Page 26

“Don’t,” he hissed, voice low. “Don’t say that.”

I needed to hang up. He was just going to make things worse.

“I want to be there, at the trial,” Neil continued. “When you testify.”

I sputtered with disbelief.

“Are you insane? Absolutely not.”

“Hattie, you’ve already been through enough on your own—”

“You’re not going to that damn trial, Neil. What will the jury think when a biker rolls up to the courthouse, wearing his leathers, while his ex-wife is on the stand? The validity of my statement could be called into question because—”

I snapped my mouth shut, wishing I could bite clean through my tongue for what I was about to say.

“Because you have a history of associating with criminals?” he finished for me.

I clenched my teeth and rubbed my forehead. Neil had been on the wrong side of the law since his childhood. At barely fourteen years old, he was kicked out of the house by his abusive father. Surviving on the streets had required petty crimes left and right. Then he fell into club life, and it was only natural thathe gravitated to the 1%—bikers with rap sheets a mile long, and proud of it.

Neil never hid that fact from me when we were together. Within forty-eight hours of that damned first kiss, he made sure I knew exactly what I was getting into with him. He wasn’t ashamed of the sins he’d committed, and he would commit a thousand more if need be.

Still, bringing up his criminal record was a low blow. Something my mother used to fling in my face on a regular basis. Even if I was concerned about his appearance at court affecting my testimony, I could have brought it up more tactfully than that.

The silence on the other end of the line was so complete that I wondered,did he hang up on me?

“Neil,” I said quietly.

“I’m here, baby,” he replied without missing a beat.

I stifled a groan and pinched the bridge of my nose. He really needed to stop calling me that. Every time I heard it, with the delicious rumbling bass of his voice, he chipped away at the walls I’d diligently fortified over the years to keep him out, to guard my heart, to train myself to stop loving him.

“You don’t have to worry about me anymore,” I whispered.

I knew that would hurt him, too, but not with malicious intent this time. He was so protective of me, going to great lengths to make sure someone was always watching my back if he couldn’t be there himself. He wouldn’t even wear his wedding ring on his hand, where everyone could see.

Any prick with half a brain cell would take one look at the ring on my finger and make a beeline straight for you,he used to say.I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because of me.

Instead, Neil wore his ring on a silver chain around his neck, tucked under his shirt and close to his heart.

Right where you belong, baby,he said, cupping my chin to kiss me.

“You’ve changed,” Neil rasped in a hoarse, raw voice.

I sucked in a sharp breath of air at the sting of his words.

“Usually, your mother was the one harping about the damage to your reputation,” he added. “You never cared what other people thought before.”

“This is different,” I muttered, prickling at the comparison to my mother.

Neil made a noise of disagreement but he didn’t argue any further.

“Pass along my congratulations to your sister for me, would you?”

Then he ended the call before I could reply.

By the time Connie and Emma were settled at home, the trial was a week and a half away. It seemed silly to head back to Seattle now. I hated imposing on Connie and Nathan any longer than I had to, but they insisted I was welcome to stay. Especially since I was more than willing to lend a hand around the house.

And secretly, I was grateful for every spare second I could soak up with little Emma.