Free Just a Couple Ex's Blindsided by S. Anders Page A

he could hit Kiki, bam-bam ... one, two and she’d be out. Hit her with the evidence, and then serve her the divorce papers. If he planned it right he might not have to confront her, just take her out with no battered words between them.
    He wiped sweat off his brow. He liked that idea. Then he turned to run back down the hill, wondering what excuse he could use for not coming back home, until he was ready to deliver his punches.
    By the time he’d run over ten miles, and decided to give it up, he was one hundred percent calmer. When he reached his aunt’s house in the late afternoon, he felt pleasure grip him at the sight of Liv’s car in the driveway. He’d left her a key under the mat and text her it was there, but otherwise they’d not spoken all day.
    He couldn’t believe how good it felt to have someone waiting that he could talk too about everything.
    “Except keep a lid on it about the video,” he muttered, as he shut off his car. He would have to keep circumspect about that video, because Liv didn’t need to know the full of it. She’d made her choice not to see it, and now he was glad she had. She’d been right ... he’d never needed to see that.
    Axel sat in his car looking at the house. He’d put it off all day ... finally he picked up his cell and he called Kiki.
    “Hey,” she answered.
    “You back in town?” he asked.
    She sounded distracted. “Just coming back in and I didn’t get any more formals.”
    He knew why she didn’t and he almost made her lie about it by asking. But he was holding onto it by a thread keeping his voice level.
    “Ace is in a bad way, Ronan and I are going to go check on him.” She didn’t say anything. He huffed under his breath, then said, “I’ll be gone for a few days. Jax has the store, just leave him to it.”
    “Oh I get off the leash, then?”
    Axel blinked hard. What the hell did that mean? “I’ll text you,” he said quickly, before his voice rose in anger. “Bye, Kiki.”
    He thought she said one more thing but he disconnected, not catching it. He stared at the phone, wondering what she meant. They worked together, sort of, Kiki only worked when she felt like it. She mostly wanted to buy, not really tend the store. Hell, half the time he didn’t know where she was at.
    He cussed under his breath. If anything they were apart too much for a married couple. Shaking his head, he decided she was just trying to get under his skin, and he climbed out of his car, shouldering his duffle bag. Going around to the rear of the car he pulled another satchel out of the trunk. He planned to have the most important things he wanted, that were rightfully his, over to his aunt's house before he informed Kiki of their divorce. The sad part was he didn’t think Kiki would even notice his things were disappearing.
    Moments later, he was looking forward to getting a shower and seeing Liv. He set his bags down in the hallway and he looked in both the living room and kitchen. He didn’t see Liv, but saw grocery bags on the kitchen counter as if she’d just been there. Something bothered him and he turned to look back into the living room. His gaze landed on the camcorder, lying on its side, on the couch.
    “Hell,” he cursed. Instantly, he knew Liv had looked at it. He stood for a moment fighting his emotions as though he’d just looked at the video for the first time. But the rage and outright hurt were easier to subdue this time. “Bastards,” he ground out, going to look for Liv.
    It took him a few minutes to find her out back, crying, while sitting on a wrought-iron patio chair. She had her head down, rocking her body. He slowly closed the backdoor and walked toward her.
    “Liv, I’m so sorry.”
    He felt the need to apologize, and he watched her flinching at his words and the realization she wasn’t alone. She didn’t raise her head as he crouched beside her, touching her hair. Her sobs grew harder as he felt pain fill him with each sound of anguish she