Page 5

W hen Harlow turned into the parking lot of her apartment complex, Anthony’s BMW XM was parked in her assigned space. She gritted her teeth as she drove several buildings down to the visitor parking. She’d asked him repeatedly not to park in her space, but did he care about what she wanted?

It wasn’t good that he was here, and she considered driving right out of the complex and going somewhere. Anywhere he wasn’t. But that would only delay dealing with him. Remembering Grayson’s advice to record her conversations with Anthony, she set her phone to Record, then held it in her hand, the face hidden against her palm. She walked as slowly as possible, but she still ended up next to his car sooner than she was ready.

His car windows were down, and he was texting someone…probably his mistress. Not that she cared, she just wanted him to say why he was bothering her and then be on his way. He knew she was waiting because he’d glanced at her, but he continued to ignore her as he kept his attention on his phone. She knew him well, and knew his intention was to teach her a lesson.

She wanted to walk away, go inside her apartment and lock the door against him. He’d just follow her, though, and demand that she let him in. Not happening. A few more minutes passed, and heat burned her neck as her blood pressure rose. She was tired of his games, so very tired.

Screw it. She wasn’t standing here a second longer. As if he realized he’d pushed her to her limit, he set his phone on the dash, then stepped out of the car. There’d been a time when she’d thought he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen, but all she saw now was a spoiled, selfish man who thought he was entitled to take whatever he wanted no matter who it hurt.

There were things she hadn’t told Grayson. Things that could ruin the Pressley family. It wasn’t what she wanted to do, but Anthony was going to push her into doing just that. They were dangerous secrets, and she didn’t know quite what to do with them. One reason she’d turned to The Phoenix Three.

“I’ve been waiting for an hour,” Anthony said. “Where were you?”

None of your business. But if she said that, he’d make it his business to find out where she was. And there was no way he’d sat for an hour waiting for her, not Anthony. “I had some errands to run. What do you want, Anthony?”

“You need to come back to work.”

That meant Sherri, whom he’d promoted to director of events because she was young and pretty, never mind that she wasn’t qualified, was messing things up. Harlow could have told him that would happen, not that she’d felt like bothering. She’d resigned via email the day after catching him kissing the nanny, so what happened at Pressley Resort and Golf Club was of no concern to her.

“I’ll come back if you promote me to vice president of marketing, retail merchandise and events.” Had she missed anything she could attach to that title? She couldn’t think of anything, so she named her acceptable salary. “At four hundred thousand a year.”

There was no way they’d give her that title or pay her that much, and even if they did, she was not now or ever coming back to work for the Pressley family. And look at her! She’d never stood up to him before. It felt freaking good.

He sneered. “Have you lost your mind?”

“I did once. When I married you.” Done with this conversation, she turned to leave.

He grabbed her arm, digging his fingers into her skin. “We’re not done here.”

“Says you, but I don’t agree. Get your hand off me.”

“I should have never agreed to the divorce. I only did to teach you a lesson, but you’ve had your little spat. It’s time to come home where you belong.”

“Let go of me. I’m not coming back.” The only reason he’d agreed to the divorce was because she’d threatened to tell anyone who would listen that he’d had a mistress the entire time they’d been married and that she’d caught him kissing their son’s nanny. The Pressleys cared greatly about their image. Her threats had worked at the time, mainly because he was sure that by taking Tyler away from her and isolating her that she’d come crawling back. Never going to happen.

“Your son misses you. You’re his mother, yet you don’t seem to care that he cries, wanting to know when you’re coming home.”

It was a low blow, and he knew it. Tears burned her eyes thinking of her little boy missing her, but she refused to let them fall. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing how much she hurt.

“I want to see him. Please.” She hated begging, but she would for Tyler. What she would not do was return to that house that was a prison.

“You can see him when you come home.” He leaned his face close to hers. “You belong to me, Harlow. That’s a fact you need to remember.”

The smell of his cologne—a scent she used to love—made her want to gag. She jerked her arm free. “Go to hell.” She walked away, leaving him seething with rage.

As soon as she stepped inside her apartment, the tears she’d managed to hold back streamed down her face. The thing she could never let Anthony know was that she’d almost gone back several times just so she could be with Tyler, where she could touch him and hug him. She could put up with all the abuse in the world for her baby.

What always stopped her was her fear that he’d learn to be cruel to women, to use them the way his father did. If he grew up watching his own mother being treated like dirt under his father’s shoe, he would never learn to respect women. She couldn’t bear to think of him growing up to be another Anthony, so she stood strong, refusing to let her longing to be with her son be the reason she went back.

Instead, she would do everything in her power to take Anthony down. If The Phoenix Three wouldn’t help her, she’d find another way. In the far reaches of her mind, she had a desperate plan. If all else failed, she would run away with her son. She prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

“Miaow,” Einstein grumbled—that particular sound meant feed me this second or I’ll starve and die—as he made circle eights around her legs.

The first week after she’d moved into her apartment, she’d been so lonely and sad from missing Tyler that she’d thought she’d lose her mind. It had been too quiet, no little- boy giggles and chatter. No questions wanting to know why the sky was blue or where bugs came from.

Impulsively, she’d gone to the local shelter intending to adopt a kitten, something she could talk to even if it didn’t talk back. And they’d had so many cute ones. But it was the nine-year-old gray-and-white longhair cat quietly observing her that caught her eye as she gushed over the babies. Her first impression as he watched with intelligent green eyes was that he had too much dignity to beg for attention like the little ones. Instead of a playful kitten, she’d ended up with a talkative, opinionated cat that woke her up at six in the morning by standing on her chest and loudly demanding his breakfast.

When she was home, he followed her around like a puppy, talking to her about the birds outside the window, his empty stomach and the best napping spots in the house. That he was a chatterbox had surprised her since he’d been so quiet at the shelter. She found herself talking back, telling him about her day, her worries and her hopes. He knew all about Tyler and how much her heart ached from missing him. Sometimes she was sure that Einstein understood her.

“One day you’re going to trip me, and I’m going to fall on you and smash you,” she said as he wound around her legs on the way to the kitchen.

After she gave him fresh water and a few treats to tide him over until his dinner, she went to her bedroom and changed into leggings and a T-shirt. Since walking away from her job, she had managed to build a little business designing and maintaining websites, writing advertising copy and handling social media for authors.

Just recently, she had contracted with three indie authors to run ads on Amazon and Meta for their books and tweak or write their book blurbs. She hoped that they would like her work and refer her to other authors. She was in negotiations with a well-known baseball player to handle his social media. If she could make that happen and he was pleased, he’d hopefully talk her up to his friends. It would be another avenue to pursue.

She got her laptop and her phone, taking them to the sofa. Between the money she’d saved over the years—which Anthony didn’t know about—and her little business, she was doing fine. The rent got paid on time, there was food in her pantry and, as long as what The Phoenix Three would charge to help her was reasonable, she was okay financially.

That she was gave her a great sense of satisfaction considering that Anthony had told her when she’d left him that she couldn’t make it without him and would come crawling back before a month was out. Ha! She’d shown him.

“You ready to get some work done?” she asked Einstein when he jumped on the sofa and curled up next to her. Along with being a chatterer, his grumbling purrs were so loud that his body vibrated with them. She smiled as she scratched him behind his ears, which always revved up his motor.

When she removed her hand to log in to her laptop, he put his paw on her arm and tried to pull her hand back to him. “Gotta get some work done, sweet boy.” Having said that so many times since bringing him home, he understood his ear massages would have to wait for later. He gave a wide yawn, then pushed his nose against her leg and went to sleep.

She opened her email and the first thing she saw was one from The Phoenix Three. Her breath caught, and she hovered her finger over the key, almost afraid to open it. “Please,” she whispered. “Say you’re going to help me.”

As she clicked on the email, her heart pounded in her chest. It was from Grayson telling her to call him. She blew out the breath she’d been holding. Was that good or bad? Was the call to let her down personally?

Einstein stirred next to her. His eyes opened and, as if sensing her anxiety, he meowed softly. “What do you think, Einstein?” Apparently, Einstein for once didn’t have an opinion since he yawned again, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Well, she wouldn’t be able to get her work done until she knew what Grayson’s answer was. She appreciated that he’d included his phone number in the email, and she didn’t have to disturb Einstein to get her purse. After another little prayer that she was going to get the answer she wanted, she picked up her phone and called him.

“Grayson Montana speaking.”

“It’s Harlow.” She crossed her fingers.

“Thought you’d like to know we’re going to help you.”

Yes! She made a fist pump. “Thank you so much. You said we ?”

“I did. You get the three of us. I’ll explain everything to you. When are you available to meet again?”

“As soon as possible.” The sooner they started, the sooner she’d have her son back. And yes, she was going to 100 percent believe that was going to happen.

“Tomorrow morning, then? To keep you from driving all the way back here, Conway is halfway between us. There’s a diner that serves a great breakfast. That work for you?”

“Sounds perfect.”

He gave her the diner’s address, and they agreed to meet at eight. For the first time since Anthony had taken Tyler from her, she had hope. It was a wonderful feeling. If Anthony managed to find out she’d hired The Phoenix Three, he would make her life miserable…more miserable than it already was. She’d just have to make sure he didn’t find out.

She got up and went to the room she had ready for her son. When he saw it, he was going to love it. Tyler loved three things: picture books, robots and dinosaurs. Her gaze scanned the room. She’d painted three of the walls a pale blue, and the fourth wall was a chalkboard. The bedspread was cute cartoon dinosaurs. There was a bookcase filled with picture books, and shelves with robots and dinosaurs waiting for him to play with.

“Soon, baby. Soon.”

* * *

Without thought as to what to wear, Harlow dressed for her meeting with Grayson. She stuck the last pin into her bun, and then she froze as she stared at the woman in the mirror. How had she become so…dowdy? Well, she knew how, but why was she still dressing like someone’s great-grandmother? She no longer had to bear Anthony’s jealous rages.

Anthony had, without reason, accused her of dressing to catch the attention of other men so many times that she’d started to dress more conservatively. Over time, when his jealousy continued, she’d gone to the extreme, becoming the woman in the mirror. That her frumpy appearance embarrassed him secretly pleased her. He couldn’t have it both ways.

Even his contemptuous criticisms hadn’t swayed her to give up her too-big dresses and hair buns. It was the one thing she’d stood fast on because she found she liked embarrassing him. It had the added benefit that he stopped requiring her presence at many of his functions.

She searched her closet for something that didn’t look as if she’d escaped from a cult. She changed into black pants and a white blouse she found in the back of her closet. Definitely better. She added a black-and-silver belt she couldn’t remember owning, but it helped bring her outfit into the modern world.

She needed to go shopping.

Even though she was five minutes early, Grayson was already seated at a booth in the rear. He had his back to the wall, giving him a view of the diner’s interior and entrance. She did enjoy her romance books, and she especially liked military ones. Harlow smiled to herself that those books had taught her that these alpha men wanted their backs to the wall where they could watch for danger.

His gaze tracked her from the moment she’d walked in. She slid onto the seat across from him. “Good morning.”

“Morning, Harlow.” He raised a hand and a waitress scurried over as if she’d been just waiting to serve him.

Although he hadn’t commented on how she looked, Harlow thought she saw approval in his eyes, making her glad she’d decided to stop hiding herself. She took the opportunity to study him while the waitress filled their coffee cups. Of course, she’d noted he was one heck of a good-looking man when she’d met with him yesterday, but she’d been too nervous and sick at heart to really notice how seriously hot he was. How well built he was. Wowza!

Not that she was eyeing him as a potential anything, but there was nothing wrong with appreciating such a fine specimen of a man. In the here and now, though, she only had one goal. Get her son away from Anthony.

“I want to thank—” The waitress handed them menus, and Harlow peered over the top of hers. “To thank you for agreeing to help me. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“No thanks necessary. It’s what we do. Let’s have some breakfast, then we’ll get down to business.”

She was too nervous to eat anything heavy, so she only ordered toast and scrambled eggs. When he ordered the hungry man special, she found it on the menu. Three eggs, bacon, sausage, toast or biscuits and grits or hash browns. She lifted wide eyes to his. “That’s a lot of food.” Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? He was going to think she was making fun of him.

He laughed. “Growing boy and all that.”

Okay, she hadn’t offended him. He wasn’t Anthony. She relaxed and smiled. “If I ate half of what you ordered, you’d have to roll me out in a wheelbarrow.” Look at her not being afraid to tease him.

That she could joke with a man without fearing a verbal lashing made her want to giggle. Somehow, she managed not to.