War Wounded (The War Trilogy #2.5) Read Free Page A

with a couple of chairs set up in front of it. She plops down in one and motions for me to take the other. I’m actually surprised that she didn’t sit behind her desk. That’s what most people would do.
    “Have a seat,” she says quietly, some of her lightheartedness from a moment ago having dissipated.
    I set my cupcakes on the desk and shrug out of my coat. I remove my notepad and pen before I drape it over the back of the chair then sit down. I set my stuff on the desk and sit, leaning forward to rest my forearms on my knees.
    “Wanna tell me what’s going on?” I ask gently. One thing I’ve learned from working with scorned women is that you need to be a good listener, understanding, and sympathetic; otherwise, they can get downright nasty.
    She takes a deep breath and glances at me before saying, “I think my fiancé, Kyle, might be cheating on me.”
    I tilt my head in curiosity. “And why do you think that?”
    “It started when my cousin, Jade - who is also my maid of honor - showed me a picture of who she swore was Kyle, dancing in a club with some other woman and getting really touchy feely. I couldn’t tell if it was actually him or not because the pictures were dark and grainy. He told me he was working overtime that night. And he’s been doing a lot of texting and hiding his phone screen. It just all seems really suspicious.”
    “What kind of work does he do?”
    “He’s an ER doctor.”
    “Does he have set hours?” I ask. This could get kind of tricky trying to follow him around if he doesn’t have set hours.
    “Yeah, he has a schedule, but he also does a lot of overtime. Or at least he says that he’s staying for overtime,” she scoffs bitterly.
    I reach over and give her knee a squeeze. “Hey, I’ll get down to the bottom of this, I promise.”
    She lifts her pretty brown eyes to meet mine and gives me a tight smile. “I’m sure you will. I’m just not sure if I want to know what’s at the bottom.”
    I sigh, sit back in my chair, and cross my arms over my chest. I usually don’t share personal stuff with my clients, but she needs to know that staying with a cheater is not something she wants to do.
    “Listen, Arianna, I’ve been through this myself. Twice, actually. My first wife, Mallory, I found out was cheating on me while I was deployed. I was able to go home earlier than expected and walked in on her and my best friend from high school screwing on the couch. After I beat the hell out of the guy and she apologized a million times over, I tried to stay and make it work, but everything she did raised suspicions. I couldn’t live like that. And every time I looked at her, all I could see was her fucking my friend. So I ended things.”
    Arianna frowns at me. “And the second time?”
    “The second time was with my second wife, Aimee. We were married for five years before I started seeing the signs. God, she was so stupid. I mean, this is what I do for a living. I don’t know why she thought she could hide it from me. I followed her, took pictures of her cheating, and showed them to her. We got divorced about a year ago. I didn’t even try to make it work with her.”
    Arianna sighs heavily. “I’m sorry. That really sucks.”
    “Yeah, so no more getting married for Duke. Never going to happen again.”
    She shakes her head. “I just don’t understand why he would do it.”
    I scoff. “Who the hell knows? Probably some stupid ass reason. Either way, he’s an asshole if he is.”
    “I thought he loved me,” she sniffs, her eyes moving down to look at her hands in her lap.
    Ouch. Is that my heart breaking?
    “Hey, we don’t know anything for sure yet,” I say, trying to reassure her.
    She nods and seems to pull herself back together.
    “Why don’t you try a cupcake?”
    “Will it make you feel better?” I smile.
    She lets out a small laugh. “Yes, it will.”
    “Alright, fine.”
    I open the container and lift out a cupcake. It smells heavenly. I peel back