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“Cole’s lucky,” I tell Vanessa softly. “I wish I had grown up with a mother.”
“I wish you had too,” she replies. “But at least you girls had a protective father who loves you and would do anything for you.”
“Except keep my husband away from me, apparently,” I grumble. And then I start spilling it all to her. “It’s just…I thought he cared about me, so why won’t he give up sleeping with other women?”
Vanessa’s hand stills on my arm. “Oh, sweetie. I’m so sorry. He doesn’t deserve you if he can’t see that you are all he’ll ever need.” She sits on the mattress next to me and gives me a hug.
“Well, I’m obviously not enough,” I say when I pull away. “Until very recently, we hadn’t, um, had sex since the night before the wedding.”
“You mean the night of your wedding?”
“No, the night before, at the club.”
“I knew something had happened!” she exclaims. “How did he find you? Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t the guards mention he showed up?”
“I don’t know about them, but I was still in shock, I guess. I didn’t expect my first time to happen that way.”
“Did he…force you?”
“No, not exactly. It’s complicated.”
“It shouldn’t be complicated, Sophie. You either say yes or no and he has to respect your decision. If he doesn’t, then your father won’t have to kill him because I’ll do it first.”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. I…I liked it. I liked that he was aggressive.”
“Ah, I see. That’s okay too. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to sex,” she says. “But…if you liked it then why didn’t you want to do it again until recently?”
Because I was waiting for him to slam me against the wall and take me however he wanted.
Then there’s the two biggest reasons. “Because he wouldn’t promise not to cheat on me once we were married, and he didn’t…he didn’t use protection the first time.”
“Oh.”
“On purpose. And I was angry with him. I knew he would do that again and cheat on me.”
“That’s why you needed the pregnancy tests, obviously.”
“Yes. They were negative, but I haven’t had my period, so…”
“No wonder Dante agreed to let him come over.”
“That’s what I don’t understand! Why would he agree to let him come over here?”
“Because whether you like it or not, if you are pregnant, Lochlan will still be part of your life and the baby’s.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I assure her. “The pregnancy part. No matter what.”
“Well, when the time comes, I’m here to help you with whatever you need.”
“Thank you, Vanessa.”
A knock on the door has her popping up to her feet. “That’s probably him. Should I send him in?”
“May as well get this over with,” I huff, trying to sound brave even though my heart is already racing. Earlier, I wanted to confront Lochlan, to yell at him, hurt him, stab him even. But now I feel too vulnerable, too weak to deal with him. It’s just ten minutes. I can survive anything for ten minutes.
“Good luck,” Vanessa whispers. The door opens a moment later and I hear Vanessa say, “This is your last chance to salvage shit with her, buddy. Don’t waste it.”
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