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“I tried to find a way out, but I don’t have any family. I had no job, no money. All of my friends were his friends.”
I wanted to tell her that she had family now, but it wasn’t the right time. She needed me to listen, not to declare the feelings I still couldn’t quite figure out.
“About a year ago, I did something at a family gathering. I don’t even know what it was, just that his mom complained to him about it. I argued with him. I don’t know why. I knew he’d hit me like he had before. This time, though, he didn’t hold back. It was bad enough that I ended up driving myself to the ER.”
I was going to kill that son of a bitch.
“He showed up later, saying he heard about my ‘accident,’ and I knew that if I didn’t leave him, he was going to keep hurting me, and he might start hurting Dallas too. I told him if he didn’t contest a divorce, I wouldn’t press charges.”
She shook her head, and even though I wanted to soothe her with my words and my touch, I knew she wasn’t finished. She needed to get it out, and I needed to listen.
“I can’t believe I was stupid enough to believe him when he agreed. When I was released, he picked me up, told me that he’d hired a divorce lawyer, and had an appointment for me the next day. I never made it. I got pulled over, my car searched, and the cop found drugs. I was arrested and skipping over all the legal stuff to the point, I have a couple months left of probation and a caseworker who has to be at every visit I have with my son until our custody arrangement is finalized.”
“Baby, I am so sorry.” I kissed the top of her head. “If there’s anything I can do to help, anything at all, just say the word.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Just knowing I’m not alone in this is more than you can know.”
“I can probably find people who could make him disappear.”
She laughed, and I felt some of the tension leave her. “I think I’ll stick with the legal system for now, but if he charms his way through this, I might take you up on that.”
I raised her face, keeping my hand on her chin as I brushed my lips across hers. “Whatever you need.”
Her expression sobered. “Knowing all this doesn’t change things?”
“Only in that I’m tempted, for the first time in my life, to become a gun-toting Texan.” I kissed her again, more thoroughly this time, leaving us both breathless by the time it ended. “You know what, I think we need a vacation.”
“I think I’d get fired if I tried to take another day off.”
I grinned at her. “I’m pretty sure no one will miss me, and Grandad won’t mind if you’re with me. In fact, I think he likes the idea of us together.”
Her smile faltered. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Won’t people think I’m getting shown favoritism?”
“Are you going to break up with me?” I made the question light, but the answer worried me.
“No.”
I could breathe again. “Then it doesn’t matter because they’re going to talk once we start getting noticed together. Why not at least get a trip to Tahiti in before we have to start defending ourselves?”
“Tahiti?” Her eyes widened.
“Tahiti,” I repeated. “We’ll go to the meeting together tomorrow, and when we’re done, we’ll have the jet take us to Tahiti. If anyone needs us that badly, we can always video chat.”
The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.
Me, Sofi, the beach, Sofi in a bikini…Sofioutof a bikini.
We were going to Tahiti.
Thirty-Three
Sofi
I was in Tahiti.
It was Thursday evening, and we’d gotten here Tuesday evening…and I still couldn’t quite believe it.
Deklin had booked us a deluxe beach bungalow at one of the best hotels on the island, and I felt decadent just saying it. I would’ve been thrilled to stay anywhere at all in this paradise, especially at this hotel, but he’d gone all out. We were set apart from the other suites and bungalows, having our own private space while still enjoying the amenities of staying in a quality hotel.