Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2)(9)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Where are you going to go?

None of your damn business!

Please don’t take away my kids, Ves.

I won’t keep the kids from you, but you have no right to know where I’m going. This is my goodbye, Gavin. I gave you so many years of faithfulness and you just tossed me to the side. You have broken my heart more than I care to count. I hope one day you can change and be the man that I always wanted you to be.

I hung up the phone right when I heard the car pulling into the parking lot. Two officer’s climbed out of the car and headed toward mine. “Damn, Vessa. Someone did a number on this.” Tommy Barnes was someone that I’d known since grade school. I didn’t know his partner at all.

“I don’t know their names, but one of the girls that did this is carrying Gavin’s child.” I said it to get a rouse out of Tommy. He’d never really understood my dating Gavin.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“Wish I was.”

“I didn’t know you were separated.” He started walking around the car to assess the damage.

“I just found out.”

“I knew you would find out. I wanted to tell you myself, but it wasn’t my place.” He wouldn’t look at me after that comment.

“What do you mean? You knew?”

He leaned against the car and shook his head. “Vessa, I don’t want to add fuel to the fire, but Gavin has been hooking up with random girls since high school. I never could understand how you could overlook something like that.”

“Overlook? I had no idea! You knew this whole time?”

“The whole town knows, Vessa. He didn’t really sneak around. Hell, I saw him last week holding hands with some young girl.”

I ran toward the dumpster and puked. Apparently, I was the laughing stock of the whole damn town. This had been happening right in front of me for years. I couldn’t face these people. I couldn’t look at anyone the same. Not after they had all kept this dirty secret from me.

I pulled my keys out of my pocket and pushed Tommy to the side. “We’re done here!”

“Vessa, wait! Don’t do something you’re going to regret.” He knew me too well.

I didn’t respond as I pulled away from both officers. I was aware that I was sitting on a mound of tempered glass, or that it was pretty cold outside, especially with no window. All I cared about was killing that son of a bitch.

Gavin was sitting outside as I pulled into the driveway. He had a cigarette in his hand and stood up as I jumped out. I walked by him, ignoring that he even existed. Room by room I packed up what we needed. I grabbed the kids out of their beds and walked them out to Gavin’s car. Ever since he’d sat them down and gave him a version of what he’d done, they’d wanted nothing to do with him. Our youngest didn’t quite understand, but he got that my heart was broken and that was enough for him.

The last thing I grabbed was a handgun. I planned to blow off his dick, as I rode away.

He followed behind me. “What are you doing with that?”

I aimed it at his crotch.

“Vessa!”

I took the gun and shot out one of the tires on my vandalized car. The power of having the gun in my hand made me feel like I had the upper hand. I aimed it at our front door. “This is what you did to my heart.” I fired once again, blowing out the glass.

Gavin put his hands in his hair, probably wondering if he was next. I knew the kids were in the car and I didn’t have the balls to murder or shoot a man, especially someone they loved. I took the gun and smacked him in the jaw with it. He grabbed the gun from my hand and tossed it behind us on the ground. He had ahold of my arms and tried to pull me into his chest.

It took all of my might, but I freed myself from his hold. Then I punched him several times. “I hate you! I f**king hate you!”

“Vessa, I ended it. Where you really going to shoot me? You think I’m going to let you leave me in my own car? I’m calling the cops!”

“You have pretty much banged the whole town behind my back. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? This car is in my name. Since your little whore ruined mine, I am taking this one. Call whoever you want. I will be long gone.” I hated this man so much.

He put his head down and wouldn’t answer.

“Goodbye, Gavin!”

I didn’t wait for him to reply.

My kids were crying in the backseat, so when I got a couple blocks away, I pulled over the car. “Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”

I had no plan. The only relative that I had was an aunt that lived in West Virginia. It was a two hour drive and I couldn’t just show up on her doorstep. Luckily she owned a bar, so calling her this late wasn’t going to be too damaging. I felt horrible since I didn’t really keep in touch with her. She looked so much like my mother and the reminder was still painful for me.

Her raspy voice answered. Hello?

Aunt Sue, it’s Vessa.

Vessa, honey, are you in trouble?

Finally, I started to cry. I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. I’m in trouble and I don’t have anywhere else to go.

You come right here. Whatever it is, I am here for you, sweetie. You just get yourself here in one piece.

Can we come tonight?

The door will be open.

Thank you so much, Aunt Sue.

You are family. I don’t turn my back on that. It’s going to be alright, Vessa.

The kids and I cried to whole way, until they finally fell asleep. I assured them that we were going to start a new life and that I would make sure they still got to see their Daddy. It would be rough, but I couldn’t keep the kids from him. Sure, he’d call the cops and I would have trouble to deal with, but I needed to be away from him. This was my only option.

I was about twenty minutes from my aunt’s place when the tractor-trailer came into view. The damn thing was on its side and sliding right for my car. I couldn’t slam on my brakes and risk flipping the car with my kids in the back, so I swerved to avoid a head on collision.

I woke up in a hospital room, with a police officer sitting beside me. He told me that my kids were with my aunt and then he hauled ass out of there, like I had the plague.

The next thing I knew, nurses and doctors were coming into the room to check my vitals. I needed to know if I was in some kind of trouble. If my children were okay, why was there a cop sitting next to me?

Chapter 5

Ramsey

By the time I got home it was nearing five in the morning. I was exhausted, but couldn’t seem to relax enough to get a couple more hours of sleep in. That mother’s face looking over at me, was haunting me. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad she was going to be okay. The last thing I wanted was another mother dying too soon on my watch.