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“Montana?” I whispered, as he looked up at me. “I apologize for intruding, but I came to say sorry to Tess.”
He frowned his voice hoarse as he asked, “What do you have to apologize for?”
“Tessa visited the club the Friday before everything happened. She wanted her old job back and I said some things I shouldn’t haven’t.”
“She sent me several texts that Friday. She said she knew the truth.”
I solemnly nodded. “Yes.”
He narrowed his eyes and growled, “What the fuck did you tell her?”
“Everything.”
“What do you mean, everything?”
“I was still butt hurt after the way she treated me at the Gala. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to get my revenge. So, I told her the truth. Everything you’ve kept from her. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. She knows about Barney, Graves, who her father is. I left nothing out.”
“Jesus Christ,” he groaned angrily. He was right to be. I was just as guilty as the man who hurt her. In my anger, I contributed to a chain of events that hurt her. “That’s why she texted and called. Why, Illyria? She was out. She wanted nothing to do with me anymore. She was going to take that job in West Virginia. She was going to be free.”
“No, she wasn’t,” Virginia spoke up cautiously, as George Stone and Maxim entered the room. “She wasn’t going anywhere.”
I tried not to react to him, but he stood right behind me. So damn close, I could feel his anger seeping into my pores. I should have known Vladmir would wake him the moment I left.
Motherfucker was loyal till the end.
“You fucking meddled again. Didn’t you? After I explicitly told you to stay the fuck out of my personal life, you couldn’t help yourself. What? What the fuck did you do now?”
Virginia flinched as her husband George growled, making her shrink as she admitted, “After Tessa broke it off with you, I remembered the offer at Charleston Memorial was still on the table. I knew she would take it and leave with York. When I called the director, he told me that Tessa accepted the position and would start Saturday, June 3rd. So, I had her served.”
“Excuse me?” Montana growled, sitting up. “Served with what?”
“Custody paperwork stating that she wasn’t allowed to leave the state until York was eighteen. That you wanted full custody if she took her son out of state. That if she stayed, you would share joint custody with York. I knew she wouldn’t fight it. She was broke, had no job and no family.”
“You BITCH!” he roared, jumping to his feet. “She would have been gone. She would have been safe!”
Virginia cried. “I’m so sorry,Montana.”
“Get out,” he growled furiously. “The both of you get the fuck out.”
George wasted no time, taking Virginia by the hand and removing her from the room as I bowed my head before turning to leave. Exiting the room, I handed Mercy the flowers I bought for Tessa and left the hospital, knowing I had just severed a long-time friendship that I loved.
I stared out the window, watching as everything I loved slowly got smaller and smaller. As the city faded away, I closed the blind and sighed. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out the small picture box I kept with me. Opening it, I stared at his face. The man I loved. The man I would always love. I knew then that there was nothing he could ever do to make me stop loving him. It was living with him I couldn’t handle. So much alike, yet so different. We wanted different things and would never see eye to eye.
The only way for either of us to find happiness was to live separate lives. He was better off without me, just as I was without him. No one would ever come close to him. I knew that now. It didn’t matter who I met in the future. There would be no one for me but the Bloodletter.
As my hand ran over the picture next to his, I tried to control the tears that fell. Everything I’ve done and will do in the future was to ensure he lived. He had to live. And I was going to make sure he did.
Closing the frame, I wiped my tears and said, “Maria, it’s time. Go tell the pilot our destination.”
My cousin got up and walked to the front of the plane as I placed the picture frame back into my bag and reached for my phone. Dialing a number, I waited for the call to connect.
“Illyria!” Jackson’s voice shouted. “Where the hell are you? Maxim is scouring the fucking city for you. Your apartment is vacant. What the hell is going on?”
“Jackson,” I calmly said. “I’m sorry to put you in this position, but you owe me a debt and now it’s time to collect.”
My former friend and lover sighed. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”
After telling him what I needed, he cursed, “Jesus,fuck, Illyria. You are going to create a shitstorm. Are you sure about this because once I file the paperwork, he will lose his fucking mind? He’s going to kill me. You know that, right?”
