Page 58 of A Sinful Gravity

After, I tucked her in, kissed her forehead, and left the room.

Chloe sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding my ice pack.

"What happened, Luna?"

One simple question, and tears nearly came again.

Sometimes a friend's comfort breaks you.

"He was here?" Chloe sat up, eyes sharp on me.

"Yeah. He found my address." I sat beside her, half-reclining.

"Fuck." Chloe gritted her teeth. "He didn't do anything to you?"

I stared at the ceiling. "Does sex count?"

"What?" She jumped up, shocked. "You joking?"

"Wish I was." I shrugged. "But no."

I took a sip of water, then spilled everything to Chloe.

"Oh no... Luna... he's such a bastard!" After listening, Chloe went quiet, then cursed hard.

I shushed her quickly, nodding toward the bedroom.

Chloe breathed deep, lowered her voice. "So he buys that Laila's not his?"

"I don't know." I closed my eyes. "But I won't let her have a dad like that—unstable, can't control himself, always accusing first instead of trusting. I can't imagine what it'd do to her growing up like that."

"He—"

"Chloe." I cut in. "Tonight he comes, says he wants to change, says he's wrong. Then what? What does he do?"

Chloe stayed silent.

"He can't help himself," I said. "He knows I don't want it, but he does it anyway. Six years ago, same as now. He hasn't changed."

I got up, went to the window. The blue marble on the sill gleamed under the lamp.

Chloe joined me.

"So what's the plan?"

"I'll wrap up work here fast, then leave Washington." My voice stayed calm. "If I can, right after the last show."

"That soon?" Sadness crept in.

"Chloe." I turned to her. "You know what I was thinking earlier?"

She waited.

"When he touched me, my body reacted," I said. "Fuck, I hate myself for it. But it remembers him, remembers the past."

Chloe put her hand on mine quietly. "Honey, it's not your fault."

"I know," I said. "I'm not the puppet I was six years ago, staying by his side. So I have to go."