Hidebound

Chapter Seventy

For a moment I freeze in place, but only for a moment.

Is he angry at me? How do I approach this situation? Do I confront him or leave and hope he follows?

I can see it in his eyes, he wants me to go to him but I'm in no mood to do anything wants me to and I make my decision without a second thought.

I don't look back as I stand and march my ass out of the door, pushing past people without much care.

I don't know if he's following me, I can't feel him within my presence but that could just be because there are so many people around.

But he can best believe that if he doesn't follow me out right now that there's a very slim chance he'll be allowed to sleep next to me tonight.

The fresh air hits my face and I take a deep breath to save my lungs but to also prepare for the potential argument that's about to ensue.

"Whoa, little miss; almost hit me in the face" the security guard steps back and out of the way of the swinging door. I don't pay him any mind and continue walking to my car, retrieving my keys from my pocket as I walk.

The door is stopped before it can swing closed again.

"Aye! This the lying husband?" The guard calls after me, still finding amusement in our situation.

"Who the fuck are you?" Hex's voice sends a shiver down my spine and I'm secretly pleased that he followed me even though I don't show it.

"Just doin' my job, bro" I can almost see the guard holding his hands up in surrender as Hex continues following me.

Is he able to drive? He didn't look intoxicated but I had only set eyes on him for a few seconds before walking out.

Selfishly, I secretly hope he can drive his own car otherwise its going to be an awkward drive home and I don't know if I can hold my anger back until we get to the apartment.

"Baby, stop" his voice is closer now and I speed up, wanting to get to my car before we start arguing in public.

"Poppy" I can't tell if he's mad that I'm here but I don't care. If he thinks for one second that he can be mad at me for looking for him then he's got another thing coming.

"No, Hex. Get in your car and I'll meet you at home" my phone vibrates as I hold it in my hand. I look at it, my eyes squinting through the bright light to see the unknown number. I press the red button and point my keys at my car causing the lights to flash as I unlock it.

"What are you doing here?" The question boils my blood. Was he ever going to tell me that he had come to Eastside? Was he ever going to tell me he was at a gentlemens club?

"Get in your ca-" my phone starts vibrating again and I growl out of frustration.

My distraction gives Hex enough time to catch up to me as he stands behind me, his shirt skimming mine in the light breeze.

"Hello?" I exclaim rudely. Ready to tell the telemarketer that I don't want their deal and to piss off.

"Hello, is this Poppy Rose?" The voice is strong and authoritative, it makes me stand straighter.

"This is she" I answer. I feel Hex lean down slightly behind me as he tries to listen to the phone call but I step away and turn, pushing against his chest so he can give me some space.

"This is the police department, we were called to your residence for a domestic" my eyebrows pull together.

"You're at my apartment?" I clarify. I briefly glance at Hex's face and find it set in a deep frown. He crosses his arms and widens his stance.

"I am, it would make things a lot easier if you open the door" by the tone of his voice I can tell he's not about to take any shit and just wants to get this over with so he can move onto his next job.

"We're not home, sir. I-I don't know who could have called, there was no domestic" Hex growls at the word, the thought that someone would accuse one of us of that pisses him off.

"I don't care whether you're home or not, you have ten minutes to show your face or your front door is coming down" my mouth drops at the threat and I crack a knuckle on my hand.

"O-okay, be there soon" I mumble and then he hangs up.

"Who was that?" Hex asks as I swing open my car door and throw my phone on the passenger seat.

"The police, so you better get in your car and follow me" I state firmly and slam the door behind me.

He stands by my door for a second and I refuse to look at him, although my eyes find him when he rounds my car and gets into his own.

He's not drunk, I can't smell it on him or his breath otherwise I would've never let him drive no matter how awkward the drive home would be.

He either got to the club just before I did or he had been here the entire time and hadn't drunk much. I find the second option hard to believe considering he had a drink in his hand when I finally found him.

I make a mental note to ask him about where he had been before here. I won't let the police distract me from finding out the truth.

I leave before Hex is ready as an act of defiance but he catches up quickly, his lights close behind me as he follows me out of Eastside.

At least I hope its him because his headlights won't let me see past them.

But I quickly confirm it is him when we stop at a red light and he stops close behind me so that his headlights can't be seen in my mirrors and I see his face instead, making eye contact with him.

I see the red and blue lights before I see the police and I groan in embarrassment. There's no way our neighbours hadn't noticed, I can almost see them looking through their curtains at the scene unfolding in front of our apartment.

There's a man older than the rest with a thick moustache and I know instantly that it's him I spoke to.

"Poppy Rose?" He comes over to me as I park my car in the driveway, Hex parks behind me and walks up to us.

"Yeah, that's me. What's happening?" I ask as I look at my house. I have flashbacks of my windows being smashed but with a quick check they are all intact and I release a sigh of relief that I don't have to spend the night trying to find Teddy.

"And you're the husband?" The officer asks Hex as he stands close to me.

"Yes sir" Hex shakes the officers hand.

"We received a call about a domestic dispute."

"We-" the officer holds up his hand to stop me from speaking and I can't help but feel disrespected. Hex thumbs the back of my shirt and shifts on his feet. I hope he stays quiet, the last thing we need is for them to look up his name and find his record.

"- but I can see that it seems to be a prank call considering neither of you were home and your neighbours didn't hear anything" I cringe and try to sink into my shirt as my cheeks turn a rosy shade of pink. They had gone around asking our neighbours?

"We still had to see you-" he points to me "- in person because of your-" he points to Hex "- record" so I guess they've already looked at Hex's record and his history of violence had led them to take more caution then they usually would.

He also confirmed that the caller had said that Hex was the violent one.

There's only one person I can think of that would have it out for Hex to the point of making a false police call.

"Okay, well, thank you for your concern but I'm alright" I say with a stiff smile. I shiver in the cold air and I want nothing more than to crawl into bed but Hex and I still have to talk first. This could be a long night.

The officer has little left to say as he waddles back to his car and the other four that had arrived in two other police cars follow him, leaving our street pitched in black and taking the red and blue with them.