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Charity frowns at me, concern etching her face. “Yes. He said he’d have you add him to the list.”
I don’t reply, wondering what his game is. While Joshua can be the devil, he knows how to charm people to get what he wants. Why would he try to get in to see my dad? To harm him? Or maybe just to rattle me?
Probably the latter.
“Are you okay?” Charity asks quietly, stepping in closer. “You seem frightened.”
A smile comes quickly to my face although I know my words have a hard edge. “No, I’m fine. Truly. But I’m separated from Joshua and he will not be added to the list.”
“Do we need security for your dad?” she asks, her eyebrows drawing further inward with unease.
“No,” I exclaim to reassure her. “Not at all. He’s just… I don’t know why he’s trying to see him. I’ll find out but just make sure everyone knows that Mr. Derringer and I are the only approved visitors.”
“Of course,” Charity says.
“I need to get going. I appreciate everything you all do for my father. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
We exchange goodbyes and I’ve got my phone out of my purse before I’m even through the sliding glass doors. By the time my foot hits the parking lot, I’ve pulled up Joshua’s contact information, intent on unblocking him so I can find out what the hell he’s doing. I’m driven now by anger that he would think to intrude on the peace I’ve established here, and I intend to unleash on him.
As I stomp across the lot, I consider whether a text or call would be better. Text, so it’s in writing… a clear directive to stay away from my father.
“Juniper.”
That voice turns my blood cold and I come to a dead stop, head lifting to find Joshua standing at my driver’s door.
He holds out his hands to the side and offers a gentle smile. “I only want to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you. You need to stay away from my father and stay away from me.”
“Please… Juni,” he says, his tone so sickeningly sweet, my nose wrinkles. “After all our time together, I deserve a few minutes. All I want to do is talk. There’s no harm in that.”
“It seems pretty stalker-like to fly all the way here to tell me that.”
Joshua is unfazed. “You blocked me. What was I supposed to do? I just need a few minutes to plead my case. It’s only fair.”
“Fair?” I ask with a brittle laugh. “I owe you nothing. Not after what you did to me.”
“I know,” he says, taking one step toward me. I back up two and that stops him in his tracks. His voice gentles even further. “And I’m sorry. It got out of hand and I didn’t mean to hit you just for making the wrong meal. I know how absurd that was but asking for a divorce—”
Anger bubbles up hot and I don’t think to be scared anymore. I’m enraged. “You think I want a divorce because of that?” I screech. “How about the hundreds of other times you hit me? How about knocking me down the stairs and causing me to lose the baby?”
Pain washes over Joshua’s face. “You know I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“It doesn’t matter what your intent was. You did it all the same. You always regret it after, but my bruises take longer to heal, and I never forget what they feel like.”
Joshua doesn’t seem to hear a thing. He gives me a poignant look. “Things would have been different if you could have gotten pregnant. We would have gotten closer.”
I’d thought I was angry just seconds ago, but nothing can describe the white-hot fury that sizzles through me. How dare he act as if a baby would have fixed things, especially when he was responsible for killing what we had. “I was never going to get pregnant, you arrogant son of a bitch. You think I’d ever give you the chance to do that to me again? I started on birth control as soon as I lost that baby. I mean, fuck… I could barely stand to have you touch me, what made you think I’d want to have a child with you? The only reason I stayed with you was because of my dad, but that’s not a chain locked around me anymore. So you need to leave and don’t look back my way because I want nothing to do with you. You’re a monster, Joshua, but you’re no longer lurking under my bed at night to scare me.”
Christ, that felt good. I could never talk to him like that when we were together because I’d pay for it with bruises. But here I’m free and no longer under his control.
I expect him to become livid by my harsh words and there is a brief flash of fury before his face goes completely lax.
Almost blank.
As if he’s gone and nothing resides behind those flat eyes. “You took birth control?” he rasps as if the words shred his vocal cords. “Without my permission?” Red tinges his cheeks and his lips peel back. Fire rages in his eyes as he turns from robot to enraged maniac. “And now you’re fucking Callum, aren’t you?” he screams at me. I cringe, knowing that anyone standing in the parking lot heard that, but I don’t dare take my eyes off him. “How could you not be fucking him when you’re living with him? Just a whore… hopping into the bed of the next man to take care of you.”
“Get out of my way,” I grit out, since he’s still blocking my driver’s door. “I’m done talking to you.”
