Page 32 of That One Night (The Heartbreak Brothers Next Generation #4)

Chapter

Twenty-Five

“Well, you two sure seem cozy.”

Emery’s stomach rolled at the sound of Trenton’s voice. He sounded pissed. Of course he did. Thoughts were rushing through her head. How much had he seen? She’d kissed Hendrix, she’d definitely kissed him.

He’d absolutely seen too much.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Trenton, trying to ignore the panic in her veins.

He must have driven here right from work, because he was still in a suit, the pants perfectly cut for his slim body.

He’d taken his tie off, though, and the top button of his white shirt was unfastened.

But that was his only concession to comfort.

“I got your message. I figured we needed to have a conversation face to face.” He looked over her shoulder. “Your voicemail didn’t sound like you. And I guess now I know why.” Trenton looked her dead in the eye. “How long have you been fucking Hendrix Hartson?”

Her cheeks pinked. “That’s none of your business.”

“So you have been fucking him, then?”

She winced at the volume of his voice. Her mom was inside. And yes, hopefully she wasn’t listening, but still.

“Is this why you split up with me?” he asked her. “I should have known what a bitch you were, whoring yourself all over the place behind my back.”

His accusation boiled her blood. “Stop projecting. I never cheated on you,” she snapped. She had no reason to feel like she’d done something wrong. And yet he was looking at her like she was the one who’d caused all their problems.

“I should have known you’d end up back in the gutter. You can take the girl away from the farm, but she’ll always act like an animal.”

There was movement over Trenton’s shoulder. It took her a moment to realize it was Hendrix, striding over, like he was afraid she needed help.

No, please no.

She widened her eyes at him, trying to tell him that his presence would only make it worse.

But like a bull in a damn china shop, he stormed toward them, oblivious.

“Is everything okay?” Hendrix asked.

“What the fuck does it have to do with you?” Trenton spat out at him. “Go back to your house, farm boy. The grown-ups are talking.”

Ignoring him, Hendrix looked at her. “Emery,” he said, his voice soft. “Are you okay?”

No, she wasn’t. So far from it that it wasn’t funny. But they were in her mom’s yard. It was only a matter of time before her mom noticed that Trenton’s car was here. “I’m fine,” she told him, trying to keep her voice steady. “Let me talk to Trenton. I’ll talk to you later.”

“She means she’ll suck your dick later,” Trenton told him.

Hendrix’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. You enjoy getting my sloppy seconds?” Trenton asked, turning to face him. “I would say you could do better, but we both know that’s not true. Maybe you two deserve each other.”

“If I hear you say one more disrespectful thing about this woman again, I’ll make you regret it.” Hendrix’s voice was low.

The corner of Trenton’s lip lifted, like he was actually enjoying this. Mortification pulled at Emery. This was her worst fear, all wrapped up in a testosterone bow. She knew Trenton. His pride was more important than anything else. Certainly more important than she’d ever been to him.

“She’s. A. Whore,” Trenton said slowly, his eyes dancing.

It was like watching a train crash in slow motion, knowing that the worst thing in the world was about to happen. Knowing she couldn’t stop it, but still trying anyway.

“Hendrix…”

His hand was already curled into a fist.

“Let him hit me. I look forward to calling the cops,” Trenton goaded.

But she couldn’t do that. “Please.” She looked at Hendrix with soulful eyes. This had to stop.

She reached for his arm, her touch gentle as she curled her fingers around his wrist. “Hendrix, please. Stop. I’m okay, it’s okay.”

She could feel the fury vibrating from him. His muscles were tight, his jaw tense. She wasn’t sure if he could even hear her.

“Hendrix?” she said again. This time he brought his eyes to hers, blinking at her like he’d just realized where they were, what was happening. “Let me talk to Trenton,” she said, her voice low. “Go back to your place. I promise I’ll call you later.”

“Emery?”

Oh God no. She wanted to scream. Her mom’s voice was the last thing she needed to hear in this mess.

“Is that Trenton?”

For a second, all she could do was close her eyes and wish she could disappear into the ground. “Yes.” Somehow, she got the word out. It still felt like it was strangled, though.

“Aren’t you going to invite him in? I’ll pour some sweet tea.”

“I’d love some of your sweet tea, Alice,” Trenton called back to her. “But I thought Emery and I might take a drive. I haven’t seen her for weeks. I just want to be alone with her.”

Hendrix’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh, of course,” Her mom said. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Emery looked over her shoulder to see her mom hovering at the front door. Her gaze landed on her daughter, then on the two men in front of her. “Is everything okay?” her mom asked.

“Everything’s fine, Mom. Just go back inside.”

For the first time in forever, her mom actually did what Emery asked. Maybe she was tired from the emotion of today, or maybe she sensed that Emery needed her to disappear right now.

There was only so much a woman could deal with at once.

Trenton pulled his keys from his pocket, unlocking his car. “Get inside,” he told Emery, his voice icy cold.

“You don’t have to do this,” Hendrix told her. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Her eyes caught his. She could see the anger still inside them, coupled with something softer. It looked like worry. Emery forced a smile onto her face. “It’s fine. I’ll be okay. I’ll call you later, all right?”

Trenton was already striding to the driver’s side, ignoring Hendrix completely as he yanked open the door.

“Emery?” Hendrix murmured.

“Yes?”

“If he lays one finger on you, if he hurts you…”

“He won’t,” she promised. Yes, Trenton was a controlling ass who’d broken his promises. But he’d never hurt her. Not physically at least. And she wasn’t the woman she used to be – she wasn’t going to let this man walk all over her anymore.

“Call me if he does. I’ll be there so fast he won’t know what hit him.”

She nodded, pressing her lips together because she was afraid she was going to cry.

And then she got into Trenton’s car, and he silently started the engine.

Trenton didn’t say a word as he pulled his sleek car out of her mom’s driveway, taking the lane to the main road.

“Where are we going?” Emery asked him.

“Somewhere we can talk and you can tell me what the hell is happening here.”

It turned out that somewhere meant the town square. Not exactly private, but maybe that was a good thing.

He climbed out of the car, not bothering to pull her door open for her, and strode over to the bandstand.

This was good, she told herself. At least he wasn’t making a scene in front of her mom. Plus they were in public. He couldn’t get away with burying her body here.

Her mouth twitched at that thought.

“So how long has this been going on?” Trenton asked.

She didn’t owe him an explanation, but she wasn’t afraid for him to know either. It felt good, just getting it out there. “A few weeks. We were already split up.”

“And you expect me to believe that?” She could hear the hurt in his voice. And that was so much worse than the anger.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s the truth.” She looked him in the eye. “You were the one who downloaded a dating app while we were still together,” she reminded him. “Not me.”

“Because I was lonely. But I didn’t do anything.”

Yeah, well she still had her suspicions about that. But it didn’t matter anymore. None of this did. It was old history. She just wanted to move forward.

“I’m sorry you had to find out that I’ve moved on like that. I’d have liked to tell you about it face to face.” And no, she didn’t owe him that. But that would have been for her. She was still a good girl at heart.

“But you’re not sorry for fucking him.”

She grimaced at him. “Can you stop saying it like that, otherwise I’m leaving.”

“What do you want me to call it? Making love?” Trenton’s nose wrinkled up. “Because assholes like him don’t make love, Emery. They just take what’s not theirs.” He shook his head. “What do you even see in him, anyway?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Is it his parent’s money?”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t want their money.” And she’d never been interested in that. Did Trenton really not know her at all?

“Of course he does. His parents are loaded.”

“And they’re not leaving him any of it,” she replied, infuriated by his insinuation. “His mom is setting up a charity with their money. Hendrix won’t see a penny of it.”

“He’s gonna end up hurting you. You know that, right? You know what kind of man he is.”

No, she wasn’t going to take this. Not from him . She lifted her chin, refusing to let him make her feel bad. “Yes I do. A good one.”

Trenton scowled. “What is this? Are you trying to make me jealous? Make me look bad? How do you think my parents will feel, knowing that you’re knocking boots with the guy who smoked weed in school?”

“He didn’t. He told me everything.” She squared her shoulders. Because she was sick of this. “About what you did to him at school. The way you made him take the blame.”

Trenton didn’t wince. He knew exactly what she was talking about. “That was a long time ago, Emery.”

She looked him straight in the eye, her jaw tight. “What are you doing here anyway? Why did you come?” It wasn’t because he suspected she was seeing somebody else, that’s for sure. She’d never seen him so blindsided.

“To talk. I wanted to ask you to wait until the weekend to tell people about us. My parents are arriving home early, and I want to tell them face to face.” He shook his head. “Not that it matters now. I don’t want anything from you.”

“Trenton…”

He put his hand up. “No. I’m over this, Emery. I’m over you calling the shots and making decisions without me. So I’m making one without you.” He leaned closer. “I saw the for sale sign. Good luck selling that place without me removing the lien.”

“But you promised…” Her stomach tightened.

“I promised nothing. I’m not signing anything for you. You can tell your mom that she can’t sell her house because her daughter can’t keep her legs together.”

“You should have let me hit him,” Hendrix murmured through the phone. He’d been pacing the cottage ever since she’d left. Even Frank had felt his tension and wandered up to the front door to check that everything was okay.

He hated her being in the car with that asshole. Hated not being able to protect her from him.

Every minute that he didn’t know where she was felt excruciating.

“What would that have solved?” Emery was in her bedroom. He’d seen her arrive home and walk straight into the house. She’d sent him a message telling him she was taking a shower and putting her pajamas on and would call him in ten minutes.

And now here she was, sounding anxious and emotional. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her, but her mom was still up and the last thing Emery needed was for him to storm over and make things worse.

“It would have made me feel better,” he told her. And yes, that was selfish. He knew that. Hitting Trenton Montclair wouldn’t have only been for the pain he’d put Emery through. But also for the disgusting way he’d described her.

It would have been for himself, too. And the satisfaction would have been worth it.

“So he’s gone now?” he asked her.

“Yeah. He’s on his way back to Charleston, I guess. He has work tomorrow and there’s no way he’ll miss that.”

It was clear she wasn’t going to tell her mom about them tonight. And yeah, he understood why. Everything was a mess.

Didn’t mean he liked it, though.

“So what happens now?” he asked her.

“I guess I tell my mom that the farm has to come off the market.” Her voice cracked and it about killed him.

“Emery…”

“It’s okay. I’ll work it out. I’m just so tired.”

“Let me speak to my parents. Or my uncle. They can loan me the money. I’ll pay the thing off.”

“He won’t let you.” She let out a long, unsteady breath. “He’s going to string this out as long as he can. Make me pay. He can make things impossible, refuse to take payment. And anyway, you can’t ask your family for help. I know you’d hate that.”

Yeah, he would. He’d always prided himself on paying his own way. Being the son of a rockstar had its benefits, sure, but everybody assuming you’re rich thanks to your dad wasn’t one of them.

Like his brothers, he didn’t want their money. He wanted to build his own life without relying on his parents.

But he’d do it for her. There was no doubt in his mind about that.

“Maybe I can talk to him. Make him see sense…”

“No,” she said quickly. “He hates you. He’s made that more than clear.” She was silent for a moment, like she was trying not to cry. “This is my mess,” she told him. “I just need to get some sleep and think things through. I’ll figure out what to do next.”

She didn’t sound so sure. And he wasn’t either. He knew first hand what a conniving asshole Trenton could be.

It killed him that he couldn’t protect her. That he couldn’t make this right for her. She was a good person, she didn’t deserve this.

And worse than that, he couldn’t help but feel that this was mostly his fault. Everything he touched went to hell. He might not mean to, but he broke people. He’d broken his mom, his family, and now he was breaking her.

The thought was like a knife twisting in his stomach. It made him want to hurl.

“We’ll work it out,” he told her, his voice low. “We can do it together. You’re not alone, not anymore.”

She inhaled raggedly. “You don’t know how good it is to hear that.”