Silver and Chrome: A Bad Boy MC Romance (49 page)

“
Who
the fuck do you think you are?
”

I stood up from the chair as soon as I see
Denise coming down the hallway, unsure what she is capable of doing.  Obviously
Chase has told her that he never wants to speak to her again, and she decided
that I
’
m to blame.  She gives me
no chance to answer before she continues.

“You’ve
known Chase for what, a
couple of weeks and you
’
re
already demanding that he break off friendships he’s had for years?
”
She turns to look at Chase who is standing behind her
with a raised eyebrow. 
“
Seriously?  Don
’
t
you see how this is some serious stalker type behavior, Chase?  Who does that?
”

“Denise,”
he says, his voice
starting off calm in the face of her storm but rising as he speaks,
“don
’
t
try to turn this around.  This was my decision, it had nothing to do with Lila
other than it’s become clear to me that you
’
re
trying to sabotage my relationship with her, and I
’
m
not going to stand for it.  We were halfway around the fucking world on
vacation and you told me there was an emergency.
”

“And I handled-”.

“Bullshit,”
he practically
roars, cutting her off as all calmness flees his demeanor.  From the corner of
my eye I see the receptionist shift around in her seat, clearly uncomfortable
at witnessing this.  As much as I had wanted to see this myself earlier, I
’
m
now regretting getting my wish.

She whirls back to me now, her eyes full
of fire. 
“
You little bitch, do you
really think this is going to help you land a man like Chase?
”

“I
’
m
not trying to land anyone.
”  It
’
s
impossible for her to conceive of the fact that I
’
m
not after Chase for anything other than himself. 

Now she throws her head back and laughs,
but it’s a deep laugh, unlike the shrill one I
’
m
used to hearing. 
“You
’
re
so naive.  You don
’
t
know anything about Chase.  You had no idea he was even buying that house, he
told you it was his and you believed him.
”

I shake my head, unwilling to let her goad
me into a fight.  I
’
m
past the house issue.  It
’
s
not going to bother me.  She’s not going to bother me. 
“
I
know about the house now, and I
’
m
fine with it.  Chase had his reasons and I get it.
”

“
Do you?  You understand
his reasons?
”
She spins again to face
Chase. 
“
Does
she know the reason Chase?  The
real
reason you needed a new house?
”

“Denise…”
Chase begins, his
eyes flitting to me quickly where I see a flash of something in them that I
haven
’
t seen before.  Fear? 

“
You didn’t, did you?
”

“
I explained my feelings
to her,
”
Chase
says quickly. 
“
She understands
enough about how I feel to know the house is a symbol that I
’
m
changing my ways.
”

Denise laughs again, still the deeper
throaty laugh. 
“
Stop trying to
shoot an angle here, Chase.  You
’
re
not at the poker table.  Let me help you out.  You obviously are very serious
about your little girlfriend here, and I can see why.  So young and pretty. 
But what relationship can last without complete honesty?  I don
’
t
think you’ve been completely honest with Lila here, have you Chase?  So yes,
let me help.
” 
She turns back to me
again, the smile on her face very disconcerting.  I want to tell her that I don
’
t
want to hear anything she has to say, that I know she’s only going to try to
poison my relationship with Chase with whatever comes out of her mouth, but the
words won
’
t come to my
lips.  Despite knowing that whatever she tells me is going to be twisted or
designed to hurt me or our relationship, I still want to hear it.  The fact
that I saw fear in Chase
’
s
eyes make
s it even more important.  It
’
s
obviously something he’s worried about me find
ing
out
. 

“
Chase needed this new
house, because he can
’
t
take you back to his existing house.
”

My brow furrows.  Existing house?  He has
another one?  My brain races around trying to figure out what that means before
Denise can continue, before she can twist the truth around to make something
innocuous sound worse than it is.  Is something wrong with his last house?  Why
would I care?  Is it a huge mansion and she thinks I’ll think he’s stuck up? 
Or is it tiny and rundown, with tenants living in it because he’s a secret
slumlord?  Whatever it is, I can
’
t
imagine why I would care beyond wondering why he wouldn’t tell me in the first
place. 

“
And he can
’
t
take you back to his existing house, because someone already lives there, right
Chase?
”

Slumlord it is.  Or something like that. 
Or maybe he’s got an old roommate there he doesn’t want me to meet, or could he
still have been living with his parents?  The possibilities spin through my
head in the mere moments before she continues, making time seem to slow with
each new piece of information she doles out.  She’s clearly savoring this. 
Letting each bit hit me so she can watch for a response and build on the
suspense.  Everything she does is designed to manipulate and this is no
exception.  She’s trying to make something small into something big again as a
last ditch effort to hurt us.  But there’s nothing she can say at this point
that we can
’
t get through.

“
So tell me, Chase.  When
were you going to take little Lila here to meet your wife?
”

Except that.

Chapter Forty

The
look on Chase's face tells me all I need to know.  Even though I know Denise is
trying to hurt me, and I can't trust much of what comes out of her mouth, I
know
 
she’s isn't lying about this.  His mouth opens, but
nothing comes out right away and I can almost see the wheels spinning in his
head as he tries to figure out what to say.  I save him the trouble, shaking my
head. I don't need to hear anything else.

"You know what, stay here Chase.  You
two deserve each other."  Before he can say another word I turn on my heel
and storm out of the office into the bright Vegas sun.

Chase's limo is still waiting outside for
the two of us, and my bag is still in the trunk.  I open up the door before his
driver, Mark, even has a chance to get out of the car.  It's time to test
whether or not he'll take me somewhere without Chase.

"Please take me to the
airport."  I don't really have a plan, but it’s the only place I can think
to run, even though I feel like I've been down this path before.  When will all
of the lies stop?

"Shall we wait for Mr.
Anderson?"  I can see the driver looking at me through the rear view
mirror with a raised eyebrow.  I meet his gaze, but I'm not sure what he sees
in my eyes.

"No," I shake my head and take a
deep breath.  "Please Mark, can you just get me out of here?"

The driver stares at me for a moment
before finally nodding, shifting the car into drive and pulling out of the
parking lot.  Whatever it was he saw in my eyes was enough to convince him to
just go.  Maybe he’s used to the women in Chase's life running from him and his
secrets.  Chase told me that Mark has been his driver for years, so he’s probably
seen it all.

It burns me to leave Chase behind with
Denise.  In her mind, she probably feels like she’s won.  For all I know, she
and Chase are back there fucking on her big conference table, laughing at the
foolish and naive Canadian.

"Hello?"

I look up at Mark, but I see him pushing
headphones into his ear so that he can speak on the phone while he drives. 

"Yes sir, we're on our way to the
airport.  Miss Hunter requested that I take her."  He pauses for a
moment.  "Of course."  He pulls his headset away from his ear and
presses a button on his dash.  Suddenly I hear Chase's voice coming through the
car's speaker.

"Lila?"

"I'm tired of this, Chase," I
say, cutting off his excuses before they begin.  What can he possibly say this
time.  Unless Denise was lying and he isn't actually married, I don't really
see any outs for him.  Even if he’s split or getting a divorce or whatever,
it’s certainly something he should have mentioned.  He's always claimed to
never have had a serious relationship, even Denise wasn't in his life
romantically for very long.  I think having a wife qualifies as a serious
relationship that is important enough to mention.  "Just tell me one
thing.  Is it true?  Are you married?"

I already know the answer.  I saw it in
his face back at the office.  But I still feel myself tense as I wait to hear
him say it, praying that he'll tell me it’s just a big lie Denise made up just
to fuck with us again.

"Yes, it’s true."

My heart sinks. I feel like I am going to
throw up.   "Then we really have nothing more to discuss.  You're a liar
and a cheat."

"Lila, it’s not like that."

There are so many ways for men to justify
running around on their wives and girlfriends.  Chase has a silver tongue and I
don't even want to hear what he has to say.  I don't want him to sway me.  I
can't believe anything he has to say about this.  It will always be suspect.

"Please don't go, come back and let's
talk about this.  I can explain."

"
I've heard enough from
you.  Unless you're planning on telling Mark to turn this car around against my
will, I have no plans on coming back.”  
 

"I wouldn’t do that." he says. I
can hear the pain in his voice but as with everything else with Chase Anderson,
I have no idea how genuine any of it is.  "Mark will take you anywhere you
want to go.  I just wish you would
want
to come back here and talk about this."

"I'm done talking to you," my
voice snaps like a whip and I hope he can feel the sting.  I want him to hurt
like I hurt right now.  It's not fair that I'm always the one getting bruised
in this relationship.

"Please hang up the phone," I
say, leaning forward so that Mark knows I'm talking to him.

My voice must be harsher than even I
realize because he doesn't even pause to wait to see if Chase has any objections. 
He just presses a button and silence fills the car.

I take a deep and steadying breath,
letting it out shakily.  Lies are one thing, and I hate them, but even worse is
a cheat.  Cheating in a relationship is the lowest of the low, in my opinion,
and it’s unforgivable.  I forgave Chase once before for his lies, but I can't
forgive him for cheating on his wife.  He didn't say ex-wife, so that means
they're still married.  And even if they're separated, she probably has no idea
what he’s doing with his free time.  For all I know, she thinks he’s off in
Europe at a poker tournament.  They might not even be separated.  It's not fair
to her any more than it’s fair to me.

"Mark?"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"Obviously you heard our
conversation.  You've known Chase a long time.  Did you know he was
married?"

Mark pauses.  I can see even from the
backseat how uncomfortable he is with the question.  He fidgets a bit before
answering.  "I don't get involved in Mr. Anderson's personal affairs, Miss
Hunter."

Men and their bro codes or whatever.  Mark
obviously doesn't want to rat out his employer, but I couldn’t care less. 
"I don't blame you, Mark.  That’s not my point.  I just want to know
whether you knew he was married.  Have you ever met his wife?

He pauses but then finally nods.  “
Yes."
 

“Have you ever driven her anywhere?”

He nods again.  “Yes.”

"Fine.  And did you hear when Chase
said you should take me wherever I wanted to go?"

"Yes, I heard.  Are we still going to
the airport?"

"No," I say, drawing in a deep
breath again.  "I want you to take me to her place instead.  Take me to
see Chase's wife."