Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
The pain is getting too much to bear. Big, sloppy tears fall down my face. It hurts to breathe. My entire body is quaking with the force of it.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. I’ll keep my distance from her. I’ll only do the things concerning the baby when you can be by my side.”
I laugh. “Gabby will never agree to that. That bitch will take every chance she has to make us miserable—especially me. She’ll try cutting me out of everything.”
“I won’t allow that.”
“Get real, Dom. This is Gabby we’re talking about. I’m surprised she hasn’t already demanded you move her into our home. Hell, if I know anything about Gabby, she toured the house and told you what room the nursery was going to be in.”
Watching Dom—even through the continued deluge of my tears—I can see how stiff he instantly becomes. I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles up. I sound hysterical and I think I am.
“Oh my God, she already has, hasn’t she?”
“Damn it, Thea?”
“She has, hasn’t she, Dom?”
“It doesn’t matter. I already told her she was out of her fucking mind.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “That will work until Gabby pretends something is wrong and needs someone to watch over her because the baby is at risk. Then you’ll cave because you can’t be sure if she’s lying or telling the truth. God knows that woman is nothing if not resourceful. She’ll find a way to have her doctor back up everything she tells you.”
“Thea, we’ll stand together through all of this. We love each other. Gabby can’t touch that. I won’t let her. I love you.”
I shake my head, still crying. “I’ve loved you my entire life, yet Gabby has always been between us. This is just proof to me that she’s still going to do it. We’ll never be free of that bitch. When this child is grown and gets married, Gabby will be at the wedding demanding a dance with you. It will never end.”
Dom gets on his knees in front of me. He has tears in his eyes. Any other time, I’d try to make him feel better. I can’t see any way to do that here. He braces himself by putting a hand on each of my thighs. His touch brands me, but my heart is too cold to even drive up the energy to shove his hand away. “Thea, don’t do this. I need you.”
“I have to go. I need some air. I need room to think.”
“No, Thea, baby, don’t do this. We can get through this together.”
I somehow find the strength to push him away. I jog over to the door, grabbing my keys off the counter. “I need time to think.” I open the back door and take off running to my car. I can hear Dom gaining ground behind me and I stop, spin around and scream, “Stop!”
I look at him. He looks destroyed—because he is. “Give me this, Dom. If you truly care for me, let me go for now. I need time away from you. I need to think. I have to. Please respect that.”
With that, I take off running again. I hop in my car and drive off, tears streaming down my face. I’m not sure there’s a way I’ll survive any of this.
Chapter 43
Dom
I hang up the phone. Mom has just reamed my ass for the last hour over Thea. My woman has been gone for three days and I’m surprised I’m still walking. Without her, my life is completely shattered. I know I deserve it. What I’m feeling probably doesn’t begin to encompass how she is feeling. I just don’t know how to fix it. I’ve tried to speak with her, but she’s all but hiding from me. She won’t talk to me at all. I know she’s staying with her parents, but they won’t let me through the door.
Hell, I only know Thea’s there because Mom told me. Today was like the third time she berated me like I was still five. I take it each time, because fuck…I deserve it. At least she has agreed to talk to Thea on my behalf. That’s the best I can hope for at this point.
I ordered some more flowers before Mom called. I send Thea a bunch every day. They’re always turned away, but I still do it—mostly because I can’t think of anything else. I want her to know that I miss her and think of her every day. I want her to know I love her. I’m about two steps away from camping out in front of Bull’s house.
Someone starts pounding on my door and I brace myself. Who it could be at this point is a tossup, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to see who it is. On the flip side, I have a lot of raw anger to work out, so maybe it will give me someone to wail on. I wouldn’t mind if the person trying to knock my door down is Gabby’s father, Skull. He’d be a good target right now.