CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

BRYAN

His phone rang and he accepted the call without looking at it, his mind filled with too many other thoughts.

“Wright here,” he answered, walking back toward the car where Tyler stood outside. Bryan watched his partner drink his coffee all the while his eyes were trained on the coffee shop in front of them. Bryan almost wanted to laugh. Poor shmuck. Tyler needed to sack up and make a move on the little barista he obviously had a crush on.

“Hey.” He stood, shocked still, stopping the fucking growl that threatened to escape.

“Bryan? Are you there?” she called out, and his nose flared in anger. Looking down at the screen of his phone, a deep scowl on his face, he realized she had called from a different number. Fucking Courtney.

“You calling to tell me you are sending a check for the damage you caused to Val’s bike?” he asked seriously, trying not to lose his shit. The sight of Val’s bike smeared and covered in blood-red paint, the carved seat seared into his memory.

“I’m calling because I love you.”

“You need to stop with this shit, Court,” he bit out harshly.

“And you love me,” she told him, and he felt like ripping his hair out.

“I really don’t.”

“You loved me for a long time, Bryan,” she whispered. He bit the inside of his mouth. “Love like ours doesn’t die,” she continued softly but confidently, and all he could think about was that she sounded like a freaking lunatic.

“Trust me, Court, it’s done and buried.”

“No, it isn’t. Not even close.”

“You need to knock this shit out. Val is going to press charges—”

“Did you get your sweater?” she asked, ignoring anything he had to say. “Did you get the boxes?”

“Court.”

“You looked at the pictures.” He stood still as his eyes moved to the ground in front of him. “I watched you. You looked at them before burning them.” She had been watching him?

“What does it matter? I burned—”

“I saw your face. You miss me.”

“Look, Courtney, I don’t know what happened, but you need help,” he tried to plead with her, but she wasn’t having anything to do with it.

“I miss you. Forget her. Come back to me. We can start back, better than—”

“You’re fucking crazy, Court. Not only did you lie to me—”

“I made a mistake,” she shared as if lying about him being sterile was some type of small white lie he could ever just forget. “You found out I wasn’t perfect. You always called me your perfect girl!”

“It was a stupid term of endearment!”

“Sue me. I’m not perfect.”

“Court, you need to stop this.”

“She’s pretty, you know?” He looked up, saw Tyler’s eyes on him, and Bryan started walking toward the car. “All that blond hair and glittery green eyes.”

“What the fuck?” he whispered.

“I used to make you laugh like she does.”

“We’re done here.” He was done with her bullshit, but she didn’t get it.

“I could be the one you take on the couch. I used to be, don’t you remember?” she asked him, and chills ran down his spine. When the hell had she seen them? How did she know this shit?

“This is the last time I hear from you. Do you get that, Courtney? I’ve moved the hell on. Val is—“

“Trash,” she interrupted, and he shook his head, chuckling.

“You couldn’t be more fucking wrong if you tried. She’s everything to me. I thank God you and I split, because if I had met her while still married to you, you wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“Keep telling yourself that. But you loved me.”

“Valerie is my future.”

“Is that what that ring in your pocket is about?” He stopped mid-stride and looked around him. “You’re so predictable. Do you really think she wants a happily ever after with you? Women like that…” She kept talking, but Bryan tuned her out.

His eyes took in the main square streets. They weren’t particularly busy though far from empty, but he couldn’t make her out anywhere.

“See, that’s what I like, Bryan. You always looking. For me.” The sound of her voice was off and on edge. She was no longer a jealous ex but a serious threat. “Though, I think I’m going to take a page from your little blonde’s playbook and keep you on your toes.”

“What you need to do is get it through your fucking skull we’re done,” he roared, losing the last shred of patience, but he wasn’t sure how much of it she heard.

By the time he was done with his tirade, she had already ended the call.

VALERIE

It was the last day of my work week, and I was exhausted.

Happy but exhausted.

Long work hours and even longer late nights with Bryan were making me burn the midnight oil from both ends, and though the satisfaction he gave us was well worth the exhaustion, I was looking forward to a couple of days off from work and hopefully a long nap.

Reaching the triage after making my rounds, Sam, one of the nurses on duty, handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a card and a bag of food.

Thanking her, I reached for my phone from the front pocket of my purple scrub top and called Bryan.

“You okay?” he immediately asked, his voice serious with worry. I shook my head at his question. After my motorcycle had been ruined, Bryan had been on edge. One of the many reasons I sacrificed myself every night to his every whim. Right.

“Of course, it is. I just wanted to say thank you. I wasn’t expecting anything.” I beamed at the beautiful blooms, setting the vase down on the counter.

“You’re welcome, but what are you talking about?”

“My lunch.”

“I didn’t send you lunch, Blondie,” he shared, and I blinked slowly. Once. Twice.

“Flowers?” I asked, the pretty sight of the bright bouquet suddenly making me apprehensive.

“No. Who the hell is sending you flowers?” he asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“Jealous much?”

“Is there a card?” he asked roughly, and I reached for it. Holding it between my fingers, I had no idea who would have sent me flowers.

“There’s a card,” I stated, looking at the white envelope in my hands.

“So?”

“Hey, I should call you back—“ I tried to get out of having to open it with him on the phone. What if this was another weird Courtney thing?

“Val?”

“What if she—“

“Open the card.”

“Sam, who delivered the food?” I questioned, ignoring Bryan on the phone, taking advantage of her walking by me again.

“Oh, some wing place.”

“Wings?”

“Yeah! I didn’t know you liked it hot.” Kendall smiled, grabbing her bottle of water from the desk.

“What?”

“The guy said you must like it hot, since you ordered extra suicide sauce. Anyhow, he told me to tell you he packed tons. My uncle grows ghost chili peppers. I’ll bring you some next time I see him.”

“Thanks.” I faked a smile, and Kendall simply nodded before leaving.

“Did you hear—“

“Yeah,” he answered sternly. Suicide sauce. I took a deep breath, but it did nothing to calm my nerves. My hands slightly shook holding the card.

“Open it. Please, Val.”

“Fine,” I bit, not wanting to at all, but I knew I had to.

Opening it, I frowned at what looked to be the back of photo paper. Turning the picture around, I froze as everything inside of me went cold.

I couldn’t get myself to move or even breathe.

“Val?” he called out to me, and I opened my mouth and then closed it. I didn’t know what to say. The hand-written note gave me more than chills.

Roses are red, Valerie is going to be blue.

Don’t be such a blonde & get a clue

Or you will find that you’ll get what you are due.

You can’t be this dim, just stay the fuck away from him.

Run away, little slut, or someone might end up all cut.

“Val?” Bryan called out to me, and I licked my lips, my mouth desert dry.

“It’s from Courtney,” I shared, ignoring his growled curse.

Noticing there was something else, I slipped it out of the envelope. A gasp escaped just as my stomach sank to my toes. My eyes had a hard time making out what I was looking at. No. My eyes and mind were having a hard time processing that she was this far gone, and there was no hiding my reaction.

A wallet-sized picture of Bryan and me on the beach. From what we were wearing, I could tell it had been taken a couple days earlier. He had woken us up early and we had had our coffee by the shore.

But as creepy and stalkery as that was all by itself, it wasn’t what made me sick to my stomach.

My face had been scraped off. Deep red Xs where my eyes would have been.

“Damn it, Val, what the fuck is going on?” Bryan snapped me out of my thoughts. Clearing my throat, I read the note, and as calmly as I could, I told him about the picture.

Less than an hour later, he was at my side. As were other police officers.