Page 14 of Dancing With Guilt

The smile only faded when she grabbed up her handbag and left. He’d have one of his PAs load up her stuff and take it to her apartment tomorrow. For now, he’d done all he could handle for one night. He picked up the picture of Lily that he’d taken with his phone from a distance, and went up to bed. He had a daughter to get to know as soon as possible. The wheels were already in motion.

7

Roxie

Roxie was…devastated.

That was the only word that came to mind as she left Lincoln’s house and drove aimlessly. Yeah, she could head back to her own apartment, but she needed to be somewhere quiet, where nobody knew her, and she could lick her wounds in peace. Lincoln had threatened to take Lily from her, and that was what hurt her the most.

Alright, so she didn’t spend every waking moment with her daughter, and she only saw Lily on special occasions. That was for Lily’s protection, not because Roxie was shit at being a mother. Aunt Katie had looked after Roxie while she was pregnant and had helped her take care of the baby for the first few months after she was born.

It had been Aunt Katie that helped her make the difficult decisions about whether to put Lincoln on the birth certificate or not, and whether to take Lily with her when she left to go to South Carolina. Aunt Katie had always wanted a child of her own and Roxie was terrified of ruining the sweetest little baby the world had ever seen.

She was barely nineteen and needed to get on with her life, to make a success so that Lily could have everything she deserved. She’d made the hardest decision of her life when she left Lily with Katie that day and drove away. Every day since, she’d tried to make up for it in some way, but now it might all be in jeopardy.

If Lincoln filed for custody of Lily, it would hit the papers, back home at least. If he won, and Roxie had no doubt Lincoln had the money to do just that, then it would definitely be in the papers. And the men that had killed her parents would know that there was another Abshire out there to kill. One that would make Roxie very vulnerable.

That would make Lincoln vulnerable too, even if he was too angry to see that right now. She could understand why he was angry; she hadn’t done herself any favors by floundering for answers. But the cruelty on his face when he’d announced he would take Lily from her had stung her deeply. Even now she felt an ache in the pit of her stomach that just wouldn’t go away.

How was she supposed to deal with this? Should she call Aunt Katie and tell her to run away somewhere with Lily? Where would she tell her to go to that Lincoln couldn’t find her?

Holy fucking moly, this was giving her the headache of a lifetime. She needed to stop somewhere so that she could focus on her thoughts properly. Stressing out while she was driving was dangerous. She pulled into a parking lot to stop for a moment and picked her phone up to call Wendy then decided going back to her place wouldn’t be a good idea, even if Nathan was in jail.

There were still people that were after him for money. It wasn’t safe there.

She could go back to the motel but couldn’t really face the place right now. She wanted somewhere secure, totally locked down, where nobody could find her, not even Lincoln. A flick of her finger sent her contacts scrolling across her phone’s screen. A smile crossed her face when she saw the name of someone that could really help her out.

“Hello?” A voice asked once she’d hit call.

“Hey, it’s me. I need a quiet, secure place to crash for a while. You got anything like that for me?” Her voice sounded stronger than she felt, so at least she could still fake being okay.

“Yeah, I have a few, tell me where you are,” the male voice said.

Roxie gave him the address where she was, and he told her another address to meet him at. “I’ll bring you the keys and you can stay there for as long as you want.”

“Thanks so much. See you in ten,” Roxie said as she cranked the car back up and pulled out of the parking lot. At least she had a place to sleep tonight.

Roxie stopped and picked up a burger from a chain restaurant then headed to the address she’d been given. It was in the nicer part of the city, a place full of condos and high-rise hotels. She drove up to the parking garage, taking it slowly because the turns were fairly tricky as she climbed up the levels, but finally came to a stop on the top level. An elevator would take her to the condo she’d been promised, and she found it easily enough.

She knocked on the door and smiled when it opened.

“Hey, beautiful, how are you?” Nick asked, his eyes checking Roxie over. “You look good.”

“Well, I was until a half-hour ago. I bought groceries and didn’t even get to unpack them before all hell broke loose.” She held up the bag containing a burger and fries that were quickly going cold.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I won’t stick around, here are the keys. Stay as long as you like. I’m tearing this condo apart in six months, so you have plenty of time to get yourself sorted out before I do that.” Nick smiled his charming smile and stepped out to the hallway. “Need anything else?”

“Nothing I can’t handle myself. Thanks, Nick, you’re a lifesaver.” Roxie smiled back, hoping he’d go so she could break down and cry in peace.

Thankfully, he got the hint and waved goodbye to her. “Give me a call if you need anything else.”

“I will,” she called out as she closed the door.

Roxie walked inside the place and saw it was a small condo with a kitchen behind the door, a bathroom off to the right with a huge tub she would definitely spend some time in, and a living room just past the bedrooms. The main bedroom was a generic but tasteful affair done up in shades of light blue. Light pine bedside tables matched a dresser near the large closet at the foot of the bed. The bedroom was a bit of a squeeze, but it would do for now. The smaller bedroom featured a single bed, a closet, and not much else but Roxie knew she wouldn’t need that room, so she closed the door on it.

The living room took most of her attention. It wasn’t the large television, or the black leather furniture that drew her, but the sliding glass doors that led out to a large balcony. She could see the ocean from her couch if she wanted to. It was amazing.

Too bad her heart was too busy breaking for her to really enjoy it. She stood there with one panel open to smell the fresh air that blew right into her face. Her thoughts calmed for just a moment and she closed her eyes to enjoy it.