Cheaters Anonymous (29 page)

I didn’t know how to give him the details of how, during my last six months in Washington, I’d found a new way to feed my sex addiction. Although the service we provided was supposed to work differently, I found it catered to the cleaner men and was safer than hooking up with strangers I met online.

“There was a club in Washington called The Infinity. It was an escort service, but the clientele was limited to rich men. I think Brad may have been one of them.”

“One you had sex with?”

“No, definitely not. He wouldn’t still be after me if I had. But I think Brad may have recorded me. At least that’s what he alluded to.”

“Hold on. Infinity as in, ‘The one you commit to for life’?” Scar shot off the chair and came to sit beside me.

“Yeah, that one. How did you know?”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. How did you get out of it?”

“Zoey used her trust fund. She paid off the owner. He figured he got more than he would have if I stayed. A lot of the girls there eventually turn to drugs. Some overdose. And it was never about the money for me, but of course I didn’t care to think about it when I signed up. I’d leave the hospital and go straight to the hotel. Sometimes...” I paused. My clearest memory was of sore limbs and muscles after I’d had two to three men in a night, often at the same time, fulfilling their gang-bang fantasies “It was more than one, Scar,” I whispered.

“Jesus, Jules. I mean, I knew you had a past, but I didn’t think... Now it all makes sense.”

I felt my shoulders droop. “What makes sense? That I’m a worthless wh...”

“Whoa! No, Jules, that’s not what I meant. I love you for who you are, and I always will. I’m the last person who would throw stones. It’s just all so clear now.”

I stilled. “What did you just say?”

“It makes sense why Ace mentioned that Zoey was struggling to find a job and needed money.”

I shifted over Scar’s lap, straddling him, and held his face to look at me. “No, no. Before that.”

He thought for a moment, and when he found the clarity of his words, he smiled. “I love you, Jules. I think I have for a long time. I am so madly in love with you I’d do anything to ease that pain I see in your eyes. It doesn’t matter what you did or who you were with before me. I’d be a hypocrite to hold anything against you. I know you, and you know me. We’re better and happier together than apart. You’ve been the one that’s been missing in my life, and I only wish I’d realized it sooner.”

I could barely swallow. I pulled my hand over my eyes, wiping away the tears. “I love you too.” I said before pressing my lips to his for a drawn out kiss.

“The tattoo over by your hip, is that—”

“—yes. Every girl had it done.”

“Hmm, we’re going to have to do something about that. Now, are you going to tell me what Brad wants in exchange for the supposed evidence?”

“For us to drop the charges. Mine, yours, Trish’s. I can’t lose my job, Scar. If he has something on me, I can’t take the risk. But I want to see whatever he has first.”

“And he’ll stay quiet? He’ll get rid of it all?”

“There’s more.” I lifted my gaze, looking at him from below my lashes. I told Scar about Brad’s indecent proposal. I’d seen Scar angry and I’d seen him mad, but I’d never seen that vein at the side of his neck pulse with as much force as it did now.

“He has to be fucking kidding.”

“I wish that were true.”

“No way, Jules. Not in this lifetime or the next.”

“What are we going to do?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it now, Jules. I hate giving into his blackmail, but if it’s the only way we can avoid damage to your career, then we’ll do what has to be done. We’ll figure this out. I’ll have to share this information with our lawyers. All of it. And you’re not going within a mile of him. I would feel so much better if you were at my house.”

I nodded. “Maybe I should move in.”

The side of his mouth curved up.

“I mean, I’m off the next three days, and I’d have time. Does tomorrow sound okay?”

“No – let’s do it now.”

Scar had his phone in his hands and was calling the movers before I got a chance to say anything else.

“Scar, there’s no hurry.”

“Of course there is. I’m not taking a chance that you’ll change your mind.”

“No way. If we drop the charges, Brad goes free...”

He lowered his cell, took my face into his hands and looked me straight in my eyes. “Jules, he won’t get to you again. Even if Brad goes free, we’ll file restraining orders, and I’m going to install a top-of-the-line security system at my house. I mean,
our
house. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep him behind those bars.”

That somewhat made me feel better. “Are you mad I went to see him?”

Scar’s eyes softened, and the caring man I always saw behind the tough exterior wrapped his arms around me.

“No, Jules. I’m not mad. Now, what do you say we get that tattoo covered up?”

Why had I not thought of that before?

C
HAPTER
29

Two days later I sat in Scar’s back yard, admiring how high the weeds could grow. From dandelions to thistles, the garden looked like it could win a trophy for being the most overgrown in the country. Was there some special fertilizer in the soil to make them that thick and luscious? The sun was pretty hot for nine in the morning, and for the first time in years I realized how much I missed having a place that offered free Vitamin D where I could stretch out my legs when not at work. It would be a perfect time to take a dip in the pool, but I had no intention of swimming in the green goo of algae in front of me.

My move into Scar’s house had gone more smoothly than I’d expected. It felt natural to be there, and I was more at home than at my own apartment. Ever since Zoey had moved out I’d missed her, and living alone was definitely not my thing. I heard every squeak and crack, and my restless sleep was only adding to the stress of the upcoming trial.

Scar had left over an hour ago. He’d taken it upon himself to personally visit Brad, hopefully get all the blackmail material, and somehow figure out how to keep him in jail without having to drop the charges.

A gust of warm wind blew, and I felt the sweat drip down my back. Why wouldn’t he hire a landscaper? The grass was so tall you could barely see the beautiful cobblestone path leading from the patio to the pool. Shaking my head, I pulled out my phone and dialed Beth’s number.

“Julia, how are you?”

“Good. I hope this isn’t a bad time.”

“Never, sweetheart. Scar tells me you’ve moved in together?”

“Yes, we have. And I already have a favor to ask.”

“What can I help you with?”

“Have you seen his back yard?”

“Argh, my son definitely doesn’t have a green thumb.”

I imagined her rolling her eyes, and something told me they’d had a conversation about the landscaping more than once.

“I have a few days off, and I was hoping you could help me fix it, because I don’t even know where to start. I don’t even know if Scar owns a shovel, and I’m pretty sure the pool will have to be drained, but...”

“Do. Not. Move. Julia,” she interrupted. “I will be there with everything you need within the hour.”

I didn’t get a chance to say thank you because Beth had already hung up. When the doorbell rang forty-five minutes later, I slid across the empty floor downstairs toward the front, hoping Beth would know where I could get a wheelbarrow as well.

“We need to get some furniture,” I said to myself. The bed upstairs, a few kitchen stools to sit on, an old patio set – that was the extent of Scar’s furniture. And since my apartment was leased furnished, I couldn’t take any of the furnishings with me.

When I opened the door, Beth was standing there wearing the brightest smile I’d yet seen. She removed her oversized hat and sunglasses, and took me in for a hug before I greeted her. “I’m so happy you called. You have no idea how long I’ve been badgering Scar about this. Do you think we could do the front as well?”

“I’m not sure we’ll have time.”

And that’s when I saw two huge dump trucks full of soil making their way up the driveway.

“Beth, I thought
we
were going to do the work.”

“Julia, you can work on the garden through the year, once it’s fixed. But if you think you can dive into that forest of weeds back there on your own, you’re dreaming. I don’t think the summer’s long enough for a couple of women to fix this beautiful property.”

“You hired landscapers,” I said, watching a third truck pull in. “And pool people.”

“You sure Scar’s gone all day?”

“Yes. After the court house, he’s going straight to the club. He won’t be back until they close up.”

“Good. If he calls, you do not tell him what we’re doing.” She squeezed past me into the house as if in a hurry to get the project started. I closed the door and followed her in.

“Why is he so opposed to having this fixed?” I helped her to unload the two bags of groceries she’d carried in.

“Let’s make some lemonade for these men, and I’ll tell you all about Scar’s feud with life.”

“Would you like something to drink?”

“I would love a margarita.” She pulled out a bottle from another bag I hadn’t seen.

I looked at my watch for a moment, and then decided that it was never too early to have a margarita.

“Julia, please tell me now that you’re here, Scar will get some furniture.” Beth prepared the two drinks and started halving the lemons. Beyond the windows, I saw about two dozen men already pulling out the weeds. “And house plants. You definitely need to bring the outdoors in.”

“I’m pretty sure we will.” I laughed. “Is that part of Scar’s feud as well?”

“My son seems to think he doesn’t deserve anything good in life.”

“Why?”

“I’ve been trying to figure out an answer to that for years. First it was his obsession with being a bastard child; then it was the fight club in high school. For a brief moment I thought he’d finally smartened up when he finished law school and practiced for a while… and then he ran into Bradley again. I don’t know what Candice has done to raise him, and I’m not going to blame her because it’s tough when you’re a parent with a full-time job, but that man needed some sense smacked into him long ago. I told Scar not to get involved in the club, but he didn’t listen. And now look how Brad’s hurt you.”

This conversation had turned into one I wasn’t expecting way too quickly, and Beth didn’t even know it. She was Brad’s biological mother. He’d been stolen from them before he even felt a mother’s touch. Would Brad have been different if Beth had raised him? Probably. But then I wouldn’t know Scar.

“If you had a chance to find your baby, would you?”

She gave me that
Where’s this coming from?
look, but didn’t press it. One of her brows rose higher, and I could just imagine the wheels turning in her mind.

“It wouldn’t be my baby any more, would it?” She paused for a moment, taking time to think. Something crossed her face. Doubt and fear, mixed with regret and wonder. When she spoke again, her eyes were sad. “Genes don’t create people. People create people. I’d like to know that he had all the love I’d have given him and that he was with a good family. But that child is not mine. Scar is mine.”

The love in her voice for her son was undeniable Would she have felt the same way if she knew Brad was hers – biologically, at least?

“But Scar turned out okay. Didn’t he?”

“Get the pitcher from that cupboard, honey.” She pointed behind me. I wiped my hands dry and reached up. At least Scar’s kitchen was somewhat equipped, but I had a funny feeling the small appliances, cookware, and dishes were all Beth’s doing.

“Is that new?” She pointed to my midriff. “It’s gorgeous.”

“I got it yesterday.”

Her expression told me she wanted to ask more about the rose tattoo underneath my hip bone, but she didn’t, and that was the moment I knew that Beth had as many secrets as the deepest sea, ones she wasn’t ready to share just yet, and she was good at keeping them. She brought her attention back the counter full of lemons. She picked one up, squeezing it into the pitcher.

“Scar turned out okay thanks to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Julia, do you not know that he stopped the fight club as soon as he met you?”

“That can’t be true. The scars. I saw fresh ones.”

“The fresh ones weren’t from those fights. I didn’t want to bring this up, but didn’t Scar tell you about Brad?”

I stopped slicing through the lemons.

“That he defended your name over and over again, when Brad wanted to make a deal to... I’m not sure I can even say it.”

“Brad asked Scar to set me up, didn’t he? So he could sleep with me. And Scar refused.”

“Of course he refused, but a few times they really went at it. I met with Candice at the hospital, and she promised to get Brad help. We thought it worked. Instead he blamed his mother for conspiring against him. I’m pretty sure he’s held on to the grudge for a long time.”

Was that why at the hospital, Mrs. Watson said she hadn’t spoken to her son in so long?

“He internalized it all and sought me out years later.”

“Yes, and I’m pretty sure Scar feels guilty he hasn’t been able to stop him.”

“But it’s not his fault.”

“Just like it isn’t that his father had an affair, or that they made a mistake at the clinic. Being my youngest son, Scar took a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He always wanted to be independent and in charge and to protect those closest to him. Just like his father.” She raised her finger in a warning. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

I chuckled. “I won’t.” Being compared to his father was the last thing Scar would have wanted.

Beth lowered her knife. Her eyes filled with a new kind of love, the same kind I saw when Scar looked at me.

“Frank’s a good man. He made mistakes, and many don’t know it, but it was all to keep his family safe. There are things I cannot speak of, but you need to trust me on this, Jules. There were things Frank had to do... was forced to do to keep his family safe. And they might not have been the right choices at the time, but they were the only choices he could have made. He’s a good man, and so is Scar.”