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“Yes… to both?” I barely got the question out as my throat constricted.
“I’m not a relationship expert, but he kissed her on the cheek when she got out of the car. She looked happy to see him.” He shrugged indifferently.
“Well, I guess thank you is in order,” I muttered. “Though I’m not thrilled about any of these pictures.” I’d kill the son of a bitch for touching her the first chance I got.
“At least she’s safe.” York’s words didn’t make me feel any better.
“And where is she?”
“Spokane.”
“An address?”
“Sorry.” York shook his head as he flicked his eyes to my dad.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I rubbed my hand over my beard.
“No, William, we’re not. How do I know you won’t go off half-cocked to Washington?”
“I won’t act irrationally.”
“You’ve been a wreck since she left.”
“Of course I have! Miranda is my everything. I can hardly function or breathe without her. But I won’t do anything stupid or risk putting her in danger. Jason is still walking the streets.”
He reached into his coat pocket and removed a slip of paper. “Fine. We’ll leave you now.” He handed me the address. “Don’t go barging into Miranda’s life. Not until we get Jason and his co-conspirators.”
I glared at him.
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not my fault any of this happened. If you’d told us what you were involved in sooner, we might have prevented this.” He stared with his typical smug expression. “And remember, she’s a grown woman making her own choices. Choices that don’t include you. Choices that were spurred on by your choices.” He walked out of my office with York trailing behind.
For the next twenty minutes, I stared at the picture of my beauty in one hand and her address in the other.
I missed her with every cell in my body. At night I’d lie in our bed prone on my back. I couldn’t sleep on my side because she wasn’t next to me to spoon.
After almost a year of being with Miranda, she had become my world. My other half. My better half. And my cuddle buddy. Damn, that sounded cheesy as hell, but it was the truth.
There were a few nights I’d wake in a cold sweat, reaching for her. Then I’d hear her voice asking me to cuddle her and talk her to sleep. After that, I’d be up for an hour or more trying to fall back asleep. All the while, I wondered if she actually needed me to talk to her so she could drift off to dreamland
Had she found my replacement? Was Derek filling the void in her life? Had she truly moved on so easily in only sixteen days?
Who was I kidding? None of it had been easy for her. She had been miserable for months.
Now she looked happy because ofhim.
Well, it didn’t matter. Miranda was mine, and I wasn’t letting her go.
18 Miranda
THE LAST FEW nights, I dreamed Viv told Will about the baby.
I’d wake in a cold sweat, trembling and wholly undone. In the dreams, Will knew I changed my name to Anna Gordon. The pain in his eyes when he found me haunted me the entire day.
After the third night, it was more like a nightmare. Will had my baby in his arms. He wouldn’t give her back to me. Her. My baby girl. My baby sweets.
I had awakened in a panic, unable to sleep anymore.
As I sat in my office Thursday afternoon, exhausted from yet another rough night’s sleep, my eyes were heavy and slowly closing. Maybe my late-night phone calls with Derek also had something to do with my nightmares. Perhaps they were spurred by guilt, like I was cheating on Will. I wasn’t. I was free to do whatever I wanted, but I couldn’t shake this feeling of betrayal.
