Anastasia walked into the apartment, only stumbling a little because of the alcohol. The ball had been interesting to say the least. She felt a little unsettled by it all, and she wanted to see Trevor for reasons she couldn't explain.
She expected to find him at home, where he'd said he was going at least a half hour ago, but he wasn't there. Lightly, she tapped on Gavin's bedroom door.
"Gav? You in there?"
Gavin opened the door, buzzed a little from booze and the atmosphere of the Manor Halloween ball. He gazed out warily, then narrowed his eyes. "Yeah?"
She sighed a little at the look he gave her and leaned against the door frame. "Hey. Did you have fun?"
Gavin shrugged. What was fun? Just a word. He'd danced and drank, that was supposed to be fun. But it wasn't.
Anastasia sighed again. Fighting with him was like an open wound that someone kept pouring salt on, but she didn't know what else to do about it, aside from letting it make her miserable. "Listen, I don't want to bother you but have you seen Trevor? He told me he was coming home a half hour ago, but he's not here."
Trevor had, in fact, come in about twenty minutes ago and disappeared into the bedroom, talking angrily on his cell phone. Gavin stiffened. He knew what his brother was doing, and despite everything that had happened between him and Anastasia, Gavin didn't want her to know. "Yeah, he came home. How was the party?"
"Fine," Anastasia replied easily. She'd had fun but she hadn't seen Trevor much. When he was around, she thought he'd been watching someone else. "Do you know where he went? I really need to talk to him and he's not answering his phone."
Gavin stepped out of the room to make sure she didn't head down the hallway toward her bedroom. "Maybe he's in the can, you know how he is after a party."
Anastasia watched Gavin move to block her path and arched a brow. "Uh huh. Is he in the can, or did he go back down to the party?" She had a strange feeling he had and that Gavin was trying to hide something from her.
Gavin frowned. "No. He's not at the party. Why? What was he doing at the party?"
Anastasia went entirely still. "Where's Trevor?"
"He's in the bedroom." Gavin shrugged. After all, what was it to him, really? She could go running off after him like he shit gold bricks, for all he cared. Except he did care, too much.
Anastasia pushed past him to the bedroom and opened the door, finding Trevor sitting on the bed, muttering angrily at his phone. "Baby? Are you okay?"
"Fuck this," he muttered and threw the phone onto the dresser. He stood, looking her over. His wife. Fuck all this shit. "I need a drink." He pushed past her and headed for the kitchen.
Anastasia stood there in shock, wondering what could have made him so angry. He'd been more pissed off than usual this past week or so. What could be behind it? On the dresser his phone vibrated, the screen lighting up with a new message and she stood looking at it for a long time. It would be a horrible invasion of privacy to look at it. She knew that. Didn't stop her feet from moving forward or her hand from lifting the phone to read.
It's over, okay? We'll still be friends and I still care about you, but what we had would never work. Please stop this.
Anastasia felt her gut hollow. It was from someone named Isabella, and the more she thought about it the more she thought it'd been the name she'd heard him use when he was on the phone and didn't think she was listening. Isabella. Who is Isabella? Like a robot, her thumb moved on his phone, hitting the buttons to call up his text folder and there it was, a long list of text after text from this woman Isabella, going back at least three months.
Baby, I miss you. Are you going to come over later?
There's no one in the office and I need you.
Want you. Get away from home and come to my place tonight.
Anastasia started to shake. She moved to his Sent folder and found texts from him to the woman, all similar in nature. All talking about sneaking around and finding ways to fuck her. Wanting her. Wanting this Isabella. She gripped the phone so tight her hand started to hurt and she walked into the kitchen to where Trevor was, holding up the phone.
"Who the fuck is Isabella?"
Trevor had poured himself a stiff shot of Scotch and downed it. Now he looked at her, eyes red -rimmed, gaze blurry. "The fuck are you talking about?"
"Isabella! Who the fuck is she?" she said, holding his phone up closer to his face and shaking all over. "The woman you've been texting for three months, talking about fucking. Are you fucking her?"
"No," Trevor said coldly. "As a matter of fact, Anastasia, I am NOT fucking her."
"Well," Anastasia said, eyes starting to water. "Not now, you're not. Right? Because according to these she dumped you. But for three fucking months you were fucking someone else. Her. Isabella."
He could deny it all he wanted, but the truth was there, warm in her hand.
Trevor licked the taste of Scotch from his lips. For one heavy second, he thought about falling on his knees in front of her and begging forgiveness. He wanted to forget all of this had ever happened, these last months that seemed like some strange fever dream. He wanted to cry in front of her and tell her he'd been wrong. But he didn't do any of that. Instead, he looked at her with a flat gaze. And then, he smiled.
Anastasia sucked in a breath, feeling like her heart had just been cut out. "You fucking son of a bitch," she breathed, two tears falling from her eyes. "You fucking son of a bitch!" she yelled louder, throwing his phone at him. The hurt pulsed inside her like her heart and it didn't matter what she'd done with Gavin. This was Trevor. He was hers, and now she had tangible proof that he'd left her months ago. She took the steps necessary to reach him and pushed at his shoulder, tears pouring from her eyes. "How could you?"
Trevor finished the Scotch and put the glass down carefully on the counter. He looked at her. "What I do is none of your goddamned business."
"Yes, it is! I'm your fucking wife! How can you say that?"
He loomed over her. Words came out of his mouth that didn't sound like his own. "Didn't you just hear me? What, are you deaf now, too?"
She took a step back, afraid of the way he was looking at her, talking to her. "Fuck you. Fuck you if you feel that way," she said, shaking her head.
Everything had gone red and distant and far away, something not close to him. Something not him. Trevor sneered. "Go cry on my brother's shoulder. What a pussy, he'll tell you whatever the fuck you want."
Anastasia stiffened, hurt giving way to extreme anger again and she sneered back at him. "You want to call him a pussy? He's at least honest. At least he isn't out sticking his dick in whatever will have him and completely neglecting his family. You are the fucking pussy, Trevor. YOU are. Dear fucking christ, how many have there been? If you gave me something..."
He didn't even think about it. Just did it. Almost as though his hand weren't even connected to the rest of him. It connected with her, though, not a hard slap and somehow more insulting and demeaning for all of that. Trevor pulled back his hand and stared at it.
Anastasia's hand went to her jaw, a look of shock on her face. It stung, but she knew it was far less than the damage he could have done. She started backing away from him, tears pouring from her eyes as she felt a sob build in the back of her throat. "Fuck this. Fuck you. I'm leaving."
Gavin had been listening, of course, helpless not to, and at the sound of shouting he ran into the kitchen, ready to kick his brother's ass. He stopped at the sight of them. "What's going on?"
Anastasia, still with a hand on her face and still sobbing, pointed to Trevor. "Your brother decided he wanted to fuck someone else and I'm fucking leaving."
Trevor stiffened, staring at his brother flatly. "You want to make something of it, GAV?"
Gavin looked from one to the other. Part of him still stung, saying she got what she deserved. But the other part, the bigger part, the one that loved her, took two steps toward his brother. "Did you...hit her?"
Trevor stared, saying nothing. Feeling nothing but blackness. Black and red. And then...only red.
Anastasia put a hand on Gavin's arm to attempt to keep the two men from fighting. Trevor hadn't hit her as hard as she knew he could have, but she also knew he wouldn't hold back on Gavin either.
Gavin shrugged off Anastasia's grip and went toe to toe with his brother. "Did you hit her, you piece of shit?"
Trevor smiled.
Gavin, furious, clenched his fists and thought about punching his brother. And then he wasn't thinking it, he was doing it. All fists and feet, the two went at it. Trevor's head snapped back as Gavin got in a blow to the chin, but in the next minute, Trevor slammed Gavin in the gut.
"Fuck! Christ! Stop!" Anastasia said, tugging at Gavin. She knew better than to tug at Trevor. He'd hit her once and he likely wouldn't hesitate to do it again. "Please, just stop."
Trevor heard her voice and backed off, hands up, letting Gavin get in another couple of punches before he spat to the side. "I'm fucking out of here."
Anastasia moved back, holding on to Gavin's shirt and glaring at Trevor. She was shaking all over and she couldn't stop crying. She didn't know what to do or what to say, so she stood back and let Trevor go.