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“I handled it. He’s not coming back.”
Lightness swarms my head and I cling to him, sucking in a deep breath.
“You played him the recording I sent you?”
Drew searches my eyes, his jaw tense before he nods. “Everything. The whole goddamn story about him following you, and him admitting to making those allegations about Councilor Jenkins go away. He didn’t even sound remorseful.” His brows pull together until deep lines appear above his nose. “He didn’t even sound fuckingashamed.”
“I don’t think he is.” I swallow. “I think all he could see was the promise of a promotion. But the sad part is, when I spoke with Jenkins’ brother, he told me that Jenkins only recommended him after he’d already got one… on his own merit.”
Drew sucks in a breath, making his nostrils flare. “It was all for nothing.”
“We can’t think like that. It doesn’t help anyone. Henry did what he did. Jenkins did what he did. Those are the facts.”
“And you’re who figured it all out.” His eyes slide from my face, down to my bump, as he cradles it. “Your mama’s beautiful and smart. She’s a flame. Brighter than any other.”
His throat constricts, his forehead creasing as my bump comes to life, wriggling beneath his palms.
“God.” Emotion clogs in his throat as he falls to his knees and presses his lips against my stomach. “I missed you both, too.” He chuckles softly, sniffing as he blinks over and over, fighting back the tears that are evident in his voice. “I missed you so much. You’re my world. You and your mama. Everything I everdreamed of.”
I swallow another sob as he stands and encases me in his arms again.
“Everyone thought you cheated on me. They thought you were like him.” I don’t manage to stifle the next sob, and it comes out as a squeak.
“But you knew the truth. That’s all that matters.” He looks at me with a tenderness in his eyes. “Honesty and communication. It’s what we promised each other. It’s how this all worked, how my father never saw it. The idea of being in an honest relationship is too alien to him. He doesn’t even have one with himself.”
I nod. Drew’s right. Henry would never have considered that Drew told me about Alicia coming to his hotel room. That he’d be honest about every single detail. About how she had touched him before he stopped her. I knew about it before Drew even stepped onto his plane home. He called me and woke me up to tell me. He was so distressed at the idea of being unfaithful to me. We spoke for half an hour before he calmed down and began to sound like himself again.
Hearing the fear in his voice that I’d think he was like Henry, was heartbreaking. I never doubted him for one second. Alicia called him after to apologize. Apparently Henry had encouraged her. Told her that Drew never stopped talking about her since he lived in New York, and that she just needed to push a little, show him she wanted him. He told her I was having another man’s baby and she shouldn’t worry about me and Drew because we weren’t going to last.
The levels he was willing to go to makes me sick. But he didn’t count on me and Drew. Us. He didn’t count on us always communicating, always keeping that promise of honesty, above all else.
“You knew he’d bring Alicia into it and try to break us up.”
Drew’s brow flattens. “He wouldn’t have told her those lies to encourage her for nothing. He had a goal.”
“I’m sorry I said you were like him before I left. You’re nothing like him.” A fresh round of tears constricts my throat as they course down my cheeks. Drew wipes them away and lifts my chin so I meet his eyes.
“I knew you didn’t mean it. You said it was in my blood. That was my giant sign that told me you didn’t mean it. I called youSophafter because I was telling you I understood. We talked about it so many times. I trusted you, Sophie."
“Yes, the way I’ve felt being apart from you was a hell I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. But we had to do this. He wasn’t going to admit anything if he thought he didn’t have a chance of getting you back. We had to stop it. Stop him following you. Your car…” Drew’s jaw tenses as he curses. “He wasn’t going to stop.”
“Will he stop now?” I look into Drew’s eyes, praying to see what I need to see.
That it was worth it.
That the hell we’ve put ourselves through—that I’ve put him through—was worth it.
That it worked.
Because if all I did was hurt the man I love, then I don’t know how I’ll live with myself.
“He’s gone.”
I blink twice. “Really?”
“He’s gone,” he states again, without emotion. “Took his bags and went to the airport. He knows your evidence will have him arrested the minute he sets foot back into the country. He’s a coward, he’ll not face what he did. He’s not coming back.”
“What about your mum and Maddy?”
