as well as he had known Scar. What if they were friends?

Had I dragged all these people back into the life of crazy Brad Watson? Everything was happening so quickly, and my desolate life was once again turning into one big mess. Worst of all, I was afraid I had no control over any of it. The desperation around my heart had eased the moment I found Axel. I brought my hand to my chest, where the pain of my past was revived; yet it didn’t throb as much as it used to.
It had been a while since I’d had someone I could depend on. Axel showed up when I needed him without question, like a hero from a movie. Trevor was right: Axel was a true hero.

“This isn’t your fault,” I heard from above me, and I lifted my head.

Axel crouched down and took my hands into his. Our gazes connected in the special way they had that night in the hallway. His touch was almost shocking, yet comforting at the same time. My heart began drumming with happiness.

“Please tell me you knew Brad before you met me. Please tell me I didn’t drag you into his life.”

“I did.” Axel’s voice soothed my worries. “And you didn’t drag me into anything. He’s part owner at Scar’s strip club, Hounds. In fact, he’s the one who’s taking care of the business downstairs.”

“What?”

“He never told you?”

“No, of course not. I mean, he’s been going out a lot, and I… well, I never questioned him.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“That’s not a good answer.”

“Well, you said it yourself: Bradley lives by his own rules.”

“Then why would a woman like you choose a man like him?”

I shook my head. How could I tell him that Brad was the penance I had to pay for my mistakes? Axel let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his thumb along my hand. “I’m sorry for losing it in the car, Trish. I’m not that man anymore. I should have kept my anger under control.”

“You did nothing wrong. You were right to get upset. Brad is a worthless piece of shit.”

“Then why would someone like you be with him? Help me understand, Trish. Please?”

“I… I can’t.” My body was beginning to shake, my arms prickled, and my hands clenched into fists. I felt him trying to unwind my grip, smoothing his fingers over mine, slowing the time for us both, and the heat languorously uncoiled my digits, right until I could press my full palm to his. And all the while he was whispering, “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

I wasn’t sure how long that lasted. Axel kept our gazes locked, sealing our connection.

“I’m not letting you go back to that apartment.” His voice was low and soothing.