Secret Indiscretions (Carson Cove Scandals 2)

“Long story…” I sighed. “Pretty long knife too…”

“Don’t you even dare make a joke right now.” She shook her head quickly, and her eyes filled up with tears. “I’ve been sitting in that emergency room for hours!”

“How did you even know I was here?” I coughed, and my eyes crossed for a second.

“Don’t change the subject; tell me what happened to you!” She pulled a chair over and grabbed my hand as she sat down.

“Fuck…” I exhaled sharply.

I guess I don’t have a choice…

“I’m going to tell the nurse not to give you any pain medication if you don’t start talking.” She squeezed my hand.

“Now who’s making jokes?” I sighed.

“I’m not joking.” She narrowed her eyes.

“I did something stupid, Melanie. After Jackson left that bruise on your arm, I called one of my friends—a guy named Leo Craven. He owns a security firm in Carson Cove…” I had to stop talking for a moment because the pain was too intense.

“I’ve seen the

sign for that company.” She nodded.

“He’s been tracking Jackson for me—just in case he came back. I found out that he checked into the Pembroke Hotel earlier today…” I weakly shook my head. “I thought I could get rid of him—or at least make sure he knew that he was going to regret it if he laid a hand on you again…”

“Damn…” She looked away.

“I’m not going to apologize either,” I sighed. “I’d do it again, even if I knew I was going to end up in this fucking bed with two holes in my side—wait, you don’t seem to be very surprised to hear that Jackson is back in Carson Cove.”

“You’re not the only one that screwed up today.” She squeezed her eyes shut, and tears started streaming down her face. “I got served with suit paper at the office earlier today. As soon as I looked up—Jackson was there.”

“He was…” I groaned but pushed through the pain to sit up on my elbows. “He was at Alcott Inc.?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I confronted him—I lost my temper—and his buddy filmed the whole thing. There’s no way a judge will let me keep custody when they see it… I looked like a psychopath—which is exactly what they called me.”

“Fuck…” I dropped back into the bed, and my head hit the pillow. “I’m not going to be able to tell the cops what really happened. I barged into their room and hit him first—I probably looked like a psychopath too…”

“Well from one psychopath to another—thank you. I get what you were trying to do, but please don’t do anything like that again. I’ll protect my daughter. Jackson isn’t going to get anywhere near her…” Melanie squeezed my hand.

“No, he’s not.” I shook my head back and forth. “I’ll call a lawyer—we’ll fight this.”

“That’s not what I meant.” She let go of my hand. “I don’t think we can win if this goes to court.”

“We have to try…” I tilted my head. “I’m not giving up.”

“I’m not giving up either…” she sighed, and fresh tears filled her eyes. “I just…”

“You’re not thinking about running away from this, are you?” I reached for her hand, but she pulled it away.

“What choice do I have? I’m don’t even want to be in the same town as him—much less the same courtroom.” She wiped away her tears.

“If you run and they find you, then you will lose custody of Charley. Let me see what I can do—please—trust me…” I reached for her hand again, and she didn’t pull away.

“Trust the guy that got stabbed…” A weak smile formed on her lips.

“How about trust the guy willing to get stabbed?” I squeezed her hand.

“Okay,” she conceded. “We’ve only got three days until the emergency hearing.”