Page 145 of The List
Addison rested her elbows on the table. “What happened?”
“I left. I wanted nothing more than to completely call his ass out in front of his wife. Until I remembered how humiliated I felt when I’d walked in on him with the club whores. I wasn’t going to publicly embarrass her.Hedeserved that.Shedidn’t.”
“But did you ever tell him?” Addison asked.
“Oh yeah. I called him to meet up. He came to my place thinking it was a hook up. My announcement ruined his mood real quick. He said it wasn’t his, and if I wanted any money from him I’d have to take him to court ’cause” —she lifted her hands in air quotes— “and I quote, ‘I ain’t paying for yourmistake.”
Addison fell back in her seat, stunned speechless.
“And believe it or not, that was one of the biggest defining moments of my life. I realized the best thing I could do for my kid and me was to walk away and never look back. So I did. My son will be eleven in a couple months, and he’s absolutely perfect.”
Addison’s thoughts went to her own father. Not perfect, far from it. But her dad showed up, showered her with love and never missed the opportunity to remind her of how proud he was.But not all dads were created equally.
“The guy never came around to see your son?”
She shook her head. “Not once.”
Asshole!
“Is he still with the club?”
“Last I heard, him and a few other members went missing.” She smirked. “That’s the thing about karma. Eventually we all get what we deserve.”
Addison lifted her glass in a toast. “To karma.”
They clinked glasses but stilled when the back door suddenly opened. Neither woman was prepared for it and jumped in their seats, Ava jerked around.
“Who is it?” she shouted.
A familiar figure appeared, walking slowly. In the dim lighting it could’ve been anyone, but Ace had a distinct swagger. As he moved closer, he came into full view. Addison stood.
“Hey Ace. Is something wrong?” For a brief second, panic set in. Cross had been secretive about his run, not giving her any details. Had he been in an accident?
“Is Cross okay?”
Ace shifted his gaze to Ava, who hadn’t said a word but stood grabbing the bottle of tequila. His gaze lingered before turning to Addison.
“No, he’s not okay. He’s fucking pissed. You were supposed to call him when you got home. You didn’t, so he sent Oak to your place.” He cocked his brow. “You wanna know if he’s okay knowing you ain’t there? Or can you fucking guess how he reacted to that, especially since you’re not answering your goddamn phone.”
Shit.
“I stayed late to clean up, and then my phone died, and I forgot to charge it.”
He sighed with a hint of annoyance and waved his hand. “Well, let’s get you home, and you can call him so he can chew your ass out instead of mine.”
Her cheeks heated, and she smiled at Ava. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Her lips twitched. “I’ll be here.”
Addison gathered her bag and walked up to the second level. As she approached Ace, she noticed him staring in Ava’s direction.
They walked to the back door with him opening it wide. When she walked out, Ace was glancing over his shoulder into the strip club. At Ava? Addison could understand why. She was gorgeous.
Ace led her to her car and his bike parked next to it.
“You don’t have to follow me home.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Yeah, I do.”
