Scott only nodded and went “Uh huh,” with that quirked eyebrow again.
“Okay, what’s wrong?” Vanessa finally asked, not able to take another second of his silence. “You’ve been acting agitated since you picked me up. Is it your dad or work?”
“Neither,” he answered flatly, his gaze finally becoming direct. He wiped his mustache and short beard with a napkin before setting it down. “I got a visit this afternoon at work from somebody named Santino. He said he’s your husband.”
Stunned, she was momentarily tongue-tied. All she could do was sit there and watch as Scott pulled out his phone, unlocked it, scrolled through it, and then turned the phone in her direction. He showed her a pic of her and Santino on their wedding day at the beach, laughing, happy, unaware of the deep potholes in the road they were about to go down.
“It’s his screen cap. He texted it to me after I asked for proof of what he was saying because when he first told me you were married and I had better not take you to Montreal, I honestly didn’t believe it. I said there was no way you wouldn’t tell me about a whole ass husband. I came out tonight to ask you about it because I still can’t believe it. Like maybe you’re divorced and he’s delusional and can’t accept it. So, are you divorced? Or are you married?” Scott put the phone down, staring at her.
This was it. She was going to lose her shit and kill Santino once and for all.
Fingers shaking, she managed to pick up her glass and take a long sip of water. It nearly choked her going down the wrong pipe. The other patrons were glancing over at their table, so she put her hand over her mouth and willed herself to calm down.
When she could finally speak, she said, “Legally separated. I was going to tell you about him tonight. I was going to tell you before Montreal so you’d know and… we could move forward from a place of honesty.”
“A place of honesty?” Scott spluttered with a disbelieving laugh. Then he sobered and his face turned darker. “We’ve been seeing each other for four months. You said you had a bad breakup with an ex and that’s why you wanted to take things slow. Is this why you wouldn’t let me stay over? Are you still sleeping with him?”
An image popped in her head of Santino’s face as he stared into her eyes, his mouth so tantalizingly close while his thumb rubbed those little circles…
She shook her head clear of those thoughts, but the guilt didn’t leave with them. “I didn’t want to rush into that until we’d known each other better. And yes, getting to know each other meant me telling you about him when the time was right. But I’m sure what he didn’t tell you was that we’ve been separated since he cheated on me with his ex-girlfriend.”
Scott’s eyebrows rose at that information. “Cheating, huh? I bet.” For some reason, he didn’t sound convinced.
“Yes, three years ago. I’ve served him papers, and he’s been contesting our divorce in court for two years. He won’t sign. But my attorney is positive it’ll be over by December if the judge declares it over. Then I’ll be free and clear. I really want things to work out for us.”
Scott leaned back, sighing hard and shaking his head slowly. “Nah.” It was a simple word, short and to the point, but it crashed onto the table between them like a boulder.
“What?” Vanessa sat up straighter and blinked at him. “Nah? What does that mean,nah? I thought things were cool between us. This is just a question of paperwork. I’m done with him.”
“Nah,” Scott repeated, shrugging one shoulder. “Everythingwascool until some motherfucker showed up at my place of business telling me you’re his wife and he’s not going anywhere. Everything was cool until he threatened to beat my ass if I saw you or spoke to you again, in front of my clients, in front of my employees. The only reason I didn’t take him up on it for disrespecting me like that was because I’ve worked too hard to build a reputation with those people. I can’t have drama around my money. That’s number one.”
He held up a finger, his eyes turned all the way from cold to fierce while shame heated her cheeks. Then he held up a second finger and exhaled. Now there was a glint of hurt behind the anger in his eyes.
“Number two. I liked you, a lot. I really hoped this could go somewhere. I could’ve handled a jealous ex-husband if I thought you and I could really build something, but you lied to me. For four months, you kept this from me. You —”
“I —”
“I’m not finished.” He paused, his eyes blazing her into silence. “You kept me at a distance, saying you wanted to take it slow, but it’s starting to look more like you didn’t want anything to go down between us because you’re still in love with him.”
The accusation hit her like a slap in the face. “In love with him? I’m not in love with him. I don’t have anything to do with him. I don’t even see him unless it’s to discuss the divorce,” Vanessa insisted. A queasy feeling invaded her, at his words, at the sensation trembling in her chest that maybe she was protesting too much for a reason.
“Bottom line is, you’re married, and you covered it up. That’s involved. You know my history. I told you I’d been married, and she cheated on me. That fucking wrecked me. So, nah, I don’t see where we go from here if I can’t trust you to be honest about shit like this.”
His face flushing brick red, Scott looked at her with open resentment. That hurt. Fresh salt being poured in an already deep cut.
“Okay, if we’re speaking of honesty. When were you going to mention you’re in a gang?”
Scott’s face went brick red this time. He leaned back, appraising her with eyes that could have sliced through her like a knife made of green jade. Quietly, in a tone that made her pulse jangle, he said, “You don’t want to know anything about that side of me, Vanessa. You really don’t.”
They sat frozen in taut silence for several minutes. The waitress came by to ask if they wanted dessert. Scott said, “No, thank you. I’d like the check, please,” while Vanessa shook her head, willing the lump in her throat to shrink and go away.
“Let’s go,” he said gruffly.
The drive back was filled with more music, papering over the bitterness twisting through the interior of the car.
Curses, foiled again. If it wasn’t for that meddling kid…
When they reached her house, Scott didn’t turn off the ignition. The night air was humid, and Vanessa wiped a trickle of sweat from her temple. She felt disheveled, disoriented. Unable to understand why she kept making mistake after mistake, crashing and burning.
