Page 109 of Day Break

“I am, no thanks to you. Oh, and Chloe is doing fine too,” I added.

“Drop your lawsuit.”

“I can’t do that.”

“What if I could convince the family to drop theirs? To stop contesting my father’s will?” my dad asked.

“That would be great. But,” I added quickly, “it wouldn’t change anything on our end. You put us in danger for your own selfish motives. You knew what you were doing when you let Elliott out on bail. Knew he was Chloe’s ex-husband. That you were too close. You should have recused yourself from the case. You had to have known. Which goes against the oath you took when you became a judge. As you used to tell me, you made your bed, now lie in it.” I hung up.

When my phone immediately started ringing again, I turned off the ringer and turned to see Chloe standing in the doorway, holding a pile of towels. The look on her face had me rushing to her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned.

“Did Elliott really say those things to you?” she asked me.

Damn. I’d hoped to keep that part from her.

I took the towels from her hands and set them down, then pulled her into my arms.

“Yeah,” I said softly into her hair. “Sorry, I should have told you sooner.”

Chloe was stiff in my arms and pulled back. “Why don’t you start from the top and tell me everything.”

“Well, that was pretty much it. They put a gun to my back, told me to walk.” I replayed the night in my head. “He said that he was going to get back at you for leaving him. That you were his. You know, the standard stalker lines.”

“Like?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

“How you belonged to him. That he’d paid for you, and no other man was going to get away with taking what belonged to him. Then he said he was going to shoot me in the heart and leave me where you’d slept those first nights. He also said that it was Allen who stayed around here taking pictures of us, relaying to Elliott what we were up to. Every move we made.”

“He’s crazy,” Chloe said softly. “They both are. If I was Elliott’s, why didn’t he pick me up from the prison? Why did he let me sleep in the grass?”

“He laughed and told me he wanted you broken. That you had to learn a lesson about what life would be like without him.” I felt hatred for the man all over again. “I want to break his nose all over again when I think about it.”

Chloe wrapped her arms around me. “I’m sorry he hurt you.”

“He didn’t. My cousins and I used to do a whole lot worse to each other. Hell, you’ve seen it yourself.”

“I have,” Chloe said with a nod. “I’m surprised they’ve left us alone this long.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Lane, I have a gut feeling this isn’t over with Elliott. That something more is coming.”

I could see the worry in her eyes.

“Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together,” I assured her.

She glanced around. “We’ve been avoiding talking about it.” She dropped her hold on me and walked over to the bed and sat down. “I think it’s time we did.”

“Talking about…?” I asked, moving to sit next to her.

“This.” She motioned around her. “You’re behaving as if you plan on staying.” She turned slightly towards me. “Are you?”

I’d been doing a lot of thinking on the subject. I didn’t know just yet what I wanted to do. But there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted more time with her. Any time she discovered something new, it was as if I was seeing it for the first time too.

The joy of rediscovery was intoxicating. Almost as much as her kisses were.

“To be honest,” I said, taking her hands in mine, “I’m not sure yet.”