Chapter 35 One Week Later
POV Damian:
A week later
It’s hell. Being in Chicago when I want to be in Detroit is a tremendous, fucking hell. Running away from Scarlett didn’t do any good if she doesn’t leave my thoughts for even a minute. I tried to feign indifference the first two days, not asking a single thing about her, but on the third day I couldn’t when I heard her voice while I was talking to Noah. I asked everything: how she’s been eating, whether she’s taking her vitamins at the right times. It was Liam who told me everything. Apparently Ethan and Noah have been by her side since I left for Chicago, leaving her as if I didn’t care.
It seems she hates me even more now; she founded a club in my house called “I Hate the Asshole Unlimited.” Noah even ordered T-shirts, and Liam did me the favor of sending a photo of her with Noah and Ethan, tongues out and middle fingers raised. I wanted to hate the picture, but the truth is I liked it.
My brothers have been trying to get me to come home, but I’m still not ready to see Scarlett as my sister-in-law. Being near her won’t help at all. I don’t think anything will make me return until I can believe I’ll be okay seeing her without wanting to kiss her.
I am not going back!
I’m buried in a pile of paperwork—because that’s my life these days—so much that I don’t notice my phone buzzing every minute. Are those messages from my brothers? I panic and grab the phone immediately, thinking something might have happened to Scarlett or the baby. Instead, I’m met with a flood of notifications from my bank showing multiple charges on my credit card.
That’s all I needed—my card’s been cloned.
I search my wallet for the card so I can call the bank to report it, but I’m even more surprised when I can’t find it. A notification from Noah makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Of course he’s behind this. I open the message and, alongside the word “Asshole,” there’s a video.
“You’re an asshole,” Scarlett says in the clip, carrying a bunch of shopping bags, all from the most expensive stores I know. “So Noah and I went into your room and took your credit card. Your trip to Chicago caused me a lot of stress. Ethan told me, and the obstetrician told Ethan, that too much stress isn’t good for the baby. So…” She makes a point of showing my black card to the camera. “I’m going to spend the afternoon de-stressing. Enjoy yourself, asshole.”
How fucking cheeky.
The video ends, and I sprint to my bank’s app to see the hole she’s making on my card, and I almost fall out of my chair at how much she’s already spent. Son of a… My phone rings, and my idiot brother’s name flashes on the screen.
“You’re kidding me?” I growl.
“Relax, it’s not that bad.” He massages his temples. “Let me ask you something—would you be really pissed if Scarlett and I put an R8 on your card?” He’s joking. He has to be, for fuck’s sake!
“You want to put a car on my card?! An R8, of all things—do you know how much that car costs?!” I shout, furious.
“Of course I know. Scarlett loved one we saw, and I said you’d give it to her as a present. Am I wrong?” I’m going to kill Noah. “You should’ve seen how her eyes lit up.” Fuck it.
“I’m coming back, and you’re fucked once I get my hands on you.”
“Okay, but can we buy it or not?”
I’m livid, absolutely livid. When I get my hands around my brother’s neck, I’ll squeeze until his eyes bulge out.
“Fine!” I grunt.
“He said yes, Scarlett! You can charge it.” I hear the bastard yell before he hangs up on me.
Not a minute later my phone pings with the damn car purchase—an R8 that'll cost Miss Monroe dearly. Oh, cheeky one, you just wait. I button up my suit and head to the airport. It’s time to go home.