Page 86 of Secrets Bared
“I’m not leaving you.”
“He’s coming back.” She lifted her head, one eye already swollen shut. “It’s a…”
“So…you’rethe asshole fucking my wife.”
Maggie whimpered at the slimy voice that echoed from the front door.
“Get your hands where I can see them, or this bullet’s going into her head.”
Luke didn’t take his eyes off Maggie as he raised his hands to the back of his head. Fuck, he should have waited for Gabe.
“Step away from my wife.”
Tears were flowing down Maggie’s face. As Luke rose, slow and careful, he mouthed what he prayed wouldn’t be his last words to her.I love you.
When she started to cry harder, he knew she’d seen them.
Rising to his feet, Luke turned around to face the enemy. “Sean.”
Maggie’s husband looked like someone rubbed a rat with last week’s grease from the deep fryer. Nothing like his photo in the department files. He’d looked him up once he had a name. Being a federal agent had its perks. But he wouldn’t have recognized this man in passing on the street. He was a shell of the man he’d once been, which wasn’t saying much based on what Luke had figured out.
“Step over here, lover boy.” Sean had his gun trained on Maggie, which was the only reason Luke was pretending to comply.
“You don’t want to do this, Sean. You’re throwing away your career.” Luke’s voice was strong and clear.
Sean snorted. “My career’s already toast thanks to my bitch of a wife. She filed a protective order against me! The whole precinct knows about it.” He turned back to Maggie. “You’ve ruined my life!”
Luke watched as Maggie sucked in a deep breath. “Seems only fair since you ruined mine.”
“Shut up bitch, or the boyfriend is getting it!” Sean’s gun swung towards Luke, and that’s when Luke struck.
He punched Sean’s wrist, and the gun went flying. Sean roared and grabbed for him. They wrestled, and while Sean couldn’t do much damage through Luke’s vest, it restricted some of his movements. Plus, he kept having to wrest Sean’s grasping hands away from his sidearm. Which meant he couldn’t use it himself.
Luke hooked his foot around Sean’s ankle and pulled his leg out from under him. But Sean threw his boot up and nailed Luke in the balls and brought him down to the floor as well.
They grappled, and Luke fought to maintain control. Sean was stronger than he looked. Plus, with everything going on at home, Luke hadn’t had time to find anyone to spar with. He was rusty.
Sean punched him in the head and rang his bell, then Luke found himself on the bottom. He couldn’t land any hits on Luke’s torso, so he was going for his head. Luke tried for the headbutt, but Sean dodged.
Then Maggie’s ragged voice shouted over the scuffle. “Sean Callahan, if you won’t make me a divorcée, I’ll make myself a widow!”
Chapter 25
Maggiefinallyhadherhusband’s attention. She pushed away thoughts of how sad it was that it had taken the threat of bodily harm to do so. Luke had loosened her bonds enough that she’d been able to free herself while Luke held Sean’s attention, and she’d snagged his gun from the floor. Now she stood there, battered, bruised, cold, and probably concussed, with the gun pointing straight at the floor. She needed to get Sean away from Luke before she pointed it at him.
Sean stood up from where he’d been pummeling Luke and sneered. “You don’t even know how to fire that.”
Luke, smart man that he was, scooted away from her target. Maggie held her husband’s gaze as she slid the bullet into the chamber without looking. His smug grin fell flat, and as she raised the gun, he raised his hands.
“I mean it, Sean. I’m done.”
“But, Margaret…” He tried to turn on the charm, but she wasn’t having it.
“Too late, Sean. The day you hit me was the beginning of the end.” She stared him down, a sense of satisfaction blooming inher gut. This man that made her so afraid she’d run to the other side of the country, was now afraid ofher.
“I gave upeverything for you. My friends, my career. Myidentity.” Talking was hard after he’d tried to strangle her, but she persisted. “I tried to make it as clean a separation as possible. I didn’t even ask for the house. Or the car. No alimony. I didn’t even mention the abuse in the petition.
“All I wanted was out. All I wanted was away fromyou,” she spat. “But you couldn’t accept the easy way, could you? No, you have to do this the hard way.
