The Dividing Line (Book 1)

02 Ξ Betrayal (BWWM)

ALLEN COLE MCGREGOR

Finishing a five-year stint after selling cocaine to an undercover cop, had him reaching out to his boy Bruce to get hooked up with a quick hustle. From his experience, not having money in his pocket was unacceptable for any real man.

Cole walked from one area of the building clear across to the other side rubbing his ungloved hands together hoping to spark up enough warmth to break the frigid hold the icy winds held over him.

Considering his friend was like a little brother, Bruce was the only person Cole entrusted with the paltry state of his funds. Had it been someone else, he would not have requested their assistance and he certainly wouldn't wait out in the middle of 'Nowheresville' to receive the products he knew for sure would jumpstart his cash flow.

Being broke was too much to handle within itself, but listening to the older woman's nonstop complaining about every move he made had reached its limit. With full knowledge of who he was as a person and what he would do to anyone who chose to annoy the hell out of him, Cole reasoned that should he remain in the same house with the old hag, Carlie might come up missing. Listening to her insisting that he should get his act together day in and day out, it wouldn't be long before he snapped and did something he most likely would never regret.

When Jedidiah died, Cole allowed his uncle's ex to stay in his house rather than tossing her ass out on the streets. Not only had that old bitch and his uncle never married, but she also never paid a single payment on the land, property, or taxes. Everything his uncle possessed had been legally passed down to Cole.

Since Carlie Higginbotham's name wasn't on a goddamn thing, the good-for-nothing tramp who thought her shit didn't stink was playing a dangerous game by fucking around with him. As far as he was concerned, she was welcome to get the hell out of his house the moment he was released from prison. All that bitch knew to do was talk a lot of shit about stuff that had nothing to do with her sorry ass. Living with her was only fueling his hate instead of encouraging him to get himself back together by doing things the right way this time around.

Cole had convinced himself long ago that the only way to deal with stupid people was with money or violence. If he didn't hurry up and get her out of his family home, one less loudmouth whore would be walking around because he was seriously considering strangling her dumb ass to death.

To his dismay, each move he had made to keep himself financially secure evaporated into thin air on the day he was released from prison.

Every slight that had frustrated the hell out of him over the last four and a half years came to a head when he walked through the door of his house. Cole's issues with Carlie had evaporated as soon as he received word that no one could locate his ex. The instant family and friends brought him a half-assed story regarding the disappearance of Jolene, that's when Cole realized he was in for some bullshit on the day of his release.

It had taken only a good six months of him being on the inside when he first received cryptic communications to reach him about Jolene's infidelities. Cole learned that she had been hooking up with some asshole. With a pair of hands close enough to reach out and touch that bitch, he was left to count down the days as he fantasized about the numerous ways of punishing the wench.

When Cole closed his eyes during his incarceration, he could still recall how that bitch had piled up lie on top of lies when she insisted she would be there for him from day one of his sentence and every day after he had completed his time.

Since Jolene had disappeared not long after he was locked up, Cole wasn't one bit surprised to find that every dime he'd left in her care was also long gone.