Page 79 of Rogue's Path

“Drugs. They’re in the lining of her suitcase or one of her purses. He arranged to have her caught with the drugs at the airport. Then she wouldn’t have made it to booking before one of the guards was going to sneak her out to him.”

“You were going to let him kidnap me? After he hurt you like this, you were still going to let him do that to me?”

Fear causes some people to do really stupid things. And weak people are even worse. If it was Peaches, she would have died fighting for another woman.

Breakfast And Beards

Dylan

There’s a knock on my bedroom door. “Breakfast is ready,” Dahlia shouts.

It would be wrong to hide all morning in this room, wouldn’t it, especially after I practically demanded that she let me come over and visit with her. Her home in the gated community secured by scary men with guns is the only safe place I could think of with my mentally overwhelmed brain. “Coming.” Dahlia’s gracious. She might just let it go.

Or even better, she might be so far in the newlywed phase that she might not even notice.

Let’s go with that one.

Newlyweds are oblivious to everything.

I climb out of bed, put my robe on, and hit the bathroom really quickly to wash off the streaks of dried tears that I will never acknowledge shedding for Rogue the rogue.

Though it should be more like Rogue the creep.

Rogue the creeper.

Rogue the jerk.

Rogue the cheater.

This is getting me nowhere fast.

That man makes me want to scream or punch something. Him, preferably.

Go eat. The world will seem better once you’ve eaten.

Sweet sugary goodness hits my nose as soon as I step out of my bedroom.

What better to drown your woes in than something like that?

“Morning!” Cheerful newlyweds are almost as sickening as all that icing on those cinnamon rolls.

“Morning. Thank you for doing this. You didn’t have to go out of your way for me.”

“It was no trouble.” Dahlia leans forward and whispers like we aren’t the only two people in the room, “I didn’t even make them today. They were frozen a few weeks ago. I pull them out whenever I want to drive Maverick crazy.” She grins.

“Sit down and help yourself. I’ll grab the fruit out of the fridge. Do you want some eggs?”

“No, this is plenty.” The cinnamon roll is the literal size of my head. Who needs protein anyway?

Dahlia sits down across from me after sliding a crystal bowl of fruit between us. “So, do you want to talk about it?”

No, I don’t want to talk about my stalker. I’m currently in denial mode again. Soon, I have to move to strategizing mode because this ‘head in the sand thing’ isn’t working well.

“I don’t have much…any experience when it comes to breaking up with a man, but I’m great at listening.”

Oh. “We were never really together. There isn’t much to tell.”

Dahlia raises an eyebrow at me.