Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

"You wouldn't dare."

Dan's voice exploded on the other end of the line.

Xander just grinned wider, sounding almost smug. "Yeah? My wife. Legally."

He kept saying "my wife" over and over, every word making Dan even more furious.

Before Dan could spit out another word, Xander hung up right in his face.

Silence filled the cramped car.

Xander sparked up a cigarette, took a long drag, and finally seemed to relax, like even his lungs could finally breathe easy.

Kyle glanced at him nervously in the rearview mirror. "Mr. Schultz, uh... were you trying to piss off Mr. Murray on purpose?"

Xander snorted. "Damn right. I hope that bastard chokes on it-ah, shit..."

He winced, a fresh cut on his lip pulling painfully.

Kyle blinked. He hadn't realized before that Mr. Schultz could be this petty. Was this all just payback for what happened today?

No, that didn't seem right. There had to be more to the story.

Over at the hospital...

Dan had racked up a few new bruises himself-Xander had caught him off-guard, and he'd never had a chance to defend himself.

Xander's cocky attitude over the phone had pushed Dan over the edge. He slammed his fist into the side table so hard that a bottle of Gatorade toppled off. Manny hovered nearby, looking like he wanted to crawl under a rock. "Sir?"

"You told me they wouldn't actually get married!"

Manny's eyes went wide. He'd overheard the whole call, and now it was hitting him: they really did it?

"But... after all that drama... how could they have gotten married?"

Manny scratched his head, thinking back to the chaos at the courthouse this morning. Xander had looked like he'd just walked out of a bar fight-fresh bruises all over his face and neck. No way those two were headed for a happy wedding.

He muttered under his breath, "Where the hell did everything go so wrong?"

Dan shot him a glare so cold, Manny froze in place.

“Sir, I just—”

"Get out."

Dan's temper snapped. He didn't bother trying to hide his fury.

Manny jumped, stammered an apology, and practically sprinted from the room. Now Dan was alone, the whole hospital room seeming to pulse with his anger.

His mind kept replaying the fight with

der-memories coming twisting a knife in beet

than ever, each one

a knife in his gut.

Xander. Yvonne.

Yvonne...

The thought of Yvonne and Xander actually getting that marriage certificate sent another wave of rage through him.

He grabbed his phone and dialed Yvonne without thinking.

What the hell was wrong with her? Had she lost her mind, going through with

this? How could she actually marry Xander?

...

Meanwhile, outside the courthouse...

Yvonne was standing on the curb, trying to hail a cab. Of course, it was rush hour, and the line of people waiting stretched down the block. She was fuming, and Xander was getting the brunt of it in her mind.

"Jerk. I dare him to not come begging for help after this."

Seriously. What kind of favor did he even need? How the hell did he manage to talk her mom and brother into this?noveldrama

"If he's so tough, let him handle everything on his own from here out!"

Tashe muttered, still waiting on

for a

that never seemed to come.

Her patience hit rock bottom. She pulled out her phone, ready to call the family

driver for a pickup.

Just then, an unknown number flashed on her screen.

She frowned and hit decline.

It rang again, persistent.

Annoyed, she picked up. "Who is this?"

"It's me."

Yvonne nearly groaned out loud. Seriously? Dan was so petty he'd call from a different number just to get through to her?

Men. They were all the same. If Xander was a jerk, Dan was even worse.