Final Score: Part One (Game On #5) (7 page)

“And what was their expert advice?”

The sarcasm dripping from his voice made me want to punch him in the face, but that wasn’t nearly as hard to take as that damn glare, his eyes cold as ice.

“They told me not to stress over it, which seemed like good advice until you started acting like you own me!”

“That’s clearly not the case since you’re so busy doing anything you can to try and get out of this house and away from me and Jessica!”

This time I did step back, my body starting to shake with the unfairness of his words.

“That’s not fair and you know it. And if me working is the problem, then let’s talk about it.”

“You already made your decision!” he shouted, taking a step towards me.

“I told you about something I want to do! That’s not the same thing, and let’s not pretend that your shitty mood these last few days has been solely about this! Something was bothering you before I even mentioned it! What I got was an amazing weekend followed by you coming home from work on Monday as if something had happened. Even Bryce said your mood changed out of nowhere!”

“Bryce needs to keep his mouth shut! If I wanted to talk, I would!”

From across the hall, I heard Jessica start to cry, and my heart twisted at the realisation that our yelling had woken her. Blowing out another long breath to calm myself, I took a few steps towards the door.

“I’ll go,” Radleigh said, turning away from me and blocking my way.

“I really don’t want you near Jessica when you’re in this mood.” I tried to slip around him but he grabbed me and pushed me so my back hit the doorframe, not hard, but forceful enough that my eyes widened in shock.

“So now I’m not fit to take care of my own daughter?” he snarled, and I flinched.

What. The. Hell?

“Radleigh, please,” I said, trying to remain calm.

“I’ll take care of her.”

He let go of me and strode to Jessica’s room, leaving me in the doorway of our room, my heart beating fast. Jessica’s cries grew louder and I quickly pulled myself together and rushed into her room where Radleigh was holding her close to him. It was clear from his stance why Jessica was crying harder – he was so rigid and so angry that she must have felt it. Her little arms reached out for me and as I stepped forwards to take her, Radleigh stepped back.

“Radleigh, give her to me.” My insides withered as Jessica’s face crumpled up, her arms still stretched towards me.

“Leave us alone. I said I’ll take care of her.”

“You’re scaring her!” I snapped, then instantly regretted it when Jessica’s arm dropped down to her side. Now neither of us were making her feel safe and she sobbed harder. “Please.” I adjusted my tone accordingly, trying to fight back tears at seeing our little girl so distressed. “Please just let me take her.”

Instead of handing her to me, Radleigh pushed past me and headed down the hallway to the stairs, Jessica’s cries echoing off the walls.

“Where are you going?” I chased him down the hallway but he was already at the bottom of the stairs, shoving his car keys in his pocket.

“Out! I’m taking her out for a drive to calm her down.”

“I don’t want you driving anywhere in this state! Please! Let’s just put her back to bed, okay?”

The desperation in my tone didn’t seem to register in his brain because he was already opening the door as I raced down the stairs, slipping as I reached the bottom, and landing on my arse with a thud. Tears sprang to my eyes again and my stumble allowed Radleigh the chance to slip outside. By the time I’d gotten myself up Radleigh had already strapped Jessica into her car seat and was about to get into the driver’s seat. The speed at which he moved told me the last thing he should be doing was getting behind the wheel of the car and I yelled his name, running across the gravel drive towards him. Even though the doors were closed, Jessica’s cries still managed to pierce the night air and tears fell down my cheeks.

“Radleigh, stop!” I begged, but if he heard me, he showed no signs of it. I reached the driver’s side door, my hand just touching it as the tires screeched and he pulled out of drive at an abnormal speed, flicking gravel up into the air. “Come back!”

It was too late. He was gone; driving like a maniac with our screaming daughter in the back. He didn’t have any of her things with him. No blanket, no bottles, no nappies. No soft toy to comfort her. My first instinct was to get in my own car and go after them, but it was a little late for that. Besides, what good would chasing him down actually do aside from maybe making him angrier?

On shaky legs I ran back to the house, trying to figure out the best thing to do. I wanted to call the cops on his ass, but that would probably be as effective as me going after him myself. I wanted him calmer. I wanted him home so his furious driving wasn’t putting Jessica in danger.

Was this my fault? Did I make him this mad?

Don’t go there, Leah. He was already mad when you got home, and you being late home is not an acceptable reason for him to behave this way.

For lack of other options, I went to the living room and snatched up the phone. I hit speed dial one and waited. It was getting late but I knew Mitch would at least still be up.

“Hello?”

“Deanna! I… I…”

“Leah?” Panic was clear in Deanna’s tone, likely due to my inability to speak. Because what was I going to say to her?
Your son’s being a complete prick and driven off at a hundred miles an hour with our baby in the car?
  “Leah, what’s wrong, honey?”

“I… It’s Radleigh,” I choked out, then taking a breath, I added, “I just… we kind of had a fight, and he’s… he’s totally flipped out, Deanna. Jessica was crying and he just… he took her! He got in the car and I don’t know where he’s gone, and… he was going so damn fast I’m scared he’s going to kill them both!”

“Okay, honey. Calm down. Tell me what happened.”

I took a moment to compose myself then explained in the briefest terms what we’d talked about, and about how he’d been acting weird for the last few days. When I was done, Deanna said, “This doesn’t sound like Radleigh at all. I understand that my son can be a moody, self-centred pain in the ass at times, but driving off that way? No.”

I debated telling her about how he’d hurt me, because I knew she and Mitch would kick his ass for it, but I didn’t care about that right then. I cared about him potentially driving him and Jessica into an accident.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him, Dee,” I said, my voice wobbling. “I can’t stand him being this way.”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure he’ll talk soon. Sounds like he’s reached the point where he can’t deal with it anymore or he wouldn’t have done this.”

“Then he should have just left on his own! He shouldn’t have taken Jessica with him when she was already scared.”

“I know, honey,” she soothed. “And when he comes home, you can talk it out with him.”

“What if he doesn’t come back?” I asked quietly. “What if he’s so mad he just stays out all night? Checks into a hotel or something.”

“He’ll be back. You already said he doesn’t have any of Jessica’s things with him. He’ll have to come home.”

Deanna was severely underestimating his stubbornness, not to mention I had no idea who he was at that moment. Under normal circumstances, she’d have been right. He’d have gone out and blown off some steam then come back to talk. But it was like he’d grown a new personality; one that made him irrational and a little scary. I wished I could rewind the whole week and gotten to the bottom of this sooner instead of letting it fester.

“How long am I supposed to wait before I completely freak out?” I asked, although there wasn’t much room left for panicking further. My voice had calmed but my insides were still vibrating from the frantic beat of my heart.

“Give him an hour. If he isn’t back by then, call me and we’ll figure something out. But try not to worry, Leah. He would never do anything to put Jessica at risk.”

He already has
. But I didn’t say it out loud. I knew Deanna was as concerned as I was and only trying to placate me. What else could she say? What else could either of us do?

“Okay,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

As I hung up the phone, I kicked off my shoes, something I hadn’t actually gotten to since I’d got home. Everything had happened so fast. I sank down onto the sofa and tucked my legs underneath me – my favourite position in my favourite seat. I glanced around the room, my eyes drifting over the pristine glass coffee table in the centre of the room that held a vase of fresh flowers. Flowers. There was something about that centrepiece that made me giggle inwardly, because I never thought I’d be a fresh flowers on the coffee table kind of girl. Of course, I never thought I’d be a living in LA with a famous soccer player kind of girl either. My background was simple, normal. Even after so long, I often took a sharp intake of breath as I realised how fortunate I was. That house was the kind of thing I’d seen in magazines, with celebrities showing off the luxury they lived in. It might have been Radleigh’s officially, but between the two of us, we’d turned it into a home and anyone looking in would have taken one glance at the enormous TV screen and plush furnishings and thought our life was perfect. And it had been for the most part. But suddenly the place felt huge. It was always a tad too big for the three of us, and it was sure as hell too big just for Radleigh, and without him and Jessica, I felt… small. Lost.

The sound of the buzzer snapped me out of my thoughts and I frowned. Who the hell was pressing the buzzer at this time of night? There was a list a mile long of friends who had the code for the front gate but none of them would have just dropped by so late without calling first, so who had got through the gates and managed to reach the front door? The buzzer sounded again and with a hammering heart, I stood, reminding myself the police were only a phone call away if I needed them. When I reached the front door, I pressed the button on the intercom and said, “Hello?”

“Erm, hi. Leah?”

The voice was female and unfamiliar, and my finger hovered over the panic button. Who the hell would be crazy enough to find a way onto my property at eleven and press the buzzer? An image of Taylor flashed into my head. God, I hadn’t thought about her in forever. But she was gone now, and crazy as the situation with Radleigh had made me, it was highly unlikely Taylor’s ghost was coming for me. And if she was, she wouldn’t have needed to press the damn buzzer; she could have just floated her spooky ass through the walls.

“Who is this?” I asked.

“Can you open the door?”

“How did you get in here?”

“I… I slipped through the gates after Radleigh left.”

So… the mystery woman had just been standing outside the door for thirty minutes? Or had she been scoping out the property? My palms began to sweat; who the hell was this?

“Okay, well, I don’t know or care who you are, but I’m calling the police if you don’t leave right now.”

“No, wait!” the woman shrieked. “Please. I need to talk to you.”

“And that would be great if I knew who you are. But since I don’t, I’m gonna need you to get the hell off my doorstep. This is your last warning.”

“You don’t know me,” she said quickly. “But I’m sure you know who I am. I’m Jen. Jen Winters.”

I swear for a second I blacked out. This had to be a joke. Jen? Radleigh’s Jen? No. Way.

“Leah, please. I don’t want to cause any trouble. I just want to talk to you.”

Now I knew who she was, I wanted her on my property even less. Christ, I’d have preferred a freaking burglar. That’s how bad her reputation was.

But suddenly, with alarming clarity, Radleigh’s mood made sense.

I shook my head. In spite of my concerns about what Radleigh had been doing lately, I knew there was no way he would have been gotten tangled up with her. No way he would have cheated on me with her. But he knew she was here. That was why he’d been so stressed. What did she want?

Although my brain screamed at me not to, my body moved almost mechanically towards the door. I made sure the chain was firmly in place before turning the locks and opening the door.

And there she was. Perfect Jen. I recognised her, because like every modern day girlfriend, I’d Googled her to find out what my man’s ex looked like, and there was no shortage of photos of Jen Winters online.

She was just as stunning in real life as she was in the photos. Minimal photoshopping needed on such smooth, silky skin. Her lips were full and blood red, and her figure was perfection. She’d had two kids, but she looked better than me, with the kind of curves even Bree would have envied. Her blonde hair tumbled past her shoulders in soft curls, and even though she was only dressed in jeans and a low cut red top, she looked like a teenage boy’s fantasy come to life.

I tried not to glance down at my extremely casual appearance. My hair was scraped back in a messy ponytail and although I knew my make-up was still just fine, it looked amateurish and dull compared to Jen’s.

Her blowjob-friendly lips curved up into a smile. “Wow. So you’re the famous Leah. It’s good to meet you.”

I eyed her suspiciously. She sounded genuine, and a more naïve person would have been easily fooled by her pleasant tone. But I was looking into her eyes. They were blue - a deep, stunning blue - but she was obviously sizing me up too.