The Squad

I kicked and scratched and yelled as my heart broke into a million pieces. “Katarina, what the fuck?” I beat against his chest and back until my arms gave out. I looked up at him with dead eyes as I felt like the life was draining out of me. I just wanted to die. “How could you, Colton, how could you?” I never thought in this world that I would ever know pain like this, that the man I’d loved and who I thought loved me could ever be the orchestrator of my destruction.

I didn’t realize that the wounded animal sound was coming from me until I came back to my senses. I tried pulling away from him, but he held on tight. “No, now you tell me what the fuck is going on. Is this some sort of mental break? Do you need me to get you some help? You’re scaring me, babe, stop that fucking shaking right now.”

I finally escaped his hold, which I’m sure only happened because he was in shock and crawled across the room to his phone, where it miraculously had not broken into pieces. I went into his messages and held up the evidence for him to see.

He had the nerve to sigh and hold the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “I caught you, let’s see you get out of this one. And just so you know, I’m leaving all the kids with you and going on to start a new life with someone who isn’t a cheating scumbag.”

He didn’t say anything, just looked at me like I was insane. “What? You think no one would want me now that I have all these kids? Hah, think again. I get plenty offers, buddy.” I tried getting up off the floor, and he tackled me. I ended up on my back, looking up at him while he held me down with a hand around my throat.

He took the phone from my hand and read the message out loud. “Thank you; it was so nice hearing from you again. I would love to meet you in London, and I understand you want to keep this as hush-hush as possible.”

“Yeah, I already read it. I don’t need an encore. You…you...”

“Kat, what kind of dress does your daughter want to get married in?”

“What? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Answer the question.”

“She wants a specially made dress from that boutique in England that makes dresses for the royal…oh.” And just that quick, my tears dried up. Hormones are a bitch.

“Right, the idiot boy that you swear is the best thing since sliced bread, and your daughter decided she wants to spend the rest of her life with is whipped as fuck. He spent the last few days moaning and groaning about her wanting her dress from this place, and that’s the only place that’ll do. And since my kid wants what she wants, I have to get it for her.”

“The fucking pandemic has made it damn near impossible to go anywhere, so the plans I was making to send you and your girls with her to England had to be squashed, so Mancini came up with a plan. I’d go as a surprise and take Caitlin’s measurements with me since I’m not about to expose you or my kids to that shit.”

“Oh!” Oh shit. I tried smiling once the fear and anger subsided, but the look on his face did not bode well for my ass. He didn’t say another word for about two minutes, and I was starting to sweat as I tried to remember all that I’d said in my anger. Then he leaned in close and got right in my face until I could see the dark specks in his irises. Oh shit!

“Who the fuck has been hitting on you?”

“Colt, um, keep it down, you don’t want the others to hear.”

“Oh, you don’t want your girls to hear you getting your ass beat?”

“You’d better not. Remember the last time? The boys came running...”

“Kat, do you know how many skeletons are floating around in the Caribbean Sea?” Gulp! He got to his feet and dragged me up with him, pulling me over to the bed. Good grief, not here. Everyone will hear, and I’ll never be able to face these people again. Not that he cares. He’s so touchy. As soon as he pulled me over his lap, I went into survival mode.

“I’m pregnant.” I looked back to see his hand raised and at the ready. He squinted at me like he thought I was lying.

“Come again?”

“I was going to tell you later.” I hiccupped and stifled a stray sob.

“Are you lying to me?”

“You know I wouldn’t lie about that.” Next thing I know, I was being turned around on his lap.

“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” How can he go from one extreme to the next just like that? I made sure to keep my rolling eyes hidden from him.