AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I told him itwasa big deal,” Shade added. “Especially when it comes to the she-bitch from hell.”
I grunted, shoving my hands in my pockets. “Well, she doesn’t deserve my niceness, but those kids have nothing to do with this.”
“Do you still talk to them?” Meadow asked, placing her hand on my chest.
“I do from time to time, thanks to Facebook. It’s the only thing I use it for. They may not be mine, but I want to keep in touch with them. But…”
“She’s using that against you.” Meadow’s brows narrowed. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Yeah.”
Meadow scowled. “I’ll never understand women like her.”
Shade grunted. “There are some men like her too.”
“True.” A faraway look passed over Meadow’s face. Something had happened to her. She had said already that a man tried controlling her, but she was able to get away before it became worse.
“Did that man ever try contacting you again?” I asked, not wanting to be nosy but wanting to know more about the woman we were falling for just the same.
“Uh…” Meadow sat on the edge of the tub. She pulled her messy hair up into a bun, some of the tendrils falling down around her face. “No. Because I told him that I would go to the cops and tell them he was fucking a minor.” Her cheeks reddened. “I wouldn’t because that’s not how I am. It was completely consensual. He was married, had kids. I kept my mouth shut for them. He did end up moving though, with his family. I guess he didn’t trust that I wouldn’t go to the authorities.”
“Does anyone know about this? Your father?” If I found out my kid was sleeping with an older man when they were underage, he would be dead.
Meadow barked a laugh. “Yeah, right. No. No one knows about him. Just you two now. But my sister and those closest to me did notice a change in my attitude. I had also stopped baking for a while, so they knew something was up.” She shrugged. “I wanted to talk to someone because I thought maybe it was me. He…God, I was just a kid. He tried getting me to do things and take me to clubs. I went once and…” She shivered. “He tried getting other men…”
My back stiffened.
Shade growled.
“It didn’t happen,” she said quickly. “I left before it could and that was how I knew that I needed to end things. I made sure to meet up with him in a public place. I was naïve when it came to the love I thought I had for him but I wasn’t stupid.”
“Meadow.” I blew out a slow breath. “Well, if he ever comes back to this town, you can bet your beautiful ass, that I will make him disappear.”
She smiled softly. “Thank you.”
“I agree with him.” Shade rose from the toilet seat he was sitting on. “We should go to bed. Our girl needs some rest. It’s been a long fucking night.”
A yawn trembled through her.
We chuckled.
“You guys go. I’m going to take a shower.” I stripped as they left the bathroom and stepped into the shower. Turning on the hot water, I let it rain down over me and took several deep breaths. Tonight, was a shitshow. It was like a knife had cut into our happy little family and made all of us bleed.
Seeing Eve break like that tore at my heart. It was something I never wanted to see again but I knew that I would. It would be hard not to in the line of work we did.
The door opened.
I knew it was Shade before he spoke. I could sense him. Whenever I fell into myself, he was there to pick up the broken pieces. And what did I do for him? Nothing. I led him on and made him believe for years that there was something more when it took Meadow giving me that shove I needed.
“Sunny,” came his deep voice.
“Where’s Meadow?” I asked, leaning a hand against the tiled wall and dropping my head.
“In bed. She said she was going to watch a movie, but she fell asleep rather quickly.” The shower door opened then. “Did you mean what you said? That you want to go on a date?”
I turned around and took a step toward Shade. “Of course.”
He stood taller, his eyes widening the closer I got to him.
