Page 9 of Bad Husband

“I care.”

She glared at him. “You’re her husband?”

The way she said the word “husband,” he had a sneaking suspicion that wasn’t going to win him any brownie points with her.

“I’m a friend,” he said, hating that he needed to play down their relationship.

“A friend? You’re the one that let her get beaten?” she asked.

This was not good. “I’m a friend that cares for her, and I want to take her away from all of this.”

She sneered at him. “I don’t know what Chiara’s story is, and quite frankly, I don’t care. She’s one of the good ones and you, you’re not. If it’s all the same to you, Chiara has already left for the day.”

“I didn’t see her leave.”

“There is more than one way to leave the freaking diner.” And with that, she slammed the door closed.

No one would dare speak to him this way. Chiara had snuck off, and she had done so on purpose. He shook his head, and stormed back to his car, climbing behind the wheel and taking off, heading straight back to the fucking trailer park. Calling Angelo, he had to wait for his father-in-law to answer the call.

At first, it went to voicemail, but he was not a man to be pushed aside. He dialed again, and this time, Angelo answered, with the sound of Poodles barking in the background.

“What is it?” Angelo asked.

“Your daughter is being stubborn. She is not listening to reason, and she refuses to come with me. She is determined to stay here in her shitty life in No Point.”

Angelo sighed. “You hurt her, Marco. My daughter is not going to just forgive and forget. I warned you about this.”

“What do you expect me to do? You need to come and get your daughter and tell her—”

“What? To stay married to you? To come back to you, that she is going to be safe and you would never hurt her?” Angelo asked, with a hint of sarcasm. “Perhaps I should remind you, I already told her all of this on your wedding day. I told her she would be safe with you.” There was a brief pause where it sounded like Angelo was getting his breath back. “One year was all it took for you to lose her trust. One fucking year. You messed this up, and now it is up to you to win her back.” With that, he hung up.

Marco grabbed his cell phone and threw it in the back seat. If he could, he would have smashed the damn thing. Instead, he had to bring his car to an abrupt stop as a child ran out in front of him, and he nearly knocked her right over. He gripped the steering wheel, glaring at the girl, and then he pressed on his horn to get her to move out of the fucking way. Finally, her mother came out and picked up her little girl.

He ignored them both and drove to the back of the trailer park where he saw Chiara hanging out her washing. He parked his car, and was taken aback at seeing her so domesticated. Back home, she didn’t have to do anything. He had people to serve her every need—cleaners, cooks, whatever her heart desired. All she had to do was ... serve him.

Climbing out of his car, he saw Chiara had looked in his direction, but she went back to hanging out her wash. He saw it was a couple of her uniforms, as well as a pair of jeans and some lingerie. It was just a small washing line, square, with several lines.

Even though it was close to eight-thirty, it was still warm and would be light for another couple of hours.

“Go away,” Chiara said.

“No.”

She tensed up, turned to look at him, and he saw her realize they were not alone. Many people were out of their trailers, basking in the warmth. She licked her lips, then ran her hands down her sides. She’d gotten out of her uniform and wore a strappy summer dress. It was a little big, and it was then he noticed she had lost some weight since he last saw her. She was still curvy, but he saw the slenderness of her face, and her ass was not as full.

“What is it going to take for you to leave?” she asked.

“Chiara, you need to come with me. You’re still my wife,” he said.

She burst out laughing and walked into her trailer, so he followed her.

“You know, that is quite funny, isn’t it? I am still your wife, and you had me beaten and tortured.”

“I needed to know what you had given to Andante,” he said.

She turned to look at him, with a hand on her hip. “We’re going around in circles.”

“I know now that you didn’t have anything to do with Andante,” he said.