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My mouth dropped open. “You drugged him? He could have died that night, or killed someone else!”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could Derek have been this unhinged when we were dating, and I had no clue? How had I ever loved someone so manipulative, someone with such a cold heart? And how could I make sure that Matson turned out nothing like him?
Derek pointed a finger in my face. “Stay away from Ryan until my father gives me the company, or else his blood is on your hands. You know I follow through with my threats, Sofia,” he warned before he started to walk away.
Stopping abruptly, he turned back toward me. “And don’t even think about going to the cops. I have a solid alibi, and they’d never believe you anyway. I’ve already told them that you’re a scorned ex-girlfriend who had my baby when we were kids, and you’ve never gotten over my decision to leave you. I’ve filed a report saying you’ve been trying to extort money from me for years. And that I’ve refused to pay you a dime until you provided me with a test proving paternity, which you never have.”
He scanned my face, his expression smug at the shock that must have been plastered there. My face had turned cold, probably because all the blood had drained from it.
Smirking at me, he said, “Don’t push me,” and turned to stride off into the darkness.
I stood there alone with my thoughts, now as dark as the night’s sky.
Derek meant everything he said, every word. That much I was sure of. If he was crazy enough to hurt Joseph back in high school because of his ego and pride, then he was certainly crazy enough to hurt Ryan now if he thought his inheritance and family name were at stake.
I knew what I had to do, and I hoped with all my heart that Ryan would be able to hear me out rationally. His life literally depended on it.
• • •
Stepping into the protective warmth of my house, which suddenly felt a little less of each, I walked toward my room, stopping to check on Matson first. He was sleeping peacefully in his bed, and I took a few moments to stand there and watch him, my heart full of so much love and protectiveness for him.
After pulling his door closed a little, I headed into my bedroom and pulled my cell phone from its charger. I’d missed a call from Ryan.
Perfect.
Sitting down on the edge of my bed where Ryan had been inside me only a couple of nights earlier, I dialed his number. I had to call him before I lost my nerve, before Derek’s threats settled somewhere into the recesses of my mind where I could wish them away and pretend they weren’t real. The memory of Joseph’s accident replayed in my head as I pressed Call and waited, knowing Ryan might not be able to pick up if the bar was busy.
“Hey, angel,” he answered, sounding so happy that a lump formed in my throat.
“I need to talk to you,” I said, getting straight to the point. I couldn’t delay or pretend everything was fine when it was anything but.
I heard a door close in the background, muting the background nois
e, then Ryan said, “What’s up? You okay? You don’t sound okay.”
Dear God, please help me do this. I know it’s something I have to do, but I need your strength and your guidance right now. And please, please, please, help Ryan understand.
“We have to stop seeing each other.” I forced the words out matter-of-factly, stripping the emotion from them, and Ryan cut me off before another word could leave my lips.
“Don’t move. I’ll be right there.”
“No, Ryan, don’t. It won’t change anything, and you’ll only make it harder.” I gripped the phone so tightly in my hand, I thought I might crack the screen.
His voice dropped, sounding so defeated. “Tell me what’s going on. I know you can’t possibly want this.”
I couldn’t tell Ryan the whole truth, but I could tell him parts of it. I refused to be the girl who fed him lies about my heart, telling him things like I don’t really want you or that I have no feelings for you in order to get him to stay away. Especially when none of that was true, and he knew it.
However we ended our situation tonight, I didn’t want it to be because of miscommunication. If anything, I wanted it to be the opposite. Part of me knew that the only way to get Ryan to accept what I was about to ask of him was to be forthcoming.
“Derek was just here.”
“He came to your house?” Ryan’s tone sharpened.
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you the same things he’d told me the other night?”
“Basically. He knows you were here, though. After he told you to stay away from me, he knows you came here that night anyway.”
