Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2)(7)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I put my hand on Sue’s shoulder. As much as I wanted to go home and forget about these people, I knew I wouldn’t be able to abandon someone when they needed help. It was all I had ever wanted to do. This woman needed to survive. “Why don’t you take the kids and get them checked out, then take them home. I will have someone bring all of their things from the car to your house. If it will make you feel better, I will stay here until we know something more about your niece.”

She wrapped her arms around me, taking me back to the funeral of my wife and child, where everyone wanted to hug and console me. I pulled away without even realizing how cold it seemed. I could tell that she knew I had withdrawn from her. She put on a fake smile and held her hands out for both children. “I will be waiting for your call, Ramsey. You’re a good man. I hope you know that.”

I stood and waited for the woman and the two kids to walk in the direction of triage. The last thing I wanted to do was be involved in something so emotional. Sure, I’d been there before and could probably be great in dealing with pain and grief, except I hadn’t been able to let go enough to use my experience for others. Sometimes I didn’t even know if I wanted to.

After grabbing a coffee, I made my way to the room where the injured mother was located. I could hear the beeps of the machines as I entered. A nurse smiled, recognizing who I was from my uniform. I gave her a nod and sat down in a nearby chair. “How is she?”

She finished writing down something before answering me. “Right now we have her stabilized. Because of the head injury, the doctor is worried about swelling. As of right now, we are just waiting. Her vitals are improving and if we can get through the next twenty four hours, she has a good chance of fully recovering. It could go either way with a brain injury.”

I was afraid to look at the bed, where the mother was lying lifeless. I knew she was breathing, except looking at her put a face to the victim. I couldn’t let myself get attached to a case, especially one that was so close to my past.

When the nurse left, I started to get up and request that they contact me if anything changed, except my eyes glanced over at the poor mother fighting to live. Her blonde hair was a mess and dried blood made some spots appear red. She had a bandage over her nose and a stitched up spot over her eyebrow. Even with all of that mess going on, I could tell that she was an attractive woman. Her body was covered up with blankets, but her arm was hanging out enough for me to see the artwork that went from her wrist to her shoulder. It was done well and I continued to stare, I thought about the tattoos on my own body; the ones I got after I lost my girls.

Sadness overwhelmed me again, forcing me to sit back down in the chair. This was those kids mother. I had to know that she was going to pull through. I couldn’t just walk away. Something wouldn’t let me get out of that chair.

I put my hat over my eyes and leaned back to try to rest. Some would say that prayers were all that could be done. I’d lost faith in that. This woman’s will to live was what would decide whether she ever opened her eyes again. I owed it to Sue to stick around and wait.

I’m not real sure how long I’d been sleeping, but I woke to someone touching my arm. I grabbed my hat and placed it back on my head as I sat up straight and looked around for the nurse. Instead, the arm with the tattoos was reaching over to touch me again. I stood up, partly in shock, and looked down at the awake woman. She was struggling for words and I knew what she was going to ask before the words could come out. “You’re kids are fine, Ma’am. They’re with your aunt. You’ve been in an accident. I’ll go get you the doctor.”

I rushed out of the room, leaving the woman all alone. As I passed the nurse’s station, I alerted them of the patient waking up, and left the hospital.

The woman was going to make it. My involvement was over.

Case closed.

Chapter 4

Vessa

I hated men and everything they stood for. All they’d ever done was lie right to my face. I just wanted a new start. I wanted my kids to not have to see the constant bickering and whatever riffraff their father was going to be bringing home.

He’d made it clear that he didn’t want to be a full time father and now, all of the sudden, he was trying to get them back. I knew it wasn’t because he missed them, or even because his mother put him up to it. No. This was about getting back at me.

I knew what I did when I left was wrong. It was a moment of temporary insanity. I’d given that man so many faithful years and in return he was living some secret life right under my nose. How was I supposed to react to something like that?

I guess the shit hit the fan two weeks before I had made the decision to leave town. It had come to my attention that my husband was hiding something from me. It didn’t take long for me to decide to catch him red handed. After he left for work one day, I took the kids to school and went back to his tattoo shop. This time, I didn’t go in the front door.

I snuck around the back and followed the sounds of music coming from the other side of the window. It was difficult to see through the tiny cracks of the mini blinds, but I was able to spot Gavin. He was sitting on a cheetah print couch with a little young thing straddling him. She was rocking her body back and forth over him as he grabbed onto her ass.

At first I felt sick from the pit of my stomach. That bastard was going to work and getting laid, while I was at home taking care of our family. My sadness turned to anger and soon it was hard for me to control any of my emotions.

I blame what happened on temporary insanity. I never meant for things to go as far as they had. I surely didn’t want to break laws. Things happened that became completely out of my control.

After leaving the tattoo shop, I went straight home. It took me a matter of ten minutes to rip out every single article of his clothing and toss them into a large bin in the back yard. I grabbed a bottle of bleach and doused the clothes with it. When they didn’t all turn white right away, I grabbed the bathroom cleaners and dumped them in the bin too.

Still feeling like it wasn’t enough, I went into his closet and ripped his pictures out of every single photo album. Then I drove myself right to the bank and withdrew all of our savings. I opened up a new account at a different bank in just my name.

I knew it was going to cause problems. I just didn’t care. He’d broken my heart; torn it into a million pieces and I wanted him to pay. He didn’t deserve to be happy. No, I was going to leave him with nothing.

I left the kids at my mother-in-laws house while I sat at the kitchen table, completely naked, waiting for him to come home.