Ruining My Husband With the Dangerous Outcast

Rain lashed against my back as I jammed my thumb onto the smart lock keypad.

*Beep-beep-beep.* A solid red light flashed.

"Come on," I muttered, wiping water from my eyes.

I punched in our anniversary. 0-6-1-2. Red light.

I typed Julian's birthday. Red light.

I tried my own birthday. Nothing.

He changed the code. Julian Vance actually locked me out of the house. The same house my parents bought for us in cash as a wedding gift. He had manipulated the paperwork to keep only his name on the deed, and now he was weaponizing it.

"Julian!" I slammed my fists against the heavy oak door. "Open the door!"

Only the thunder answered.

"My parents paid for this house!" I screamed at the peephole. "You set this up!"

No movement from inside. The lights in the living room clicked off. He was ignoring me.

My knees gave out. I sank onto the wet concrete of the porch, pulling my legs to my chest. Sobs ripped through my throat, raw and ugly. The cold rain soaked right through my vintage pink dress, chilling me to the bone.

Headlights swept across the lawn, illuminating the driving rain.

A rumbling engine cut through the storm. I lifted my head from my knees.

Kael Lawson’s heavy black pickup idled at the bottom of the driveway. The driver’s side door swung open. Heavy work boots splashed in the puddles.

He didn't rush. He walked up the porch steps, his massive frame blocking the glare of the streetlights. Water slid off his broad shoulders.

I swiped at my wet cheeks, trying to hide the humiliation. "Did you come to laugh at me?"

Kael didn't answer. He stared down at me. He didn't offer a tissue. He didn't offer a hand to help me up.

Instead, he shrugged off his heavy black leather jacket and threw it directly over my head.

The rough leather smelled like stale tobacco and engine grease. It weighed a ton, instantly trapping my body heat.

"Truck," Kael ordered.

"I refuse to leave," I argued, my voice trembling. "My parents paid for this house."

"You're locked out."

"I'll break a window."

"With what?" Kael asked. "Your bare hands?"

I glared at him from beneath the oversized collar. "I'll find a rock."

"You'll get arrested for vandalism," Kael shot back. "Get in the truck, Melody. Before you freeze to death on your own welcome mat."

He turned and walked back to the idling vehicle.

I grabbed my soaked duffel bag and dragged myself off the porch.

I yanked the passenger door open. A blast of warm heater air hit my face, carrying the scent of dark roast coffee and more tobacco.

I climbed onto the worn cloth seat.

"Put your seatbelt on," he told me, shifting the gear stick.

"We are literally crossing the street," I pointed out.

"Seatbelt."

I clicked the metal buckle into place. The truck lurched forward, tires spinning slightly in the mud before gripping the asphalt. We crossed the street and pulled into his driveway, right beside the dented silver Porsche. The alarm had finally died, leaving only the sound of the rain. The garage door was already up.

He parked inside the cavernous space. The garage door rattled shut behind us, locking out the storm.

This place was a junkyard. Stacks of rusted pipes, dismantled motorcycle engines, and tangled wires covered every surface. It looked like a bomb went off in a mechanic's shop, a stark contrast to the manicured perfection of our upscale neighborhood.

I hopped down from the cab, dragging the jacket tighter around my shivering shoulders.

Kael walked over to a scarred wooden workbench. He shoved a pile of spark plugs aside and grabbed a dusty glass bottle.

"Do you have a towel?" I asked, wringing out the hem of my ruined pink dress.

"No." He poured amber liquid into a single smudged glass tumbler.

He slid the glass across the wood. It stopped an inch from my fingers.

"Drink," he commanded.

I stared at the whiskey. "I don't drink hard liquor."

"Start."

I grabbed the glass and threw it back. The alcohol burned a fiery trail down my throat, making my eyes water. I slammed the cup down.

"Better?" Kael asked, leaning his hips against the edge of the bench.

"No." I coughed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "My husband just left me for my neighbor. He stole my money. He locked me out of my house."

"Julian Vance is a coward," Kael stated flatly.

"He's a thief."

"He's worse than that." Kael reached under the workbench and pulled out a manila envelope. "This came in the mail today."

He tossed it onto the wood.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Open it."

I pulled out the thick stack of papers. The header read *County Civil Court*.

My name was printed at the top. Melody Sterling.

"A court summons?" My brows knit together. I scanned the first page. "For what?"

"Keep reading," Kael instructed, crossing his scarred arms.

My finger traced the dense legal text. The words blurred together until one bolded phrase jumped out at me.

*Petition for Restraining Order.*

"A restraining order?" I choked out, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Filed this morning," Kael said.

"He's claiming I'm a threat to his safety?" I shouted, waving the papers. "I baked him a cherry pie!"

"He claims you're unstable," Kael corrected. "Says you have a history of violent outbursts."

"That's a lie!"

"Doesn't matter." Kael tapped the paper. "He's building a case. If the judge grants this, you won't be allowed within five hundred feet of that house."

I stared at the rusted tools on the wall, the reality of the situation crushing my chest.

"He wants to keep the property," I whispered. "If I'm legally barred from the premises, he gets sole possession during the divorce."

"Smart strategy," Kael noted.

"He planned every second of this." I crushed the paper in my fist. "He took the money. He changed the locks. He filed the order."

"And he made you look crazy in front of fifty witnesses today," Kael added.

I flinched. The shattered pie. The screaming. My maniacal laughter.

"You didn't help," I shot back. "You smashed his car with a sledgehammer!"

"I gave you an alibi." Kael pushed off the bench. "Who do you think everyone is talking about right now? The hysterical wife, or the lunatic neighbor?"

I blinked, my mouth falling open slightly. "You did that on purpose?"

Kael picked up the whiskey bottle and poured himself a shot. He didn't answer my question.

"You have a hearing on Tuesday," Kael said, swallowing the liquor in one gulp. "You need a lawyer."

"I am completely broke," I reminded him. "Julian emptied the joint accounts."

"Then we find another way."

"We?" I echoed. "Why are you helping me, Kael?"

He set the empty glass down. His dark eyes locked onto mine, intense and unreadable.

"Because Julian Vance made a mistake," Kael said softly.

"What mistake?"

"He thought you were entirely alone." Kael took a single step toward me, closing the distance between us. "But he forgot about the lunatic next door."

I swallowed hard, the whiskey still burning in my stomach. "What are we going to do?"

Kael reached out and pulled a massive ring of brass keys from his pocket, dropping them onto the court summons with a heavy metallic clatter.

"We are going to steal your life back," Kael said. "Starting tonight."