I have him cornered against the piece of furniture and the wall, and I think I hurt his arm when I tackled him to the floor because he’s whimpering like a little bitch. Some macho man he’s ended up being. Folds immediately when hurt. I’d roll my eyes if I wasn’t so damn terrified andangry.I scramble to stand up, still blocking any chance of him going anywhere.
“How dare you think you can just take what you want! Especially a whole-ass person! Seven people!” I yell at him. He doesn’t respond, so I nudge him with my foot, which has him sniveling.
“Stop! Please!” he sobs, and now I do roll my eyes. How fucking pathetic is he? A weak man with a superiority complex.
“What the hell were you going to do with me?” I hear people clamoring into the small room, but I hold my hand up. I’m not done here, and they can wait until I am.
“I-I-I—” he stutters.
“Spit it out. You’ve fucked with my life for too long, and I want more answers.”
“I thought you wanted me. We saw each other a long time ago, and you looked at me like you wanted me. And I tried to get you to go out with me, and then you left with him.” He sneers, looking behind myshoulder, where I assume Arlo is. “And it made me crazy. You were mine. All those other women are supposed to be mine too,” he says under his breath. “Treat me like a king and love me the way I should be loved.” He gains an air of his complex back, and it only makes me want to punch him.
“And do the others know about you? Have you left them little presents too?” I push. This is what we need.
He looks at me with hatred in his eyes, but he doesn’t talk. I shove him again with my foot, careful not to give him the opportunity to grab me, even though he’s now surrounded.
“Most don’t know I’ve been watching them.”
“And the others?”
“I brought them here,” he murmurs, and I can barely hear him.
“Speak up. Did you do something to them? Did you take without giving a shit about them? Withoutaskingif they wanted it?” I sneer. I feel like Arlo’s going to have to pull me off of this piece of shit. “Did you go into their houses too when they slept? Go through their underwear drawer? Their dirty laundry and steal shit, like you did me?” My voice gets louder as I start to lose my patience. I’m shaking with disgust and on the verge of being sick. The realization of what’s happening, what’s been happening, is becoming overwhelming.
“Y-y-yes.” He trembles with fear. I take a step closer to him and he curls in on himself, probably realizing he isn’t getting out of this.
“You’re a piece of shit. Using fear and manipulation to feed your ego because you can’t get a woman any other way. You put on a persona and fake us out, and then strike like a fucking coward. So pathetic.” I close my hands into fists and take a step back, right into Arlo’s arms. I can feel him shaking, or maybe that’s me. I can’t tell. I grab his hand and drag himout of the house. I need out of here as much as he clearly does. Judging by the number of officers here, they’ll take care of Tyler. I don’t even care if I never hear what he did to the others. Honestly, it’s probably better if I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to handle that at the moment.
Once we’re through the front door, I sit down on the front step and urge Arlo to join me.
Relief like I’ve never known mixed with the adrenaline drop make me feel like I’m back in the hospital, waiting for news on Lennox.
“God, I fucking love you,” Arlo breaths out with sheer awe on his face. “I was so damn scared when the officers noticed things were happening. I burst in there to find you telling him off while he cowers in the corner. Such a badass.” He shakes his head with mirth.
“I don’t even know what just happened,” I breathe out. “What the actual fuck was that?! Also, don’t ever let me pretend to plan an epic police shakedown because that was a terrible fucking plan! I’m not cut out for this shit.” Tears start to well up in my eyes, and I know I’m very close to losing my shit. The comfort of having Arlo here makes me feel safe enough to justfeeleverything.
“That’s what I was saying the whole time,” he grumbles.
“You were right.” I sniffle, trying desperately not to cry. I was a total badass back there, according to my husband. And now I’m close to a full-on breakdown.
My husband.
That’s the second time I’ve thought that today. The realization jolts me from my almost meltdown. I know I told him to burn the divorce papers, but that feels very different from perceiving him as my husband. And yet, it’s the most natural thing I’ve ever felt. Like building a dresseror hiking to the falls, it’s like he’s always held the title. Not because of paperwork but because we were always connected, always meant to be husband and wife, no matter what life threw at us.
“Hey.” He wraps an arm around my shoulders. “You’re okay. You’re safe. I’d never let anything happen to you,” he mutters against my temple.
“I’m okay,” I attempt to say with conviction. All I want is to go anywhere but here and talk to him. “Are we able to go home?”
When he doesn’t answer right away, I look up at him and see tension in his eyes. Sighing, I know we’re in for a long night.
“I’m sorry. They’re going to want statements. If they don’t get them tonight, they’ll need them another day, and I’d just as soon get all of this over with. They probably need to check you out too.”
“I’m fine. They need to check Tyler out because he was crying like he broke something in there.” I chuckle, but he doesn’t join in.
“You could be in shock,” he says quietly.
“Listen, I’m not going to pretend I’m perfectly fine after that, but don’t micromanage my reaction to it all. I just want to put this whole thing behind us, getting these statements over with so we can go home and decompress with each other, and I can freak out in private.” I’m rambling—I know I am—but I don’t want to be here any longer than we need to be. The house creeps me out, and knowing that Tyler is only a few feet away is starting to get to me. Maybe this is shock, but I’m not going anywhere but home to deal with it.
