Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
She blinked, like the question surprised her. Then she nodded once.
I straightened up from the floor and sat on the edge of the bed beside her, leaving plenty of space between us. Not because I didn’t want to be closer. But because what she needed right now was to be the one who decided how close was close enough. I’d learned that about her. She needed the space to choose.
I looked at the nightstand and the face-down phone, and such cold rage filled me, I had to work hard to mask it. The last thing I wanted was for Jade to think my anger was directed at her. Eric had sat in a courtroom this morning and listened to a judge issue a permanent restraining order, and he’d come home and done this. Not in spite of the hearing. Because of it.
Beside me, Jade shifted. Her shoulder came close to mine without quite making contact. I turned my palm up on the bed between us. She looked at it for a moment. Then she put her hand in mine and her fingers closed tight around my thumb. She finally started to cry quietly. Somehow, the lack of those full-bodied sobs she’d had before made this situation feel worse than before. Like she didn’t have the energy to fight anymore.
“I built something here, Rip,” she said. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I had my room and my therapy and Violet and Ada and the kids and even Mia. I started to feel like maybe --” She stopped, shook her head. “And now anyone who wants to can see --”
“Stop.” I kept my voice low but firm. “What you’ve built here is still here. Everything you worked for is still standing. He didn’t touch this place or the people in it. I think you’ll find they all want to help you.”
“I didn’t even know the full extent of what had happened.” The words came out small and flat. “And now --”
“And now we make sure he never hurts you again.” I squeezed her hand once. “I can’t promise we can get rid of everything, but I can promise we will protect you and Eric will pay. One way or another.”
She didn’t respond, but she didn’t move her hand away either. She leaned sideways by degrees until her head came to rest against my shoulder and stayed there. I sat still and let her weight settle against me and kept my eyes on the door. She needed to gather her strength. I’d be whatever rock she needed me to be.
When her arms crept around my middle, I took that as my permission to hold her. Slowly, so she could push me away if she wanted, I put an arm around her and pulled her closer to me. When she burrowed closer, her face buried in my chest, I urged her onto my lap and held her while she silently cried.
An hour later we sat around the kitchen table in Jade’s apartment. Jade had changed out of the navy dress into jeans and a sweater, and she sat at the far end of the table with her hands folded in her lap, watching me. Knight’s face filled the laptop screen at the center of the table.
Violet and Hannah sat next to Jade. Violet had an arm around Jade, talking softly to her. Mia hovered close by but kept her distance, like she didn’t know what to do with herself. Jade seemed almost like she’d checked out. She had to be close to her limit. She’d already broken down a few times. I had to wonder how much more she could take.
“Here’s what we know,” I said. “Eric posted a video approximately four hours ago. The content itself is criminal. Knight is working on that part. Getting the shit taken down will be tough, but he’ll get it done. Ethan has filed emergency injunctions. Lana is coordinating with the DA’s office. We don’t know yet if it gets Eric arrested, but he’s handed us significant legal ammunition on top of what the judge already put in his file this morning.” I paused. “Not really sure I understand the ‘why’ of all this on his part. He had to know everyone would point at him.”
Knight’s voice came through the laptop speaker, smooth and even. “I’ve slowed the spread but, as I explained to Rip earlier, there’s only so much on the Net I can control. I’ve got eyes on his digital footprints. We’ve stepped up security around Haven. I will know if he makes a physical approach and, as I’m sure you know, Jade, Rip’s not going to let anything happen to you. Neither are the rest of us.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “There’s only so much I can do about what he’s already posted, but Ethan is furious. Which means he’ll make the bastard pay in legal ways I don’t particularly care about. I’m concerned with the more… vicious kind of paying.” Knight’s expression remained neutral, but I saw the anger in his eyes. “We don’t like people messing with our women.”