She was his and there was no way Ape was going to walk away from it.
****
Charlotte glanced at the time to see Ape would be picking her up in thirty minutes. The last of her clients had already left, and she was alone, packing up the rest of the shop. She’d already packed up the equipment and phoned ahead to cancel any other appointments. The sign had been removed outside and she was slowly packing up a time in her life that hadn’t exactly filled her with happiness.
Seeing her clients happy with the artwork and displaying her pieces for customers to see, and for them to pick to have permanently marked on their skin, that was an achievement. Those were the few moments she’d miss more than anything.
She could still draw and practice. Running fingers through her hair, she gave a turn around and rather than be sad with her decision, she was happy she’d made it.
Moving behind the desk, she bent down to grab her bag as the doorbell rang, letting her know someone had entered the shop.
She stood with a smile but it dropped when she caught sight of Calum.
“I’m closed.”
“I can see that. What is going on? Refurbishment?”
“Nope,” she said. She folded her arms beneath her breasts, waiting for whatever snide comment he had to make. “What do you want?”
“I came to see why the sign was gone. All your artwork.”
She laughed. “You’re kidding, right? You’ve been trying to get me to move my ass out of here and now you want to know why I’m doing exactly that.”
“Our last meeting, you told me to get fucked and that you weren’t going anywhere.”
“Oh, times change. I decided that I don’t need to stay here. I’m moving on. The lease for this place is up. There’s no way in hell I’m going to pay twice as much for the same space. Also, while we’re at it, the lease on my apartment is also up. I will be a problem you won’t ever have to face again.” She smiled, happy, exhilarated.
“What about your mom?”
“My mom wanted me to get out town, long before now. I just kept sticking to the same norm.”
“Look, if there’s money you need, I can give it to you.”
“Hell, no. I’d like you to get out. Until Friday, this place is still mine, and I don’t want any cheating scum setting foot on my property. So, off you go, leave.” She didn’t want him anywhere near her, and the further away he got, the better she would be.
“You know I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Oh, my, can you even listen to yourself?” she asked. “I’m not hurt. I don’t even care. It sucked because I felt guilty for your wife, but you? She can have you. Believe me, there was nothing better than having an excuse to end it with you.”
He glared at her. “You loved me.”
“Delusional. I never loved you, Calum. Ever. You were … hard work.” She shrugged. “Now, I can move on and live my own life.”
“You mean with that biker club?” he asked. “Yeah, I heard they’re leaving as well, but seeing as not one of them is here, I guess they don’t want your fat ass with them.”
She smiled. His mean words weren’t exactly new to her. Calum liked to belittle her when he wasn’t getting his way. One moment she was beautiful, the next, an ugly fat cow. The guy needed some serious therapy. What did hurt was knowing Ape was leaving and he hadn’t told her.
What they had wasn’t … special. They were having some fun, even if she had started to enjoy waking up to his kisses and being in his arms.
It didn’t stop her plans. She was moving on, finally.
“Are you done? You’ve got a wife at home who probably needs you to pet her some more.” She pulled her bag up her shoulder, grabbing her keys.
“Baby, please,” Calum said. “I know I screwed up, but it’s you I’ve always wanted. Just you.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, it’s not going to happen. You think I don’t see this game you’re playing?”
Calum touched her arm and tried to pull her close, but she pushed him away. “Stop it.”
Before she could knee him in the balls, someone pulled him back and she watched as Ape had Calum in a chokehold. “Who the fuck do you think you are trying to touch my woman?”
“Ape, stop,” she said. The last thing she wanted was for Ape to get into trouble for hurting a guy who meant nothing. She grabbed his arm. “Please, he’s not worth it.”
“He’s not worth it, but you are. The way he treated you and I heard what he said, Charlotte. You deserve so much more.” He glanced back at her. “You don’t deserve second best.”
“I know, but you don’t deserve to go to prison for this asshole. Come on, Calum won’t tell a soul, will you?”
Calum got redder with every passing second. This was getting way out of hand.
“Come on, please,” she said.
She was moving on with her life and the last thing she wanted was for it to be ruined because of Ape. That would just make Calum’s day if he could somehow trap her here. She finally saw the mistake she’d been making. She’d given him all the power by sticking around, playing into his need to control.
No more. She was moving on. Leaving this town and not looking back. She was going to make the most of her life.
Slowly, Ape let go of Calum and she breathed out a sigh of relief.
Calum collapsed to the ground, his hand going to his neck. “I will sue you for this,” he said.
“Go ahead. Sue him. I’d love to see how that wife of yours loves you when I tell the entire town that you like to fuck around on her. I wonder if she’d be happy to share her very rich life with you after that.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Come after him and let’s see if I do dare.”
Chapter Six
Ape stared around Charlotte’s apartment, seeing the few boxes she’d already packed up. “What’s going on?”
“I’m out of here. I’ve got another week, but I intend to be gone and I won’t look back. I want out of this town.” Charlotte had gone to the kitchen but she peeked her head around the door. “You want pizza?”
“Sure. You’re wanting out of town?”
“Like I told you before. It was never my intention to stay for so long.” She walked back into the room with a cell phone attached to her ear. He listened as she made the order for enough pizza to fill the entire club. She hung up. “I’m starving. I’m really sorry about Calum. He shouldn’t sue.”
“You think he’s the first rich prick I’ve upset? I do it on a regular basis. It’s like a hobby.”
“Still, it must not be nice being threatened.”
“Would you do it?”
“Tell the entire town?”
He nodded.
“Hell, yeah. I can’t stand him. He’s gotten on my nerves for the last time. I don’t want you to be hurt because of me. I’d have loved to see you choke him to death. That would have been a lot of fun.”
He laughed and watched as she tucked some hair behind her ear. “So, er, he did mention that you guys were moving on.”