“Caley, let me explain. Please.” He reached the front of my car but stopped. Clearly, he’d realized that coming any closer would be bad for his health.

“I have all but begged you to sign those divorce papers. I agreed to give you time to think it over because I knew you didn’t want a divorce. I tried to reason with you over and over, explaining how neither of us was happy and that we’d be better off apart. You completely ignored me.”

“Caley…” He trailed off.

“You don’t want a divorce, but here you are, kissing another woman in broad daylight. A woman who is holding my child!” I shouted.

“Let me explain,” he begged.

The woman had walked over to us. She stood only a few feet behind Joey with Amelia still in her arms. Her gaze darted back and forth between Joey and me, a distraught look on her face.

“There’s nothing to explain!” I shouted as I marched toward him, past him, and to the woman. “Give me my daughter.”

“Joey, what do I do?” the woman asked as she tried to back away.

“Give me my daughter, you bitch!” I shrieked before I lunged at her.

She let out a squeal as I grabbed Amelia and pulled her to my chest. I turned and tried to get back to my car.

But Joey stopped me. “I’m not going to just let you walk away from me! If you do, you’ll never listen to reason later.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Joey. I’m finished with you.” I glared. “I want a goddamn divorce, and if you refuse to willingly give it to me, I will take everything from you, including Amelia. I’m sure there’s no judge alive who wouldn’t award me full custody after learning that you’ve been screwing around behind my back for God knows how long.” I knew I was being a hypocrite, but I was too angry in that moment to care. “All those days and weekends you had to work late or were out of town? They were probably just lies to cover up what you were really doing.”

When Joey hadn’t denied it, I fought the urge to scream. I forced it away because I had to. Amelia was in my arms, looking up at me as if she knew something was terribly wrong.

“Caley?” a voice called from behind Joey.

I looked around him to see Ethan walking toward us, a concerned look on his face. “Is everything okay?”

“Who the hell are you?” Joey asked as he turned to face him.

For weeks, my greatest fear had been Joey and Ethan coming face-to-face with each other. Now that they were, all I felt was relief. If Joey refused to let me leave, Ethan would help me.

“My name is Ethan. I’m a friend of hers,” Ethan said, his tone cold.

I’d never heard him sound like that before.

Joey looked back at me. “A friend, huh? I don’t remember her mentioning you before. Clearly, you’re not that important to her, so why don’t you stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong and move along?”

Ethan glanced at me before returning his attention to Joey. “You might not know me, but I certainly know you. I think maybe it’s best that you move along before something regrettable goes down here.”

Joey laughed. “Something regrettable? Really?”

“Joey, shut up,” I snapped. “I’m leaving.”

“No, you’re not. I won’t let you go anywhere until we talk—alone.”

“Let her go,” Ethan said.

Joey took a step closer to Ethan, his body tight with tension, his hands balled into fists at his sides. If it had been me he was walking toward, I would have turned and ran. I could read his body language, and I knew he was looking for a fight.

“You’re just asking to have your ass kicked, aren’t you?” Joey asked. He moved so that he was standing directly in front of Ethan. “I suggest you leave before something regrettable happens to you.”

Things seemed to speed up after that. Ethan drew back and punched Joey square in the face. The next thing I knew, they were both on the ground, kicking and punching each other like they wanted the other one dead.

I could hear someone screaming, and it took me a moment to realize it was the woman Joey had been kissing—no, it wasn’t just her. I was screaming, too. Ethan’s name escaped my lips over and over again, but I didn’t dare move closer to them with Amelia in my arms.

Neither of them would give up. I kept waiting for them to pull apart, but they never did—not willingly at least. Instead, two uniformed officers appeared from nowhere and pulled them away from each other. I watched what was happening in front of me in complete disbelief. The officers forced them onto their stomachs on the ground. Before I could blink, Ethan and Joey had handcuffs on their wrists.

Joey continued to struggle on the ground, clearing not ready to give up the fight. That had always been his problem. He never knew when to stop. Even with a police officer’s knee in his back, Joey wouldn’t back down. Add in his fiery temper that took almost nothing to evoke, and he was someone you didn’t want to mess with.

He had hidden his temper from me until after we had gotten married. It was probably because he knew it would have scared me away. He was right. If I had seen him act the way he was now before we were married, I would have run. I might have been clingy and desperate for love, but even I wasn’t so desperate that I would have taken a raging bull as my husband.

Ethan, on the other hand, lay perfectly still on the ground. The cop holding him down stood and helped his partner get control of Joey.

“Settle down now!” the cop on top of Joey said, using a tone that said he was about two seconds away from showing a temper of his own.

It took a few more minutes of struggling before Joey finally realized he wasn’t going anywhere. He stopped fighting and lay face down on the ground, panting hard from struggling so much.

I stood only a few feet away from both men and the officers, unable to believe what was happening. The red and blue lights of the police cruiser flashed behind me, reflecting off the windshields of the cars around us. I had no idea how I hadn’t noticed them pulling in. Obviously, I had been too focused on Ethan and Joey beating the hell out of each other.

Once the officers were sure Joey wouldn’t start struggling again, they patted him and Ethan down before rolling them onto their backs. Horror filled me when I got a look at Ethan’s and Joey’s faces. There was blood everywhere, enough that it had run down their faces and now soaked the front of their shirts. I couldn’t tell who looked worse. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

Both men were helped up and taken to separate sides of the parking lot. I stood, transfixed, in the lot, unsure of where to go or what to do.

“This is insane!” a voice said from behind me.

I turned to see the woman Joey had been with.

She was standing only a few feet away, shaking like a leaf. “I didn’t sign up for this. I’m leaving.”

“I don’t think you can leave,” I pointed out. “The police saw both of us here. I’m sure they want to talk to us.”

She shook her head. “Who are you?”

I bristled at her question. All we need is for another fight to break out, I thought sarcastically. I managed to keep my voice calm as I said, “I’m Joey’s wife—well, soon-to-be ex-wife.”

The look of mortification and guilt on her face told me what I’d needed to know. She’d known he was married. He hadn’t lied his way into her pants. No, she was as guilty as he was.

“Are you Ms. Sanders?” a male voice asked from behind me.

I turned away from the woman to see one of the officers standing in front of me.

Talk about perfect timing.

He’d just saved that woman from my wrath. She was nothing more than a dirty homewrecker.