Second chance

Second chance
Two officers stepped in first. Then another. Then a detective in plain clothes, middle-aged, tired eyes, the look of a man who had already dealt with one too many ridiculous rich-people crimes this week.

And behind them, heels clicking, breath catching, face streaked with makeup, Isabella stumbled out of the hallway, clutching her robe around herself.

“Stephy?” she gasped. “What is this? What… what’s happening?”

Her eyes darted to the officers, then to me, then back again. She looked like a panicked squirrel. A very stupid panicked squirrel.

The detective looked between us. “Mister Maddens?”

I gave him a courteous nod, as if he were a waiter and I’d just ordered sparkling water instead of someone’s arrest.

“Ah,” I said, tapping the side of my head lightly, feigning a mild forgetfulness. “There she is. I almost forgot I ordered her arrest.”

Isabella’s mouth fell open.

“What?” she breathed. “You…you what? Stephy, no. No. No, you can’t be serious.”

She grabbed my arm. I peeled her off with two fingers. The officers immediately stepped in, forming a loose barrier between us. Isabella tried to dodge around them, like she thought her body could outrun handcuffs and felony charges.

“Stephano!” she cried, hysterical now. “Please…please…baby, you can’t do this to me! To us! You can’t let them take me, you know I didn’t mean it! I told you I didn’t mean it! Everything got out of hand, that’s all! That slut provoked me…”

My stare snapped to her so sharply she physically choked on the word. The detective raised an eyebrow like he couldn’t believe she had just insulted the victim in front of the police.

I stepped closer, my voice dangerously calm.

“Isabella,” I said quietly. “Let them do their job.”

“NO!” she screamed, trying to shove past one of the officers. “Stephy, please, you’re making a mistake. You’re angry. You’re confused. She brainwashed you, can’t you see? She planned this. She’s probably lying about the baby…”

I laughed.

“Stop embarrassing yourself,” I said. “The baby is mine.”

Her knees almost buckled.

“No,” she whispered. “No…no…no, you’re being manipulated. I’m the one who loves you. I’m the one who’s been here for you. Remember everything we did together? Remember what you told me? You said I was the only woman who could satisfy you. You said she was just…just some silly little employee…”

“She was,” I cut in coldly. “Back then. But she’s the mother of my child now. And you kidnapped her.”

Isabella pressed both hands to her chest like she was having a heart attack. Honestly? If she keeled over right now, I wouldn’t even blink.

The detective gestured to his officers. “Ma’am, you need to come with us.”

She shook her head violently, hair whipping around her face.

“No! No, you can’t take me! Stephano, tell them to stop. Tell them this is a misunderstanding.”

She tried to run toward me again, but two officers caught her by the arms. She thrashed like a child throwing a tantrum.

“STEEEEEPHY!”
The scream nearly shattered glass.

“Stop calling me that,” I said.

“You love me!” she sobbed, kicking as the officers attempted to cuff her. “You told me you loved me.”

“I lied,” I said flatly.

It was a guillotine drop. Her entire body went still and she was silent for a second.

“You can’t do this to me,” she whispered hoarsely, voice cracking into something jagged. “You can’t. After everything I gave you? Everything I sacrificed? I let you do anything you wanted with me. I was loyal. I was devoted. I didn’t complain when you ignored me for weeks. I didn’t complain when you treated me like… like… like…”

“A mistress,” I supplied. “Because that’s what you were.”

She shrieked like the word sliced her skin open.

“You bastard!” she cried. “You ungrateful, heartless bastard! You used me! You used me and now you’re throwing me away for…for…for that pathetic little…”

“Finish that sentence,” I said softly. “And I’ll make sure you’re denied bail.”

Her jaw snapped shut so fast I heard her teeth click.

The detective stepped forward. “We’re taking you in. For kidnapping, unlawful detention, assault, endangerment of a pregnant woman…”

Isabella sobbed, collapsing in the officers’ grip as they adjusted the cuffs.

“Stephano,” she whimpered, her voice thin and trembling. “Please… please don’t let them take me. I did it for you. I only wanted you. I only wanted…”

“You wanted ownership,” I said. “Over something that was never yours.”

She shook her head violently, tears raining down her face.

“Have you completely lost your mind?” she whispered. “You’re choosing her? After everything? After all the things you said about her? How worthless she was, how she was, how you could never love someone like her…”

My jaw clenched. The detective motioned to the door. The officers began pulling her outside. Isabella’s screams echoed through the hallways like the house itself was trying to spit her out.

“STEPHANO! STEPHANO, PLEASE! PLEASE! I LOVE YOU! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME! I’LL CHANGE, I’LL BE BETTER, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE…!”

I watched them drag her out the door. I watched her heels scrape against the floor. I watched her hair whip wildly. I watched her sob, plead, break.

Then, when they reached the steps outside, she twisted back to look at me.

“WHY?” she screamed, voice cracking. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?”

I stepped forward, hands in my pockets, expression carved in ice.

“You didn’t think,” I said, “that I was going to let you off the hook that easily, did you?”

Her face crumpled like paper in a fist. Then she was shoved gently into the back of the police car, the door slammed shut, and the tires rolled over the gravel until the sound faded.

Silence settled in the house and then I exhaled slowly. This was good. One problem removed. One threat neutralized. One parasite cut out.

Now, there was only one thing left for me to do. I was going to go home to Camilla. And try, somehow, to be worthy of the second chance she didn’t even know she was giving me.