Greg

 

 

 

“What the hell do you think you're doing turning up at my parent's house?! I told you I never wanted to see you again!”

“Yeah, well. I'm your wife, Greg. I miss you.”

“You're my ex-wife, Maya, and I don't miss you.”

I don't know what this bitch is doing here, but I want her gone. There is nothing for her here, and I don't have time to talk to her right now. Dani took off without letting me explain things. I know I should have told her before now about Maya, but things were going so good between us that I didn't want to spoil it. I didn't want to... Ugh!

I have no fucking excuses as to why I didn't tell Dani, I should have. Hell, it would have been common decency to tell her. My brother told me enough that something like this would happen and bite me on the ass. I should have listened to him.

What difference would it have made if I told Dani about Maya?

She wouldn't have run away from me today if she'd been made aware of the crazy bitch in front of me. I should have told Dani about Dean and the hurt it caused me when Maya tore my heart out and took him from me.

Why on this earth would that girl ever believe that I trust her now?

It's not that I didn't want to tell her, it just hurt too much to think about. Not Maya, Dean. It still fucking hurts to think about. I wasn't ready to talk about it.

“Why, because you've got a new tart to play with?”

“Don't you dare!” I yell so loudly I know everyone here is staring at me. They can stare. This... Woman with the too tight clothing is not going to make out like I ruined our marriage. Hell fucking no! “You're the one who ruined us with your lies and your cheating. I've moved on. I've put you and our marriage behind me, that's where it's gonna stay. You have nothing to say to me that means anything, so turn your skinny ass around and get lost!”

“Just like that, huh? You'd trade me in for a fat frump? Are you crazy?”

I'm done. I am so done.

I hold my hands up, biting my tongue. I don't want to say too much in front of my family, especially not the kids. This bitch isn't worth it.

I walk away from her, ignoring her calls for me to come back and sort things out.

There's nothing to sort out. She ruined us after three and a half years of marriage. She was the one who lied her ass off about everything, and for what?!

“Don't walk away from me, Greg Harper!” I keep walking. “Stop or I'll shoot!”

Did she really just say what I think she said?

The smell of fear and shock is all around me, my father is already yelling for Maya to put the gun down, kids are crying, and I haven't even turned to face her yet.

As I do, proudly, I might add, we lock eyes. She's not going to shoot me, thing probably isn't even loaded, it's just a scare tactic. I've seen enough of them to know she's bluffing.

Trust me, the woman is unhinged.

Wish I'd have known that before I married her. But she's not a killer.

I keep my eyes on her, no one else. Maya is temperamental, if I look away, she'll attack. Trust me, it's happened before.

“Put the gun down, Maya, there are children present. You really want to scare them like this?”

“I don't give a fuck about your stupid family! I just wanted to talk to you, Greg. I wanted to fix things.”

I take small steps closer.

The women around me are rushing the kids into the house to safety. My mother, I think from what I can see, is the only woman still out here. My brother, brothers-in-law, father, Enzo, Chase, Jesse, couple others, all still out here. I wish my mother would go inside, but she's never been one to let fear get in the way of things.

“Maya, what you did cannot be fixed, you know this.”

“It can. I made a mistake, Greg!” Tears are falling from her eyes and down her cosmetically enhanced cheeks. “I love you!”

“Love me? You don't love me, Maya. If you loved me, you wouldn't have cheated on me with the same guy our entire marriage and even before that.” My voice is calm, there's no need for me to get angry, I've moved on from this.

My mother's mouth is hanging open. I never revealed this to anyone. My brother is the only one who knows the whole truth. I couldn't bring myself to tell my mother, it would have hurt her too much. So I'm guessing this next piece of information is going to come as a massive shock to everyone.

“You passed his son off as mine for three damn years!”

Almost everyone yells at the same time, “What?!”

Whenever anyone asked why I hadn't seen Dean since Kory dragged me here, I told them that Maya wouldn't allow it, that I was sorting myself out then I'd seek access. Now they know the truth.

“He is yours! I lied!” Maya yells, screams even while pointing the gun at my chest. If she's going to shoot me, then she'll shoot me, but I won't make it easy for her. She's a lot of things, but I don't think she has murder in her.

“You're lying now, Maya.“

“I'm not.” She's shaking her head like a little girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “He made me do it, Greg. He made me let him fake DNA and say Dean was his. But it's too hard. I can't do this anymore, Dean looks too much like you. Even he can't deny it anymore. He doesn't even want Dean around because he looks like you.”

I scrub my hands over my face, ignoring those who are throwing in what they think of Maya and what she's done. How the hell am I supposed to believe what she's saying after everything she's done to me, after how many lies she's told in the past?

“I was weak, Greg. He made me feel special. He always did. I was wrong when I thought I'd be happy with him. I'm not happy, Dean's not happy. God, I'm sorry. But Dean misses you. He misses his daddy. He still asks for you. He still asks when he can go home to his daddy.”

That hurts like you wouldn't believe. But I don't believe her. She made sure that little boy knew I wasn't his father, he was even calling me Greg in the days before she upped and left. She'd been getting him to call his real father as such for months before she left me.

I wouldn't even have known anything if it hadn't been for that little boy.

We were sat eating dinner one night, me the idiot oblivious to what she'd been up to, little Dean looked at his mother and asked when he'd be seeing his real daddy again.

My eyes narrowed as I asked her, “What the hell is he talking about?”

She sighed, looked at me, arms folded around her body, and told me, “I can't carry on like this, Greg. It's time you knew the truth, even if I did want to wait a while longer until everything was sorted. Dean isn't your son. I've been sleeping with someone else since before we even got together.”

I sat in shock as I listened to her. I was in literal shock not knowing what to say to her.

“I thought he'd left me for someone else, that's why I was in the bar that night, that's why I slept with you, that's why I told you the baby was yours, even though I was already pregnant. He found out about you and me and he left. Went to Paris with his job. I married you because I wanted a father for my son.

“We've had a good run, Greg. You've treated us like gold. But the truth is, a few months ago, Dean's real father came back and I told him everything. We took DNA tests, they were positive. He applied to have Dean's birth certificate change so he could be named as his father. The judge awarded this yesterday. Dean and I are leaving, Greg. We're going to be with Dean's real father.”

I said nothing. I was too shocked. Didn't even say anything when she picked Dean up and left. She'd already packed her bags without my knowledge. She simply took them with her and never looked back.

Wasn't until the next day that I came out of shock. I called Kory and asked him to check everything she'd said. I wanted to make sure she wasn't lying to me about Dean.

She wasn't.

Kory called me a few hours later after he'd done his digging and told me that she really had taken those tests, really had applied to the courts to have me removed from the birth certificate and have this other guy added as the father.

Kory set about sorting the divorce right away, took a good while but I was finally granted it. The judge felt under the circumstances it was wise.

Maya destroyed me the day she told me what she'd done, and I spent months mourning that little boy. I will not let her use him to get at me now. I won't fall for her lies, I won't be sucked in, even though I wish with all my heart that she was telling the truth, I know she isn't.

“He doesn't even know me anymore, Maya. You saw to that. I mourned the loss of my son. I've put to rest that he was never mine, and I won't let you guilt me into something I don't want. You chose to lie to me, to leave me. I've moved on...”

“To that fat thing, I saw you with?” The look of disgust on her face has me grinding my teeth. Dani is the most beautiful, perfect woman I have ever known. She's not fat, she's what my sisters call, “Thick.” She's perfect, everything I ever wanted. “You have to be kidding me!”

“She is everything you will never be!” Now I am yelling. I won't have this crazy bitch saying anything about Dani!

“You don't need her, Greg, you have me. Come home with me. We can pretend none of this happened. We can...”

“No!” She jumps, shocked. I'm not the kind of man who yells at women, but this one is insane if she thinks I'll take her back after everything she's done. “Go back to your son, take care of him, but don't come looking for me again. It's over, Maya. There is no going back.”

Tears fall from her eyes, and I'd feel sorry for her if I didn't know it was all an act. Just her way to get everyone here on her side. This woman has no conscience, she doesn't care who she hurts to get what she wants. It took me too damn long to realize that.

“Maya,” My father speaks softly to her, but her eyes don't leave mine. “Give me the gun. You don't want to do this, Dean needs you. If you pull that trigger, if you shoot my son, I will prosecute you with the full strength of the law. I will see you in prison for many years to come. Who then will Dean have?”

She turns to look at him. “I just wanted him to come home.”

“That isn't possible, Maya, not after what you did. Hand me the gun and all this will go away. You can go home to your son.”

“I will not leave here without my husband!” The gun is on me again. I'd be a liar if I said my stomach hasn't sunk to my feet. I think she might just shoot me. “If I can't have him, no one will!”

In slow motion, I see her finger twitch, my father, Freddy, Kory, Enzo all rushing toward her. But it's too late, the bullet has left the gun, my mother is screaming, and I watch and wait for it to hit me.

I close my eyes, I should move but it all happens too fast, I have no chance. I feel something, someone fall back against me. My eyes shoot open as my arms grab the person falling... Dani! Where the hell did she come from?!

“Dani! Oh, my god!” I lay her down, searching for where she's been hit. She took a fucking bullet for me!

“Dani, keep your eyes open!” Enzo. He already has his hands pressed against Dani's left side while his wife checks her vitals. “Don't close your eyes. Talk to her, Greg!”

I swallow hard and stroke her face with my free hand as I hold her as best I can. “Why did you do this, you silly girl? Why didn't you just wait until I came to find you?”

She smiles at me while blinking. God, she's so pale. “I came... to find you... Thought about... it... knew you had your... reasons not to say... same as I have mine.” She closes her heavy eyes.

“Don't close your eyes, baby. Keep looking at me.”

“That's it, Greg, keep her talking.” Paige smiles encouragingly.

“I'm cold.” She's shaking, blood is spurting out of her mouth as she makes a choking sound. I'm panicking.

“What the fuck is happening?!”

“She's bleeding out and going into shock. Where the fuck is that ambulance!?” Enzo yells.

People all around are rushing, talking, crying, my dad has Maya in handcuffs, Freddy has the gun. The crazy bitch is crying, screaming.

What the fuck did I do?

Dani took a damn bullet meant for me, and now she's lying in my arms dying. There's blood all over me, all over Enzo and Paige. Dani can no longer keep her eyes open, she's so damn pale, and I know I'm losing her.

“Don't leave me, baby, I only just found you. God, don't leave me.”

“She's not going anywhere if I have anything to do with it.”

“Enzo? What we got here? Oh, god, Dani.” A huge bear of a guy mutters in shock while sliding a mask over Dani's face. Of course, he'd know her, they work together.

“Jeff, thank god. Gunshot wound to the upper left side. The bullet is lodged, lung is deflating slowly, heart rate shallow. We need to get her to the hospital right now.”

“JC, hurry up with that gurney!”

She's taken from me, hooked up to machines, strapped to a bed, rushed to the ambulance, and I'm in more shock than I ever have been in my life.

Someone grabs me from behind and drags me to my feet, then to a car. I'm not sure who because I can't seem to bring myself out of shock.

My ex-wife shot the woman I love, the woman who has brought me to life, the woman who saved me.

She's can't die.

I won't let her leave me.

I need her.

I don't give a damn how weak that makes me sound, I need her more than I have ever needed anyone in my life.

No one will ever understand how she makes me feel, how alive I feel when I'm around her. Just being near her is like breathing in the freshest air known to man. It's like walking a tightrope between two skyscrapers and not falling off. It's the adrenaline rush you get from jumping out of an airplane. The thrill of a bungee jump. She is everything to me.

She cannot leave me.