Tangled Web

I felt like hell as I struggled to remain in a sitting position; I know that I had asked to be drunk out of my mind because I wanted to forget my troubles, but they seemed to still be there when I woke up the next morning in the name of my husband; Leland.

Somehow I managed to slide a pair of jeans on and Duane Lee's tshirt I had kept from the night I slept at his house. If anything, it would piss Leland off seeing his brother's name in bold letters on the back of the shirt his wife was wearing. I put my hair up on top of my head in a messy bun and walked slowly down the stairs. When I got to the bottom I noticed a woman standing next to Leland in my living room. I stood there staring as she interacted with my husband; glancing over to the kitchen I saw Duane Lee staring at me, still in his boxers sipping a cup of coffee. He looked as surprised as I did.

"Hi, I'm Amy." She says extending her hand for me to shake.

"Mila." I reply, trying to stay upright, the alcohol was still taking its toll on me.

"I'm giving Amy a ride to the store... she lives next door to me; in the uh... in the apartments." Leland says nervously.

It was an awkward situation to say the least as Duane Lee walked behind me and back up stairs. I stood there biting my lip and Leland glanced between me and his new friend, Amy.

"Thats nice." I finally reply, crossing my arms.Leland was always one to make friends quickly so it was no surprise to see one standing here. If that's all she was.

Three Weeks Later:

Leland's POV:

Mila walked into the office with our children in tow; she looked tired as she told them to sit down on the couch and behave. Beth approached her and hugged her tightly, no matter what was going on between us she was still a huge part of my family.

"Honey, are you sick, you look so pale?" Beth asks, leaning back to take a good look at her, inspecting her like any mother would their own child.

Mila tucks her hair behind her ear and smiles; "Oh, I'm fine Beth. Just tired, you know how it is with all the kids running around."

They share a laugh and Beth tells her, "Take it easy this weekend while Leland has them."

She did look pale, her eyes were sunk in and dark circles were starting to form underneath them. She wasn't taking care of herself, that much I knew. I pulled my brother aside; as much as it hurt me to ask him how my wife was, he was the person that was the closest to her right now.

"I don't know whats going on with her. Ive tried to call her several times; tried to stop by and see her... she keeps telling me she's busy. So I don't know..." he says with a shrug of his shoulders.

I decided to take matters into my own hands, asking Beth to watch the kids while I walked my wife to her car. I opened the door, still trying to be a gentleman, no matter how many mistakes Ive made here recently. "Mila, whats going on?" I ask, standing between the her and the car door as she sat down.

"Nothing, I'm fine." she says forcing a smile.

"You look exhausted. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Leland, I'm fine. Can I please go now?" she says as I step back, giving her room to close the door. She doesn't say another word as she drives away.

Duane Lee's POV:

By the time Saturday afternoon rolled around I'd had enough. After calling Mila every couple of hours I decided I would just go by her house and let myself in. Walking up the stairs to her bedroom, I noticed all the kids clothes piled up in the hall. There were toys scattered here and there; the house was a mess.

Opening the bedroom door, the curtains were closed casting a sad darkness over the normally bright room. "Mila." I say walking toward the bed. "Are you still in bed? Its 1:30 in the afternoon." I say sitting down on the bed beside her.

"So."

"So, get up."

"Don't want to." she tells me as she rolls away from me. "Leave me alone."

I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm not leaving until you tell me whats wrong with you. You've been avoiding me, ignoring my phone calls...you never do that."

She pushed the cover away from her and sat up. Her hair was dirty and oily looking, her eyes and cheeks were sunk in; she looked awful. "Baby, what is wrong with you?"

She looks into my eyes and starts to cry. "I don't know. Ive just gotten to the point where I don't care anymore. My marriage is over, Leland's seeing that Amy girl, I'm lonely and I hate my life. "

"Baby, its not that bad, I promise." I say picking up her hand and holding it gently. "Lets get you into the shower and maybe you'll feel a little better." I suggested, trying to pull her out of the bed. Reluctantly she follows me into the bathroom. I turn the water on and step back. "I'll leave you alone while you shower."

"Don't leave...please." she whispers sadly.

I sat down on the side of the bathtub as she showered. My heart was breaking, I'd never seen her this way before. "Have you talked to Leland lately?" I ask over the running water.

"No."

"Why not? Don't you want to work things out?"

"I don't know... I cant look at him with out crying. And he has Amy..."

"That girl that came to the house with him?" That was the first Id heard of them being an item. It got me to thinking... if Leland had moved on, would it be so bad if I made my move on Mila?

"Yeah, shes the one. Shes beautiful and from England...and I'm just plain and boring and from Colorado. I suck." Turning off the water, she steps out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her wet body.

I caught a glimpse of a tattoo on her hip. "Come here." I say pulling her by the arm toward me. "Is that a tattoo on your hip?"

She blushes, pulling towel aside so that I could see her hip. "Oh my God, you have my brothers badge tattooed on your hip." I say with a laugh, not believing what I was seeing. "Kinky bitch"

Pulling to towel back over her hip she says, "It says Chapman... not Leland."

"Well then....cant believe he talked you into that."

"Every time he got a tattoo, he wanted me to get one too...he loves women with tattoo's. Why do you think he likes Amy...she's has two or three that I could see. Who knows whats lurking under her clothes."

I put my arm around her shoulder, walking her out of the bathroom. "Now, don't be mean...she might be a very nice girl." I say smirking.

"A nice girl? She stole my husband!"

"She didn't steal him...He slept with another woman and then he left; remember." I remind her, knowing it would hurt her. But at the moment that's what I wanted, to break her down just a little, so I could be her hero. It was wrong, I knew that much; but I wouldn't let it stop me.

"So what do I do? I don't have a job, I don't have a college education, I don't have any means to raise our children."

I sat down on her bed, pulling her down beside me. "Do you honestly think that Leland would let his children go without?"

"No." she says defeated.

"Don't worry about the money part of it. No matter how stupid my brother is, he wouldn't let you starve or go homeless. And neither would I."

Three Months Later:

Mila's POV:

Three months later not much had changed in my life. Leland however, didn't have a problem moving on... or moving in with Amy to a larger apartment. I pretended like it didn't bother me, but inside I was dying. Thankfully Duane Lee was there to help me. I wasn't stupid, I knew what he was after. I just didn't know if I could put myself in that position again.

I was happy that Leland had the kids for the entire week; the girls were out for spring break so I sent them and Kaiden packing to visit Daddy.

As I settled myself on the couch, I picked up the paperwork from the table and stared at it; Mila Noel Chapman vs. Leland Blaine Chapman. I couldn't believe I had actually filed. Now all that was left to do was serve Leland and we would be divorced.

I heard my front door open and looked up to see Duane Lee standing there. We'd gotten so comfortable with each other we didn't bother knocking anymore. "Hi sunshine." I say laughing as he stood there still dressed in his work clothes.

He had this look of pure joy on his face. I knew the look well, Leland had come home many nights with that same look. He'd caught someone big. It was the thrill of the bust, he was running on pure adrenaline. Nothing could stop him.

"Who'd you catch?" I ask turning around on the couch, facing him as he stood behind it.

"Kimo Luna." he says happily. "How did you know I caught someone?" he says coming around the side of the couch and sitting down next to me.

"Baby, Ive been married to a Bounty Hunter for a long time. Ive seen that look more times that I can remember. It usually lead to some really hot sex...gotta work off that adrenaline some how." I say laughing and patting him on the leg.

"Well, if thats what you want..." he says leaning in to kiss me on the cheek, before moving to whisper in my ear. "I do have a lot of adrenaline flowing...would hate to let this high go to waste."

"Um... well, as lovely as that sounds..." I say nervously; pushing him off of me.

"You don't think Leland ran home to Amy and threw himself on her? Do you think she pushed him away?" he replies, almost angrily.

I didn't know what to think. It wasn't like we were dating or living together for that matter. "Why are you getting mad?"

"Because, I try and I try and you keep pushing me away. All I want is to love you Mila." he says leaning back on the couch, running a hand through his hair. The adrenaline high all but forgotten as we fought.

"You know what." I say standing up in front of him. "Screw it." I yell, pulling my shirt over my head and then my jeans. I stood before him in nothing but my panties and bra. "Lets do it." I say, looking down at him.

"Well, that's not much of a turn on." he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, I'm pissed off right now. My marriage is ending, Leland is living with Amy... and I got the divorce papers in the mail today; I have to take them to Leland and I don't know how he's going to react. So, I'm sorry if I don't feel like having sex with you right now!" I scream before walking off.

Duane Lee's POV:

I didn't know what to think. I came over to see Mila hoping she would be open to starting something with me; but I was wrong... way wrong. I sighed and pushed myself off the couch, following her into her room. I found her standing in the bathroom, swallowing some sort of pill.

"What are you taking?" I ask, concerned. The last thing I wanted was for her to be popping pills.

"Nothing." she says brushing my shoulder as she walked past me.

I picked up the empty pill bottle, it had no label, no name, nothing to indicate what it was. "Mila, what are you taking? Is it your prescription?"

"Don't worry about it Duane. Damn, cant you just leave me alone?"

"Fine, I'm gone. Don't call me when something happens to you." I yell over my shoulder as I leave her sitting on the bed.

Amy's POV:

Leland walked through the door, a smile stretching from ear to ear. "Welcome home." I say kissing him softly on the lips. "Why are you smiling so... big?" I say laughing.

"We caught a guy that we've been chasing for over six months." he says happily as he pulls me into a passionate kiss. I smiled, my world felt like more of a fairly tale than real life. But I wasn't complaining, I was only wondering how long it would last before he went back to his wife. Yes, I knew it was wrong to live with another man while he was still married but they had been separated for a while now and he didn't seem to have a problem with that.

"My babies in bed already?" he asks, taking off his bullet proof vest. Apparently he was so excited about the catch that he drove home in all his gear. I didn't mind that, it was sexy.

"All tucked in and sleeping like ...babies!" I say giggling. I follow him in to the bathroom as he finishes getting undressed. I smiled thinking about how far we'd come in the past few months; from being neighbors to living together. It was almost too good to be true.

"What are you think thinking about?" he asks, wrapping his arms around my waist as I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked up, seeing him standing naked behind me; I blushed, still trying to get use to being so open with a man.

"Just thinking about us. It all seems surreal."

He smiles, kissing me on the shoulder and says, "Don't think so much. Just enjoy what we have."