Wild For You: Forever Wild #5 (4 page)

I grabbed a cranberry scone off the table. “But I am taking this!” I shoved it in my purse and turned, walking out of the dining room toward the living room.

“Valerie, wait!” he yelled after me.

But I didn’t turn back. I could have just royally screwed up my career and possibly been broke, but I didn’t care because as soon as I got in the elevator by myself I let all the tears that I’d been holding in pour out.

I had to give myself a pep talk in the Starbucks bathroom before I could muster up the courage to hail a cab home. The person I thought I was in love with had accepted a bribe to leave me. What the hell? Our thirty days to sign the papers were almost up and I had planned on just shredding the papers and calling the lawyer to tell him the same thing, but I wondered if Wes had other plans. Maybe all along he was just going to leave me with the money and was just figuring out the best way to do it.

Or maybe it was all a mistake. And that was the conversation I had with myself over and over until I got in the cab and finally took the ride back to my apartment. Once I stepped inside
, the apartment was silent. Dexter was on the couch and growled at me as soon as I stepped near it.

“Not now, cat, I’m looking for Wes,” I grumbled.

I took a step toward the bathroom and heard the shower running. He must have had a personal training session that morning. I thought I was doing him a favor by setting him up with that gig, but he really didn’t even need the money; it was just extra cash for him to leave me with. God, how could I have been so stupid?

I opened the door and heard Wes crooning “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Ray. Normally I would have found it incredibly sexy, but not today. Now I just wanted to choke him with one of Paige’s loofahs.

“Hey, Val, is that you?” Wes stopped singing and yelled.

“It is,” I said, takin
g a few steps toward the shower; the only thing separating us was the kitten print shower curtain that I got as a gag gift for Christmas.

He opened the curtain, a huge grin on his face and nothing else. “Care to join me?”

I folded my arms over my chest. “Did you take money from Max Green?”

He blinked hard, taking a slight step back. “What?”

“You heard me. Did you take money from Max Green?”

“I mean ...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes and no.”

I couldn’t cry. I wanted to cry so badly and the tears wanted to burst through my eyes but I was done crying for him. “What do you mean yes and no? Just give me a straight answer. Be real with me, Wes. Be honest for once, if you even know the meaning of that word.”

He turned off the shower and grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapping it around his waist. “Okay, yes
, I did take the money he offered me.”

I put my hand over my mouth, gasping. “No.” I shook my head. “No, no, no. I didn’t want you to say it was true.”

He stepped out of the shower. “But I wasn’t going to leave you. You have to believe me.”

“Then why did you take his money? How am I supposed to believe you? You’ve had all of that money for weeks and you didn’t give it back? And you didn’t tell me anything about it?”

“Valerie, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to hurt you. You have to believe me that I never planned on doing anything to hurt you and I didn’t think you’d ever find out.” He put his hands on my shoulders.

I shook my head, stepping back, the tears falling down my cheeks. I couldn’t be there
with him. My throat felt like it was closing up and I was going to suffocate. “I can’t believe you would do this to me. After all we’ve been through. You said you loved me. That you belonged to me. But you’ve been keeping secrets from me and made deals with someone else!”

“Valerie, I do love you! That’s not what happened at all! Please you have to believe me.”

“I ... I ... I have to go.” I shook my head and turned away, running out of the room.

“Valerie!” he called.

But I didn’t look back. I didn’t want to listen to whatever other excuses he had. I just had to get away. I reached the front door, throwing it open and ran out.

“Valerie, please wait!” He was still yelling after me. I wasn’t sure if he put on any clothes or if he was in a towel because I didn’t loo
k. I just kept running and kept my head down, my tears blurring my vision.

I kept
going. I walked until I ended up on Michigan Avenue right in front of Paige’s work. My feet were killing me since I walked almost five miles in heels, but I couldn’t stop. Paige was in those pictures and she had to know the truth about what happened. My roommate was always honest, even if she didn’t happen to tell me about this little back room deal with Wes and Max.

I walked into the store that smelled like pressed powder and expensive perfume. None of the other saleswomen in their all black attire with black aprons approached me, I must have looked even worse than I felt. When I got back to the eye makeup counter where Paige specialized in
smoky eye application techniques, I knew how bad I looked because one of her co-workers nudged her and Paige looked up, gasping as soon as she saw me.

“Omigod! Val!” She stepped off the podium and walked over to me. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Can we talk?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure.” She looked around. “How about you come sit in my chair and I’ll fix whatever’s going on with this sad girl makeup look you have going on?”

I nodded, sniffling. “Okay.”

Paige took my hand and led me up to her station, plopping me down in her chair
, then grabbed some makeup from a display near her. She had a degree in fashion merchandising from Central but since she couldn’t get a job after college she settled for being the smoky eye expert. It didn’t even pay for half the rent and her dad was on her to get a job, but she said she wouldn’t do anything unless she loved it and it was in her field. Part of me actually wondered if she even wanted to go into fashion or if she just did it because that’s what all her friends majored in.

“Now wipe the shit off your face and tell me what happened.” She handed me a case of makeup removing wipes.

“I went to Max’s for a work meeting this morning,” I said, pulling out a wipe from the box. I wiped it over my face then threw it away in a stainless steel trashcan next to my seat.

Paige rolled her eyes. “Why would you do that to yourself?”

I set the box down on the table next to me. “That’s not the worst part of it. He told me that he gave Wes money to leave me and that Wes took it. He had pictures and everything showing that it was true.” I felt the tears wanting to escape my eyes again. “And when I confronted Wes about it he admitted to everything.”

Paige’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” She leaned against her vanity. “I was there when Max showed up at our apartment
...” she said cautiously.

“I know and don’t think I’m not pissed that you don’t tell me.”

She licked her lips. “I didn’t tell you because I thought Wes returned the money to Max. I gave him one of my messenger bags and the address to his office and everything. He said he was going to do it and I thought it was all taken care of and we’d never have to worry about him again.”

I sighed. “Well, obviously we were wrong about something.”

Paige looked at the clock behind me and took off her apron. “Then we just have to make this right and figure it out.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

She put her hand out. “Let’s go see what Wild Wes really has to say about what happened with him and Max and get to the bottom of it. Come on.”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“Yeah, but it’s close enough to my lunch. Come on, I’ll drive.”

***

It was definitely a lot quicker to drive back home than to walk, especially when Paige drove like a freaking maniac. By the time she parked in front of our apartment I practically jumped out of the car just happy to be on solid ground and not dead.

I didn’t even wait for Paige to
get out of the car before I ran down the sidewalk and up to our apartment. I unlocked the door and threw it open, “Wes? Wes?” I yelled.

No sign of him in the apartment.
Dexter still growled on the couch and I just ignored him and walked toward the bathroom, where there was no sign of him. “Wes? Where are you?”

I walked out of bathroom and into the bedroom. He wasn’t there either. I thought maybe he needed to get away to clear his head as well and then I looked on the bed and saw a sheet
of paper with one of my large yellow sticky notes attached to it. I picked it up, silently praying that it was just a note saying he went out to pick up groceries for dinner.

Valerie,

The divorce papers are signed and I booked the next flight to Vegas. You don’t have to worry about dealing with me anymore.

Wes

P.S.

This is what I used the money for and why I didn’t tell you about it. I was waiting for the right moment to give it to you. I guess this is as good as any.

Gone? And what did he use the money for? I looked down at the bed and saw a blue box open to reveal a large diamond ring. I gasped, seeing the sparkling solitaire diamond staring back at me. Slowly I picked it up, staring at the flawless piece of jewelry. It had to cost a fortune. Probably everything that Max gave him plus everything he earned from personal training.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Paige asked
, tentatively stepping next to me.

I just shook my head and handed her the piece of paper, staring at the ring
.

Paige took the piece of paper. “He’s really gone?”

“Yeah... I think so.”

“Whoa. And that’s one helluva ring.”

“It’s what he used the money to buy,” I whispered.

“He has some damn good taste,” Paige said.

“Yeah, he does.” I took it out of the box and put it on my ring finger, watching it sparkle in the light. “Now if he just wanted to stay with me.”

“Any guy that gives you a ring like that wants to be with you.”

I shook my head, turning toward her. “But he left and signed the divorce papers. What am I supposed to do?”

Paige widened her eyes like the answer was simple. “You go after him. That’s what you do.”

“Pffffft. Like I have the money to do that. I’m freaking working on commission.”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? All you have to do is ask.”

“Ask what?”

She pulled her phone out and clicked a few buttons. “I can get you on a flight leaving in three hours out of
O’Hare, so you’d better get your ass packed and ready.”

“Are you serious right now?”

Paige clicked a few more buttons. “I’m entering Daddy’s credit card information now; don’t make me change my mind. Now get your shit packed.”

“Okay.” I swallowed hard and then turned, opening my closet door and grabbing my bag, throwing in whatever I could find for clothes. I didn’t know how long it would take and if I was making a huge mistake
, or if he’d even want to take me back after I ran out on him like I did, but I had to take a chance. A phone call or a text wasn’t going to do it. I had to make the big gesture and show him that I was completely wild for him and that he was more than just a marriage by mistake.

“You about ready? I’m going to go way over my lunch break and I just emailed your ticket info to your phone,” Paige asked as I walked out of the bathroom
, stuffing the last of my toiletries in my bag.

“Yeah, I am.” I grabbed my laptop bag and threw it over my shoulder.

“Okay.” She nodded.

“Am I absolutely crazy for doing this?”

Paige shook her head. “If you’re crazy then I’m even crazier for encouraging you.”

“I don’t even know where he went or how to find him or where to go.”

Paige put her hand on my shoulder. “You do what you have to do. And if it’s supposed to happen then it’s gonna happen. And if you need me to hop on that plane to come get you and pick you up off the ground wherever you are, I’ll be there because that’s what friends are for.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Paige.”

“No problem, Valerie.” She picked up my bag and opened the front door. “Now let’s get you to the airport and find your husband.”

Want to know what happens next? Stay tuned for the conclusion in the Forever Wild series: WILD.

Want more Valerie and Wes?

Keep up with all of the books in the Forever Wild Series

One Wild Night

Wild Hearts

The Wild One

The Wild Side

Wild For You

Wild