Page 44 of Second Chances (Passion and Perseverance #2)

“Why did she ask if you ‘missed her’ because you ‘hadn’t seen her in a few days’?” he asked, his voice hollow, his eyes narrowing on her. “Have you seen her before?”

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

THAT’S why she didn’t want to give him the card.

She hadn’t told him about the email earlier in the week.

The silence was becoming deafening as her brain tried to sort out the best way to gently tell him that she’d been hiding their previous communication from him.

She felt her face flushing as the one or two seconds dragged on, feeling like hours.

“Well, ahh, no…” Beth stuttered, half turning towards the couch, his probing gaze making her squirm. “I mean, no, I haven’t seen her before, but she has seen me.”

“Where? At Renée’s party?” Darcy pursued relentlessly.

Ugh, that would be such an easy cover except that you know it’s wrong, Beth. And you promised Jane that you would tell him.

Ducking her head, her arms coming to cross in front of her chest, she continued reluctantly.

“No. She emailed me earlier on Monday. She emailed me and told that she’d wanted to come and talk to me but my bodyguards were in her way, but she was there, watching; she complimented the color of my sweater. Then, she basically said the same things.”

When he didn’t respond immediately, Beth hazarded a glance at him, nervously biting the corner of her lip. Her mouth parted when she saw him glaring at her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” his voice clipped, barely holding back his frustration now at her for hiding this from him.

“I don’t know,” she began, “I wasn’t thinking. I should have told you; I just saw how upset seeing her made you and you seemed pretty sure that she would just get bored and go away so I thought I would just not bother you with it… ”

“ Not bother me with it?” he began, his voice beginning to rise. “ Not bother me with the fact that my ex-girlfriend is threatening the woman that I love?”

“I’m sorry, Darcy, truly,” Beth said, a tear slipping down her cheek. “I just thought I could handle it; you were already doing so much…”

“ You shouldn’t have to handle it!” Now, he was yelling. “ She is my fucking problem; you shouldn’t have to handle any of this!”

Even though his anger had been unleashed into his words, she could see how it was directed at himself, knowing that as much as he tried, he hadn’t been able to prevent this woman from finding and toying with Beth.

“Darcy!” Beth yelled back, getting his attention with her sudden display of frustration, “We are together, a team; if something or someone is bothering you, then it is also my problem. I know that she is from your past, but you can’t shut me out of your present in order to deal with the CB.”

Beth watched as the color drained from his face.

“What did you just call her?” he said, sounding as though he couldn’t breathe.

“The CB? It’s ahh… a nickname I made up because I got tired of referring to her as your ex. So, now I call her CB; it stands for Crazy Bitch,” Beth responded, coloring, slightly embarrassed to have let that small personal satisfaction unknowingly escape her lips.

“Oh…I see…” he said, exhaling deeply, the color returning to his face, tension visibly draining from his body. “What did the email say? Did you save it?”

“Yes, I have it. I figured I…you…might need it to show to the police,” Beth responded meekly.

“What did it say?” Darcy asked again, his eyes burning straight through her.

“Well, like I said, she wrote about wanting to talk to me but didn’t because of Jason and Andrew.

Then, she wrote that she really liked my sweater, that the color was one of your favorites…

on her,” Beth paused, swallowing hard as Darcy’s fist flexed at her words.

“Then, basically the same thing as this note, that you loved her, that you two belonged together. ”

“I’m sorry, Beth,” Darcy said, “you shouldn’t… God… ”

His voice cut off as his hand came up to run over his mouth and jaw again, anger and agony playing over his face.

“ You should have told me, especially after we specifically talked about going to the police; you did have proof.”

He wasn’t yelling at her anymore, but he couldn’t hold back his frustration that she had tried to deal with this on her own, especially after assuring her that he would file a restraining order if that’s what it came down to.

Shaking his head, he walked back slowly to her, placing his knuckles underneath her chin, tilting her face up to gently claim her mouth.

“I know, I’m sorry; I was an idiot and I let my fear get the best of me. It’s going to be ok, Darcy,” Beth whispered against his lips. “We’re going to be ok.”

“It’s me that she wants; why can’t she just come after me ? I could handle her.” His controlling harshness entered back into his tone.

“Because, she knows how much you care about me, and how little you care about her. It’s easier to try to force me to sever our relationship than it is to try and affect you.”

“I just want you to be safe,” he replied, his face hardening at the reminder that she wasn’t safe, that he hadn’t been able to keep her safe. “I want to get you out of the city and away from her. What do you have this weekend? Can someone else handle it?”

“No, it’s Jane’s shower this weekend,” Beth responded sympathetically, wishing she could leave with him to alleviate his fears, and hers, if she were honest. “I can’t miss her shower; you know that I can’t.”

His mouth formed a thin line as he gave a curt nod acknowledging and acquiescing to her point.

“I’ll need you to print out that email so I can take it to the police and I’ll need to keep this note as well.”

“Ok, but won’t they want to talk to me? ”

“I don’t know. I’m going to find out. I don’t want you involved in this any more than necessary and if you are being followed, I don’t want her to escalate things if she sees you going to the police. Please.”

“Ok,” Beth agreed, tired of arguing.

“I need a drink,” he announced stiffly. “You’ve had a long day, why don’t you shower and I’ll order us up some food.”

Beth folded her arms over her chest, nodding slightly. She wanted to comfort him more, but aside from leaving town with him right now, there was nothing else that she could do. She walked over, gently placing a kiss on the harsh line of his mouth, before heading into the bathroom.

It was going to be a long weekend - and not the kind that she had been dreaming about.