Falling: A Sexy Alpha Romance Collection

I can imagine Estelle doing everything Jolene has just described. It’s funny, though, how we interpret people’s actions. If it were my child she was gifting items to, I’d happily accept them. They say actions speak louder than words, but sometimes we hear the wrong things.

I don’t say anything. Rather, I just wait for her to continue.

“Eventually, Luke stopped caring and stopped standing up for me to his mother. I fought back—I tried everything to get his attention from arguing with him to ignoring him. When I stopped having sex with him, he didn’t even care. He simply came to bed, kissed me goodnight and rolled away from me.” She blinks and a tear rolls down her cheek. “Do you know how that feels, Callie? To have the man you love so much you think you’ll die if he leaves you, roll to the other side of the bed night after night? To not have his support where his mother is concerned? To know he’d rather go to work than try and fix the problems between you?”

Oh, God.

My heart is completely breaking for the wife of the man I love. For Luke, too. So many misunderstandings and so many lost opportunities to make it right. And look where they are now. He’s in a world of hurt, fighting desperately to figure out how to heal his wounds. And she’s so completely destroyed that I don’t know how she’ll even begin to find herself again.

“I’m so sorry, Jolene. I know that means very little, but I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through.”

She continues to hug herself and stare at me. “When I came here, he was amazing. He did everything to help me and I thought we had another chance if I ever got out. I filled the hours imagining the fresh start we would have and the family we could build. I promised myself I’d do better. And I believed Luke was committed to our marriage because the one thing I knew for sure was that he truly wanted a family that stayed together. He wanted Sean to have both of us together so he felt the security Luke and I never did growing up. But whoever set me up has ruined all that now.”

I shift in my seat, desperate to talk about the murder because we’re running out of time. That and I’m not sure I can sit through much more of Luke’s marriage today. “Who do you think set you up?”

“Glenda is the only person I think would do it. She hated Mum more than I did and she never loved me. She killed two birds with one stone.”

“Yeah, I’ve got her on my list.”

“Have you met her?”

I nod. “She doesn’t like me.”

Jolene relaxes her arms by her side and I sense we’ve taken a tentative step back towards some semblance of trust. I’m not fooling myself, though. I don’t think Jolene will ever trust someone easily again. “Glenda doesn’t like anyone.”

I raise a brow. “She seems to really like Luke. Anything there?”

“Well, except for Luke and Sean. She loves them, but I don’t think she likes Luke in that way. Glenda usually goes for weak men she can control and Luke definitely does not fit that bill.”

She’s right there.

“Okay, so I’ll direct my efforts into looking into Glenda then.” I’ve already started this but I’ll step it up now.

Time’s up and Jolene stands. “I’ve spent the last few days hating you, but as much as I want to keep doing that, I’m finding it hard.” She doesn’t give me time to respond before turning and walking away.

I know how she feels because I feel the same way. Not that I hated her; I simply never imagined understanding how she got to this point in her life.

35

Callie

“I feel like James Bond or something.”

I eye Avery and shake my head at her before diverting my attention back to the road. We’re on our way to the motel to try to talk with Louise again.

“What? You don’t feel a little detective-y or like a spy?”

“I feel frustrated that this investigation is going nowhere.” I park the car and exit it, meeting her on the other side. “It’s been weeks and I’m no closer to figuring anything out.”

She cocks her head and frowns. “How are you doing, really? It’s been two weeks since the break-up and I’ve been a bad friend this past week. Are you still consuming mass quantities of cheese and Harvey?”

I laugh. “What makes you think I’ve been consuming mass quantities of Harvey?”

“Suits is your go-to TV show when you’re depressed and I know it’s only for Harvey.”

“For your information, I’m weaning myself off the cheese but I’m reserving the right not to give up Harvey yet.”

“Well, there’s always Harvey rehab if this gets out of hand.”