MacKenzie Fire(93)

“What’d you call my wife?” Mack is standing at his full height now and it’s pretty impressive.

Ginny stands and tries to right her messed-up hair. It looks like a family of rats had a party in it, so it’s pretty much hopeless. That makes me happy.

“You heard me,” Ginny spits out. “Whore.” And then she really does spit, right at Mack’s feet.

I move to go after her again, but Ian grabs me from behind. “Easy there, killer. Let her have her say.”

“Have her say? She’s lying about Andie, your sister-in-law.”

“She’s just hurt,” he says in a really calm voice.

Ginny turns a murderous gaze in his direction. “Fuck you, Ian. You ruined everything.”

“Me? I ruined everything?” He laughs, but it’s pretty bitter-sounding.

It seems like everyone in the entire bar has come into the dart room to witness the spectacle. I try to fix my sleeves so they’re more presentable and move to stand next to Ian instead of in front of him. He takes me by the hand and makes sure that everyone sees it by lifting our entwined arms and kissing me on the back of my fingers.

“Yes, you,” Ginny says. “We had a plan, okay? A life we were living together, and you walked away from all of it. From ten years of living our lives together, Ian. Of making plans for our future.”

Mack lets out a long hiss of air. “Your plans, not his.”

She whips her head around to look at Ian’s defender. “Shut up, Mack, what do you know? You never had the time of day for your little brother. Didn’t then and you still don’t now.”

“Hey, that’s out of line,” Ian says, taking a step towards her.

Mack shakes his head. “Maybe you’re right, Ginny, but that doesn’t make what you did okay.”

“Hey, don’t listen to her,” Ian says. He’s talking to his brother at first but then he lifts his gaze to the room, scanning all the faces of the people listening in and watching. “None of you listen to her, you hear? She’s full of anger and jealousy. Everything coming out of her mouth is a damn lie.”

“Is not!” she screams. She points at Ian. “You walked out on me!”

“You cheated on me!” he yells back. “With my brother of all people!”

She sneers. “He asked for it. He basically begged me for it.”

Mack looks at her with a shocked expression. “Are you serious?” He looks at Ian. “You can’t possibly believe her.”

“Of course I don’t believe her.” Ian is disgusted. “God, how ridiculous can you be, Ginny? Jesus, why didn’t I ever see that before?” Ian backs up, like he can’t stand to be too close to her. He drags me with him, shaking his head.

She’s crying but furious. “You loved me, Ian. You still do. I know you do! That’s why you’re always out drinking and carrying on. You miss me. You miss us.” She takes a step towards him with her hand held out.

“Don’t touch me!” he yells, throwing an arm out in front of him in a defensive gesture. “Don’t even come near me.”

“Ian!”

“No!” He drops my hand and holds both his palms out towards her. “Stay away. Seriously, Ginny. You’re disturbed or something. There’s nothing left between us. Never really was to begin with.”

The world kind of slows down at that point. The sounds of the crowd, of the music playing in the background, of my heart beating … it all just melds together and becomes one big block of white noise. I watch in slow motion as Ginny makes her next move.

Her eyes flick left and right, taking in the mocking expressions, the shocked disbelief, the giggles coming from out in the crowd. And then in a flash of movement, she snatches several darts from a guy standing near her and starts throwing them at us, letting out a primal scream that I know I’ll hear in my nightmares for the next ten years at least.





Chapter Forty-Four





“YOU’RE STARTING TO BECOME A regular in this place,” says Nurse Ratched number two, the same one that was around for my stitches.

I wince as she pulls the tetanus shot needle out of my arm. “Yeah. I just love coming over here. The Jell-O is amazing.”

She laughs. “You think the Jell-O is good, you should try the pudding.”

“Seriously?” I ask, really paying attention now.

She winks at me. “No, not seriously. It’s awful. Stay away from the pudding.”

I’m too shocked at her niceness to respond, and she leaves before I recover.

Ian comes walking around the corner of the curtain, holding his upper arm. “How’re you doing?” he asks, stopping in front of me.

I’m sitting on one of the rolling beds in the ER of the hospital, so I have to look up to see his eyes. They’re bloodshot, and his shiner courtesy of Tate Montgomery stands out in stark relief against his pale skin. I feel terrible that he looks so awful. This is all my fault.

“I’m fine,” I say. “How are you doing is the question?”

Ian leans down until our foreheads are touching. “If you tell me I can come to Florida with you, I’m going to feel great. Perfect.”

I reach up and wrap my one good arm around his neck. “You can come to Florida with me any time you want.”