Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
I’m on the phone making her a room reservation at the same hotel I’m at when I watch her walk into the adjoining bathroom. I’m stunned when she washes her face at the sink, removing the heavy makeup she’d been wearing to cover the bruises. She pulls off the scarf and tosses it in the garbage can, and I think I might have just witnessed the birth of a new Juniper Ryan.
By the time she’s finished packing her toiletries, I’ve booked her hotel and called the nurses’ station to check on my mom. After I get Juniper settled and allow Preston ample time to visit, I’ll head back there.
It takes me two trips to bring her bags down to the car and then we’re leaving the Willard estate behind. Juniper looks over her shoulder before we round a bend in the driveway… hopefully one last look at her prison.
When we reach the boutique hotel where I’m staying, Juniper doesn’t say a word as we walk in together. I hand the bellhop a fifty to park my car and grab her bags. It takes no time at all to get her checked in and settled into her room. While I had wanted a room right next to mine for peace of mind, the best I could manage was one on the same floor three doors down. I don’t let her stay in there, instead taking her down to my suite where I can make us some coffee while we figure things out.
As soon as I have her seated on the couch with a steaming cup in her hand, I take one of the wingback chairs. I ignore my coffee—it’s time to learn how Juniper came to be in this situation. After we broke up, I tried not to look backward. It was painful letting her go, but I couldn’t accept her ultimatum and while I later had massive regret, there was nothing to be done since she was Joshua’s wife.
It’s something I’ll never understand but it seems like we have a lot to talk about, so I’ll start there. “I don’t understand how you could marry someone like him,” I say candidly. “You’re not the type to take shit from anyone, Juniper.”
She flushes and I feel bad for shaming her, but I need to understand. Her eyes drop to the cup in her hands. “He wasn’t abusive in the beginning. In fact, he was the exact opposite.” Juniper lifts her gaze and it locks on me. “He was there when you weren’t and he was nice and comforting and sweet. When my parents were in the accident, Joshua was there for me in all the ways I needed.”
Fuck… that’s a gut punch. I hated coming back home to attend Olivia’s funeral and seeing Juniper with my brother was possibly the worst thing I’d ever been through, second only to our breakup.
“He wasn’t abusive at all?” I press. Because you can’t hide stuff like that.
“Never had a cross word for me until after we married,” she says with unflinching candor. “But after the wedding… it all changed.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
Juniper laughs. “You weren’t mine to tell, Callum. You cut me loose, remember? You weren’t ready to commit, so why would I ever come to you for help?”
“It wasn’t that simple, Juni,” I admonish. “I was committed. I was in it for the long haul. I was just waiting until I had an established front-office job before I could move you to me.”
“Bullshit,” she says, but it’s without any real rancor. It’s sad and quiet. “You could have taken me with you as soon as you got your first job out of college.”
“It would have been too hard on you,” I remind her of the old argument we rehashed all the time. “I was traveling. You would have been lonely.”
“I was lonely,” she snaps, her eyes lighting with fire. “Because you left me back here. And the entire time, I had Joshua acting as my friend. Helping me. Encouraging me. Holding my hand after the accident.”
“No doubt whispering in your ear to give me an ultimatum,” I grunt.
She flushes again and I know I’ve hit the nail on the head. I’ve long suspected he turned Juni bitter against me and her reaction confirms it.
“None of that matters.” She looks tired beyond measure. “That’s all in the past and now I have to figure out what my future holds. Joshua isn’t going to just let me go.”
“What do you mean he won’t let you go?” I lean toward her, elbows on my knees. “Your father is fine. I’ll cover his bills—”
“You can’t do that—”
I hold up my hand. “I can and I will. I have the money. All you have to do is divorce the bastard.”
Juniper puts her coffee on the side table and presses her fingertips to the bridge of her nose as if staving off a headache. “You don’t understand. Joshua is… possessive over me. I mean, I’m pretty sure he hates me, but he won’t let me go without a fight.”