The Debt 12 (Club Alpha) by Kelly Favor Read Free Book Online

me?”
    Monique chuckled.   “Is that so hard to believe?”
    “I don’t know.”   Faith shrugged.   “Maybe.”
    “Well, you should give yourself more
credit.”
    Faith smiled.   “Fine, I will.”   She took a sip of coffee.   “So, about Steve…”
    Monique’s slight smile dwindled on her
face a she contemplated the topic of her fiancé.   “Steve’s complicated.”  
    That
seems like quite the understatement ,
Faith thought, as she stared briefly at the ugly shiner on Monique’s eye.
    Monique didn’t seem to notice Faith’s
staring.   She pursed her lips and
took a deep breath.   “When we first
met, it was electric.   The physical
and emotional connection we had was off the charts.   Know what I mean?”
    Again, Faith did.   She nodded her understanding, thinking
of what had transpired between her and Chase.   “Yeah, it can be interesting.”
    “I bet.”   Monique arched an eyebrow.   “The two of you look like you want to
jump each other all the time.”
    “We do?”
    “Hey, I’m not judging.”   Monique laughed more easily.   “Anyway, me and Steve used to be like
that.   It was just, like, hot, all
the time.   He truly swept me off my
feet.   And even when the first signs
of trouble started, I didn’t really notice because everything was moving so
fast.   Steve invited me to come live
in Boston with him, and I did.   I
moved away from everyone and everything I knew to be here with Steve, to
support his career—and to build our life together.”
    Faith felt sweat beads breaking out on
her forehead.   Listening to Monique
was in some strange way, like hearing herself talk about Chase.   The exciting early
days, the warning signs, the refusal to see the darkness ahead.
    Sacrificing so much for one man you
didn’t know well enough.
    Monique picked up her coffee but didn’t
drink it.   She put the mug
down.   “The arguments between us
started getting more intense when Steve got injured last season and was in
rehab.   He was so frustrated being
out of the game, and he started taking it out on me.   He’d pick fights with me, and he started
acting crazy jealous.   It was as if,
without the outlet for his aggression, he had to put it all somewhere.”
    “And that somewhere was you,” Faith said.
    Monique sighed.   “Sure.   I tried to be
understanding , but I was getting scared of him.   He slapped me one night after a
party—sound familiar?”
    “It does,” Faith said, remembering how
quickly the mood had soured between Monique and Velcro at the party in their
hotel room.
    “Maybe it was the alcohol, I don’t
know.”   The other woman’s eyes were
shining with unshed tears.   “I was
more shocked than hurt, the first time it happened.   But after that first slap, something
shifted between us.   It seemed like
Steve was always one step away from shoving me, grabbing me, getting angry and
screaming in my face.”
      “Did you talk to anyone about it?” Faith
asked.
    “What, like therapy?”
    “Anyone,” Faith said.
    Monique shook her head, crossed her long legs.   “In my family, therapy was for head
cases that couldn’t handle their own shit.   Pardon my French.”
    “Not a problem.”
    “I tried to bring it up around one or two
of the other player wives, but they instantly froze me out and shut me down
when I did.   It was like I’d farted
loudly at someone’s dinner table,” Monique said.   “I couldn’t tell my mother or
sisters.   They’d have freaked out
and flown out to Boston to confront him—and believe me, that would’ve
just made things worse for me.”
    “So you just dealt with it all yourself,”
Faith said.
    “Yeah.   I considered leaving him on occasion,
after a bad fight or something.   But
then he’d turn on the charm for a few weeks and win me back, have me convinced
that this time he’d really stopped for good.   I guess I’m just dumb or something.”
    “You are not dumb,” Faith said, her voice