“She watched the footage…” My voice was hoarse. The room started to spin as my lungs constricted.
“Yea, well… she’s still watching it now, but I stepped out to take your call.”
“Right… I… uh… I’m actually going to come home in a few minutes, and you can give me the new code then… could you let Mel know my phone isn’t working but that I will be home very soon.” I hung up without waiting for his reply and ran from the hotel room.
I just had to get to her before she got far enough back in the footage to see what I had done the last time I was there. If she saw proof that Angela hadn't been the only one, I was fucked.
I gave my wife space for one fucking day, and somehow she was stumbling onto my secrets.
15-Griffin
I wasn’t a cruel man by nature, but hearing Ben’s voice crack as he realized that his kingdom of lies was crumbling all around him filled me with joy. It was a long time coming. I had always known that Ben was a slimy fuck, but the Walshs had been blind to his hidden nature because they still saw the young boy that Kyle brought into their home.
He was good at hiding it, I’d give him that much credit. Not only because he was extremely charismatic, but because, unless you knew what to look for, he hid his steps well. I had never thought to look for infidelity. I had looked into his finances when Kyle wanted to bring him on board at the company, but never found anything criminal… after a preliminary glance through the paperwork Mel had uncovered, I was fairly certain that was no longer true.
Kyle had been difficult to convince that Ben wasn’t a good match for the company, but over the past few years, even he had started to become suspicious about his brother-in-law's controlling nature with Mel. I had always been adamant that she deserved better, and I wished I had known her before Ben got his hooks in her. Maybe I could’ve helped convince herthat a man who actually cared about a woman encouraged her independence and success. No one in her family liked that he had kept her from pursuing an education and instead turned her into a trophy wife, but they all assumed it was because they were going to be starting a family soon.
Apparently, soon was coming sooner than anyone had anticipated.
My mind conjured up an image of Melanie smiling lovingly at an infant and playfully nipping at tiny fingers, while the baby squealed in delight, flashed through my head as I remembered our conversation from last night. She was going to be a wonderful mother.
“Melanie…” I called as I headed back to the office, “Ben is on his way here.”
She looked up from the screen she was intently studying and scowled.
“Why?”
“He realized his phone has been disconnected and that his access to the security system has been revoked.” I felt my lips twitch into a smirk. “I happened to mention that you were currently reviewing the footage from the Vegas property.”
Her scowl deepened, and the smirk fell from my face.
“I wish you hadn’t told him that.” She sighed and leaned back in the seat.
“Why?”
“There is a lot of footage to go through and there are a lot of files on this laptop. He’s definitely going to take it with him this time.”
“I can upload everything from the hard drive including the internet history before he gets here.” I assured her and motioned for her to let me take the seat. “You should go get yourself ready for his arrival while I do that.”
She nodded and trudged out of the office with her shoulders slumped. It hurt to see her looking so disheartened, and I felt a pang of regret for having mentioned anything to Ben. It had been selfish of me not to consult her first.
“Mel…”
She paused in the doorway and looked back at me. Her eyes were shiny with tears that hadn’t started to fall. I rose quickly and wrapped my arms around her.
“I’m really sorry that he’s coming here. If you want, we can lock the doors and pretend we aren’t here?”
“He will be an absolute nightmare if he gets here and thinks I’m disrespecting him.” She mumbled into my chest.
“Don’t care. We can call the police if he acts up.” I tensed at the implication that she was scared of his reaction.
“Do you think we can keep him from coming into the house?” she asked quietly.
“Yes.” I nodded and gently pushed her back far enough that she could see my face. “We lock the house up tight, and I can wait for him on the porch.”
“He will want to speak to me.”
“What he wants doesn’t matter.” I growled.
