Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
“What kind of pictures does she have? I’ll say I came over here and did this to you. I’ll say I assaulted you. I’ll say whatever the fuck I have to so I can protect you.”
“No. That won’t be necessary.” Again, I was taken aback, but this time by the certainty in his voice.
As he pulled away, taking a breath, I saw determination in the way he narrowed his gaze behind his glasses, which were starting to clear up. The confidence in his expression set me at ease, but I didn’t allow myself to get too comfortable. The worst we had feared was here, and I wouldn’t be satisfied until James was safe again.
He looked me directly in the eyes. “I know what I have to do.”
“You can’t turn yourself in. I won’t let you do that.”
“I won’t have to.”
There wasn’t a hint of doubt in his tone, and given what Sheila had revealed and how he’d fallen apart right before me, I wasn’t sure why.
“What do you mean?”
“I see what I couldn’t see before. I know Sheila better than anyone. She’s not going to the police. She’s had these images for long enough that, if that’s what she wanted to do, she would have done that. She wants what she’s always wanted from me—to control me. That’s all any of this has been about.”
“We can’t let her get away with that.”
“She’s not getting away with anything this time.”
It was clear he had a plan, which he was keeping to himself.
“Kyle, all I’m going to say for now is that we’re not going anywhere or changing a damn thing. I’m not running anymore. I’ll see her tomorrow and make sure this ends.”
Given the intensity of his words, I couldn’t help asking, “You’re not going to do anything…to hurt…”
“Jesus, no, Kyle. I’ll explain it all, I promise. Not right now. Just know that you and I will be together. And Sheila won’t be sharing this information with anyone once I’m finished talking to her.”
He rested his hand on the back of my neck and pressed his forehead against mine. “No one’s taking you away from me.”
And even in the face of so much evidence to the contrary, I knew he meant it.
45
James
I was still rattled from Sheila’s visit the night before.
It wasn’t just that Kyle and I had been caught in the act of what we had hidden from so many, but that she was one of the worst people who could have discovered our truth. On top of everything else that happened the past few days, it had nearly been too much for me to handle.
Until I saw the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
Sheila hadn’t just happened to swing by because she thought I was running around with another woman. She’d been struggling with keeping me under her control after the separation, trying to keep me from filing for divorce, and then, for the first time, I’d asserted with confidence that I would move forward without her. When she found something she could use to get me back within her grasp again, she was eager to use it against me.
She didn’t even present it as blackmail…yet. She would go to the police, or I would go to the police, she’d said, but I had a feeling her story would change during this discussion with her.
Only it wouldn’t be like the other times, because I wasn’t under her spell anymore.
Driving through the old neighborhood, I thought about all those Homeowners’ Association meetings and barbecues that felt like they took place a lifetime ago. Back in my life before Kyle.
As I came up to the two-story home Sheila and I had shared for four of those years together, where she had held me her psychological prisoner, a calm moved through me. It was a peculiar feeling, since I’d never felt so at peace around this house. It was a source of stress, grief, anxiety. I’d kept telling myself we were in a normal relationship, lying to myself nearly as much as Sheila had lied to me, until I couldn’t keep lying anymore.
I parked alongside her SUV, noticing the brown and grays in the neglected flower garden between the garage and the front porch. I took the steps to the porch and knocked.
Can I come over and talk to you? I’d texted earlier, which was followed by a series of reply messages that had seemed so innocent and helpful.
Of course. Please.
I’ve been thinking about this all night.
I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.
I quaintly reflected on Lady Macbeth’s words: “…look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.”
I was about to knock a second time when the door opened, and there she was, her hair straightened, dressed in designer clothes as she had been the night before, as though she wanted to look her best when she fucked me over.