“You’d scare the neighbors,” I said with a giggle.
“Pfft. The neighbors are us,” Keelie said. She was so bright these days now that Cormac had proposed. I wished for her happiness, envied it.
I loved these women. They had accepted me with such warmth. I’d miss them when Maxim and I divorced. A crater opened in my chest. I scrambled off the couch, anxious for a moment by myself as much as Blade needed to walk off his restlessness.
Once I clipped on his leash and led Blade out the front door, I heaved a sigh. Normally, I enjoyed spending time with Keelie and Naomi, but right now, I just wanted to be alone.
I let Blade sniff while I tried to figure out my next move. I’d finally looked at my messages and knew Lance had already managed to compile the libel case, and he’d had the Wildcatters put out a statement of how Dillon’s girlfriend confronted me at the gala. It listed out the restraining order, the threatening messages, the police report, and how Stella planned to play hardball with private images of Maxim she’d procured from a former Detroit teammate.
None of the details spun well for Dillon or Stella. Clearly, Maxim and I were shone in a positive light—a couple who’d fallen in love and were overcoming the many hurdles thrown in our path.
It was a lie.My lifewas a lie.
I wasn’t sure how I’d ended up here, but I knew Maxim and I needed to talk, and I knew it was going to hurt. Still, the only way out was through.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose as a creepy sensation slithered over my back and down my arms when I bent down to pick up Blade’s large and runny poo. No wonder the poor boy was antsy. I bent down and cleaned it up, wrinkling my nose. As I rose, a dark shadow detached from a large boxwood in the neighbor’s yard.
“Blade, guard,” I called out, voice clear. Blade placed the bulk of his body between Dillon and me. The dog’s thick coat ridged upward, and his teeth flashed, white and terrifying, as Blade peeled back his lips. A deep, vicious rumble burst from his chest.
“You think I won’t take on your dog?” Dillon asked.
I should have expected him. He must have hated the Wildcatters’ press release. Up until now, our situation had remained private. But Maxim didn’t back down from a fight—something neither Dillon nor Stella took into consideration when they concocted their newest scheme. Me? I rolled over, simply wanted to wish their meanness away. That wasn’t Maxim. That would never be him—and it was part of why I loved him.
“I wouldn’t,” I said, my voice firm.Don’t hurt Blade. Just walk away. Why hadn’t I brought my phone? I’d promised Maxim I wouldn’t go anywhere without it. But I’d needed a break from the girls’ concern.
“I’m going to make sure you go through more torment than I have because of you and your stupid hockey player.No onecomes to my house and bothers my girlfriend.”
He’d hurt me outside of my workplace, but clearly, I didn’t matter to him. I never had. Yet, I’d given him the ability to hurt me—and to nearly destroy my relationship with Maxim.
Wow. That was…wow. A lot to digest and this wasn’t exactly the best moment for an epiphany.
“Leave me alone, Dillon.”
Dillon scoffed, his face taut with strain. “I keep telling you that we do thismyway, Ida. You weren’t in charge of our relationship, and you definitely don’t get to decide when or how it ends.” He pulled something from behind his back—it shone dully in the streetlights, but I didn’t know if it was a knife or a club. I backed away. Dillon’s teeth flashed, and he chuckled. “We’ll see how much your hockey player likes you when I’m done.”
When Dillon kicked at Blade, I screamed as long and loud as I could, then again. Dillon and Blade took on a dance of predators, each looking for the other’s weaknesses.
I gave Blade his attack command, and he lunged, teeth bared and spittle flying. He managed to sink his teeth into Dillon’s thigh and Dillon screamed louder than a stuck pig. Dillon landed a hit with the metal club to Blade’s jaw and my gorgeous furry friend squealed, falling.
A haze of fury descended over me, and I focused all my attention on the man who’d managed to torment me for far too long. No one fucked with my fur baby…or my marriage.
“You sack of puke,” I shrieked. “I hate you, you dog-hurting bastard!”
I lunged, swinging the bag of warm poo I’d just collected and hadn’t yet tied off. It connected with Dillon’s mouth. Even though I didn’t want to touch him, I ground the bag into his mouth until I felt his teeth.
Damn, I was a good shot. I stepped back a little, rolling up on the balls of my feet. I settled into the fighter stance I’d learned from Amos, which Maxim had helped me to perfect while we’d worked out together in his basement. I cackled as Dillon choked and retched, foaming as he drooled and hacked up Blade’s gift of the ages. “You’re eating shit, Dillon. Not just spewing it this time.”
Dillon tried to rise, but Blade scrambled to his feet and lunged, pinning Dillon to the ground, his teeth at Dillon’s throat. I kicked the metal club away while Dillon squirmed under my dog.
“Ida Jane!” Keelie reached me, breathless, wielding a golf club. Naomi and her sister Mimi, who both still wore their bright green facial masques and held bottles of wine like clubs, followed her.
“We heard you scream. You okay?” Keelie panted.
“Blade and I took care of him,” I said, grim satisfaction burbling in my chest.
“Don’t make me waste a delicious Cab on your sorry ass,” Naomi snarled.
“Did you call the police?” I asked.
