But the one that kills me is the one of her getting out of the car, trying to make sure she is covered. She buttons up her top, and the guy comes out of the back seat. His hand is on her hip, and her head is turned to him as he devours her lips. Then she walks away from him and smiles and then turns back to blow him a kiss.
I scroll back up and see the headlines:
Dallas Captain is hot on the ice, but apparently not hot enough to keep his wife satisfied. The captain’s wife is seen here getting hot and heavy with an unnamed man in what looks to be someone’s car. From the looks of it, she left him looking mighty happy.
Chapter 29
Manning
Getting in the car, I watch her as I drive away from her, and then I call Becca. She answers right away. “Hey.”
“Hi, it’s me. Everything okay?” I ask, and I hear Jaxon laughing in the background.
“Seems your mother was already in town,” she says, and I know that she did this. She knew it was coming and made sure that I had backup.
“Where are you?” I ask. I hear her walking now.
“Don’t freak out,” she says, and she knows I’m about to freak out. “I got you a house.”
“What?” I ask her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I knew this would be coming down, so I rented you a house.”
I close my eyes. “Thank you,” I tell her. “Okay, I’m on my way over to Nico’s.” I look at the clock. “I have an hour and a half.”
“Yeah, you do,” she says. “Let me know if he’s playing hardball, and I’ll call him.”
I hang up the phone and then dial Nico. My heart speeds up just a touch. “Manning,” he says, answering after two rings, and I can hear that he’s out of breath. “What can I do for you?”
“Are you home?” I ask as I make my way over to his house. “Can I drop by?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I’m here.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” I hang up the phone with him and make my way over to his house. The rain finally stopped, almost as if the sun is shining for me today. I park my car in his driveway, and he’s waiting at the door for me. He’s wearing his basketball shorts with running shoes and a towel slung over his shoulders.
“Hey,” he says, taking a look at me. “Is everything okay?”
I put my hands on my hips. “No,” I say.
“Are you in trouble?” he asks. “Did you get arrested? Do you need a lawyer?” He looks at me.
“I’m good,” I say, knowing he is probably thinking the worst. “I’m leaving Murielle.”
“Okay,” he says, not sure what to say.
“I tried to leave her four years ago,” I tell him, and he stands there listening. “She took Jaxon and ran away with him. Refused to come back until I told her I would not bring it up again.”
“I had no idea,” he says, and I can see in his eyes he’s shocked. “We would have done whatever was necessary to make sure you got your son back.”
“I know,” I tell him. “But it’s changed. I’m done. I can’t live like that anymore.”
“I have the best attorney you can find,” he offers.
“I have it all taken care of. Well, Becca took care of it.”
“That woman has a brass set of balls,” he says, smirking.
“I went to her three weeks ago. We hired a private investigator to follow Murielle and catch her cheating on me.”
“No way,” he says, shocked now.
“I knew she was cheating, caught her spread eagle on my weight bench being plowed by her trainer.” I look down, embarrassed, but it only lasts a minute. “I didn’t care. I don’t care. But now I just want out.”
“Is she worth it?” he asks, and I look at him. “The girl who put the spark back in your eyes.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say.
“I didn’t know you were having problems with Murielle, but I did notice your eyes lighter and brighter the past couple of weeks. I didn’t know what it was, but now . . .” I smile and look down, thinking of Evelyn. “I won’t ask you about it, that is for another time, but I hope you know that if she finds out . . .”
“I’m leaking a story at three thirty,” I say. He looks at me, and I hand him my phone, bringing up the pictures. “I just wanted you to know that I’m going to be putting my life out there for the first time, and it’s not going to be pretty.” He shakes his head as he looks at the pictures.
“Whatever you need. The organization and I stand behind you,” he says. “Now, I have to call Becca so we can go over a statement.”