Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Tommy asked Cal about his work and they talked for a bit but the whole meal was forced, uncomfortable. Afterwards, I was in the kitchen with everyone clearing up, and as soon as Rose left the room Beth and Mia cornered me.
“Tia,” Mia whispered, “Are you really okay?”
I nodded. “I really am.”
Beth got right in my face. “We were so worried about you. Don’t ever do that to us again.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “You guys don’t know what I went through and I can’t go there. Let me say now that I’m done apologizing. I’ve done it. If you can’t accept it, there’s nothing more for me to say.”
Beth put her arms around me and so did Mia. I spotted Ruby in the corner of the kitchen. She moved in and bridged the gap. We had a group hug and Ruby choked first. That led to all of us getting sniffly and watery-eyed.
“He is fucking gorgeous,” Beth whispered.
“So much,” Mia added.
Ruby butt in. “He usually gives her two orgasms each time. Two!”
We all giggled.
“Is that actually true?” Beth gasped.
“Sometimes even three,” I whispered.
“Holy shit!” Mia squealed.
“And you know what he can do to a cherry stem…” I added.
“Wow,” Ruby said and they all got dreamy-eyed. We all started giggling louder.
Tommy stepped into the kitchen and saw our huddle, heard our girlie cackling.
“Baby, sorry, but something’s come up. We’ve gotta go.”
I sobered, wiped my eyes, which were wet from both laughing and crying and hugged the girls. Then I hugged Rose and Cal and thanked them for dinner, promising to see them again soon. Rose made me promise to come or at least call if we had to slip off the grid again. And then she hugged Tommy. Hugged him! He looked shell-shocked. Whatever impression my husband made on Cal had obviously transferred to Rose.
Mia gave Tommy a shrewd look and stated, “You be good to her!”
He gave her a salute and led me out.
“Fucking bullshit,” Tommy said as soon as we were off their street. “If that was any other scene, that fucking punk would’ve been toast right then and there.” He picked up the phone and dialed.
“Tino? The punk’s uncle? I want him interrogated. Find out what he thinks he knows.” He ended the call.
“Thanks for keeping your cool,” I said.
He’d obviously made up an excuse to get us out of there as, clearly, he was having trouble keeping it cool.
“Fuckin’ guy.” He was getting louder and even more livid and it showed in the erratic way he drove the car. “Tries to get my fucking wife to leave with him with me in the room and after saying he knows who I am. Does he have a death wish?”
“Tommy, please.” I massaged my temples. “Slow down. You’re driving crazy. And shh, I have a wicked migraine. That was seriously awful. I wanted to puke that whole time.”
He reached across the console and gave my leg a loving squeeze and said, “Loved hearing you defend me, baby girl. Every single time you said ‘my husband’ I felt so much pride.” He gave my leg another squeeze and then turned the radio on low.
I slouched in my seat but glanced over and gave him a half a smile.
It’d been too long being out of touch since I’d sent that goodbye letter and although I thought about them often, I had been self-absorbed and hadn’t thought about what they’d be thinking all this time. They were the only family I had and I abandoned them, leaving them to worry about me. I had told myself it was better to cut ties and keep them safe from the truth but bottom line, I hurt them. I felt like crap.
“What could you have done differently?” Tommy said to me later on that night when he saw I was still feeling low. “We had to be careful. You didn’t mean to hurt anyone, baby. You didn’t vanish without a trace; you did what you had to do. Your safety is way more important than their feelings, Tia. Don’t let them guilt you. If they care about you, they’ll get over it. I told your foster dad we were going, told him a lot about what we were dealing with, more than I’d generally care to reveal, but I did that because you care about them. It was up to him and his wife to smooth things out with the girls and all this happened because of how they chose to handle things. That’s on them, not you.”
That night it took me a long time to fall asleep even though my husband had worn me out with a fast, hard fucking that was definitely about him being pissed at Nick and needing to show me that I was his. Three times during the sex he demanded that I tell him who I belonged to and was supremely pleased with my response of: You, baby. Only you. Forever you.