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I cup the back of her head. I want to tell her she has to let her sister go, that she can’t keep that hateful energy in her life, that she’ll be stronger without her, but I don’t. Adeline doesn’t need that from me. She needs something entirely different. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t fucking know.”
Her eyes search mine for the longest time. Time I give her. I’ll give her whatever she needs to get through this. “I’m sorry she dragged you into this.”
“You’ve got nothing to apologize for. That was on her, not you.”
“I know, but you’re a good man, Jameson. I hate that she did that to you. I hate when innocent men get pulled into shit like this.”
Being called a good man by Adeline settles deeply inside me. She’s battled against letting me in for so long, thinking of me as the asshole who took her company from her, that I wouldn’t have expected this assessment from her.
“I appreciate you not buying into her bullshit.”
“Well, for one, I’ve reached the end of the line where her bullshit is concerned. But mostly, I don’t think you’re the kind of man who cheats. Not that we’re in a relationship, but still, I think you have more respect for me than that.”
“We’re in a relationship, Adeline. It might not be your usual kind, but you’re the only woman in my bed. And you’re right, loyalty is my greatest requirement in a relationship.” I pause before asking, “Do you want to talk about your father?”
She grips me a little harder, a little tighter, like she needs me. “I don’t know.” Those three words are more of a whisper than anything else. I hear all the agony behind them.
Deciding she needs some space and some time alone with her thoughts, I say, “I’m going to take a shower. If you want to talk after that, we can.”
“Thank you.”
I’m in the shower five minutes later and Adeline is in bed. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect she’s pulled out her crossword book.
My first instinct while I think about her is nothing like any I’ve had before.
I want to have this shower and then pull her to my side of the bed, wrap her in my arms again, and help her sleep simply by lending her my strength.
My second instinct is more in line with the way I’ve always lived my life.
I want to remove her sister from her life.
I won’t, but fuck, I want to.
21
Adeline
Ilie in bed and listen to Jameson’s shower running. It’s a distraction from the mess in my mind after Sabrina’s bombshell.
My father is not who I thought he was.
For my entire life, I’ve thought one thing, but it’s not true. Something else is true, and I don’t even know what that is.
My heart is beating fast.
And then slow.
It’s in my chest.
And then in my throat.
My sister hates me.
Real, raging hate.
Because I have boobs and an ass that she doesn’t.
Or maybe because I have money and she doesn’t.
