“So will you give me a chance?” he said in a rush. “To see Evan? So I can get to know him.”
“Yes,” I said, as much as it pained me to tell him. “He doesn’t have anything going on this weekend. You can call me later this week and we can arrange a meeting.”
“I appreciate it, Sadie. I really do. And I know I don’t deserve this. I know I don’t deserve anything from you.”
I said nothing to correct this.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked suddenly. “To help with Evan’s medical bills? With anything?”
I allowed myself a silent sigh. This was coming from a man who had never once paid for child support.
“Actually.” I swallowed my pride and summoned up a smile. “There is one thing.”
He straightened.
“I know Tim Pulaski is your cousin, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell him anything about me, about our past, or about Evan.”
“I can respect that.” His face tightened and I saw in his eyes curiosity and a desire to understand. “Do you mind telling me why?”
“He’s…” I hedged, and then stopped myself. I didn’t want to get into all the sordid details right now.
Biting my lip, I considered for a moment before I spoke again. “Your dad carries a lot of weight at the firm. So if you really want to know, you’ll be able to find out by going through HR. I’ve filed plenty of complaints against Tim over the years. Official grievances. And I might not be the only one.”
Simon studied me a moment and from the look in his eyes, he was ready to ask more questions.
So I took a last look at him and strode off to avoid having any more words with him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Three days later, Tim Pulaski got fired. Axed. Shitcanned. Terminated.
I was as shocked as everyone else at the office when security escorted him out of the premises.
My first thought was: Simon must have convinced his dad to get rid of Tim.
I hadn’t expected that. I’m not sure what I expected when I told Simon to dig into Tim’s HR files, but it wasn’t this.
Yes, in the back of my mind I’d been hoping for this, praying for Tim’s head to be on the chopping block, but I never expected it would even happen, and so swiftly.
Thank you, Simon, I whispered under my breath. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
As the day wore on, I was surprised by how liberated I felt.
And I realized that the tenseness had left my muscles—a tenseness I hadn’t noticed until it was gone.
It seemed as if a weight had lifted off me, and I found myself smiling from ear to ear.
He’s gone. I exhaled hard and a wave of relief swept over me. He’s really gone.
At the end of the day, I gathered my things and headed out of my office, knowing Julian would catch up with me in the parking garage in ten or fifteen minutes.
As I walked past his desk, he appeared to be in deep discussion with David Varner, his boss. Their faces were drawn together in concentration as though something important had passed between them. Briefly, Julian looked up, hoping to catch my eye.
I didn’t dare glance at him for fear I would smile and give the game away.
By now, I was sure half the office knew we were seeing each other, but I didn’t want to fan the flames. As far as I was concerned, my personal life was private and it wasn’t any of their business.
The parking garage was empty and eerily quiet. Mostly everyone else at work parked in the open lot or out in the streets to avoid paying the ninety-dollar monthly fee to park in the covered lot. Usually I’d park in the streets, too, but since Julian and I had started seeing each other, and on days he spent the night at my place, he parked in the garage to avoid drawing any suspicions that we came and left together.
As I walked to his car, the awareness that I was not alone came to me slowly.
My gaze moved suspiciously in every direction.
A sharp ribbon of unease snaked along my spine when I detected movement in the shadows. I could feel it… someone was watching me.
That last encounter with Tim in this very garage still had me on edge.
You’re fine, I told myself. Tim’s gone. He doesn’t work here any longer. You have nothing to worry about.
How wrong I was.
“Well done, Sadie.” Tim’s gravelly voice unfurled from the corner and I whirled around to face him.
There was a quick, sharp stab of fear in my gut as he approached me and gave a slow clap. “Well done. You wanted to get me fired, and you finally succeeded.”
“I didn’t get you fired.” Turning my back to him, I reached into my bag for Julian’s car keys and picked up my pace. “You got yourself fired.”
Time. I have to keep talking. Buy myself more time.
His slurring voice followed me. “Uncle Les said I was a liability… a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
I kept on walking, kept on talking, kept my voice calm. “I’m surprised it took him this long to figure that out.”
But Tim was getting closer. I felt the heavy thud of his footsteps behind me as the smell of alcohol assaulted my senses. It clung to his skin, his clothes, his breath.
“Hah!” Tim scoffed. “And I’m surprised you haven’t figured out that your boyfriend’s fucking someone else.”
I froze. Tim could be bluffing, but something in his tone drew me back to his gaze. “What are you talking about?”
That sickening smile hitched the sides of his mouth. “You don’t know, do you? The whole office knows but you don’t. The entire time Julian was fucking you, he was also fucking Riley Jones.”
I swallowed, striving for composure. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” he slurred, fixing his bleary-eyed glare on me, as if he were waiting for my reaction.
I didn’t know what to think. But whether or not I believed him, the seed was planted.
Lifting my chin, I fought to keep my voice steady. “You’re lying,” I repeated, taking a step back.
He took two steps forward. Now he was too close, just inches from my face.
Panic stole my breath, but I forced myself to breathe, to stay calm.
His serpentine eyes softened and that hint of a drunken smile came through. “Poor, Sadie. Poor, poor Sadie.” He stroked a hand along my cheekbone. “Fuck Julian. I can make everything okay.”
Then his mouth came down roughly on mine.
Furiously, I shoved at his chest with both hands. “Don’t you fucking touch me!”
His face twisted into a snarl. “What? I’m not good enough for you? You’ll fuck my little cousin. You’ll fuck Julian, but you won’t give me the time of day?”
I barely had time to brace myself before the back of his hand found my mouth with a force that knocked me over. Lights exploded in front of my eyes as I slammed to the ground.
I was about to scream when he caught my waist and yanked me into his chest. Next thing I knew, a large hand was clamping down against my mouth.
My voice, my breath was searching for firm ground. I tasted blood on my lips as his hand seized harder against my mouth.
“Bitch, you’ve been asking for this for a while.” His hot, alcohol-infused breath caught on my neck. “And I’m going to give it to you.”
Unable to move in his vice-like grip, SING—solar plexus, instep, nose, and groin—ran through my head.
Thinking fast, I sagged into him as if in a faint.
It was only for a few seconds, but it was enough.
Tim gave a low, derisive laugh. Mistaking my submission, his hold relaxed slightly and he was no longer as guarded as he was.
Knowing this was my only chance, I had to act fast.
Now. The word flared up in my mind as I brought my knee up and stomped down hard on his instep using the heel of my spiked stiletto.
Before he could react, I followed it swiftly with a kick to the groin and finished it off with an elbow to the face. Coming up short, I missed his nose bu
t crashed into his jaw.
Hell, it wasn’t SING in the right order, but it worked. Uttering a string of curses, Tim released his hold, but I only managed to put a short distance between us before I felt his rigid fingers gripping into my arm, digging into my flesh, jerking me back toward him.
Like a feral cat, I snapped and went ballistic. I did everything to break free of his hold—clawing, scratching, eye gouging, palm strikes to the chin, elbow to the face.
This time, I didn’t come up short. I heard the crunch of his bones as my elbow slammed into his nose.
He howled and staggered back. “Bitch! You deviated my septum!”
My breath came in ragged bursts and I rubbed my elbow, ignoring the splintering pain biting into my flesh. “Good!” I spat.
Panting, Tim just stood there like a drunken fool, staring at me, his bloody nose leaking down the side of his cheek.
He looked weak and pathetic and for a moment I forgot all about the fear.
My entire body thrummed with barely check fury as I glared at him.
All that pent-up anger that had burned and roiled inside me simmered to the surface, buzzing in my head like angry hornets.
I felt the dark urge to humble him, to make him crawl in front of me for those long years of subjugation.
Taking a half step toward him, I brought my mouth close to his ear. “Look up there. To your right.” When he slowly slid his glance in that direction, I calmly said, “See that tiny little security camera?”
His head reared back slightly, his eyes widening like hard-boiled eggs. “It was never there before.”
My own lips twisted in satisfaction. “Oh, I know. I had security install it. And everything you just did—everything—was caught on video surveillance.” I lowered my voice, and my next words were deadly even. “You’re fucked, Pulaski.”
For one hugely gratifying moment, he was speechless, gaping like a caught fish, lips stretched back over his gums.
It was that mindfuck moment when you realize you’ve been had.
Tim had that look on his face.
And he was so fucked! Dunzo!
Tilting my head, I gave him a smile so cold and brittle it was a wonder my cheeks did not shatter. “You better lawyer up, asshole. Because I’ll see you in court.”
Tim was still staring at the camera, and he grew very still.
When he slowly turned his cold gaze on me, I sent him a searing glare, allowing every bit of hatred and scorn and revulsion I was feeling to show in my face. “Haven’t you heard?” I said sweetly. “I’m the head bitch in charge around here.” Marshaling every fiber of strength, I kneed him hard in the groin.
Tim screamed and teetered but regained his footing.
Now he only looked livid. Enraged. His anger as palpable as a fist.
Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. Fear the man who has nothing to lose.
My heart hammering in my chest, I started to back away from him.
Tim waited a few seconds before he came charging at me.
My first instinct was to run, but I quickly realized there was nowhere to run, no place to hide.
So instead of turning and running, I moved forward, dropped into a crouch and rammed my hip into his midsection. Grabbing one of his flaying arms, I used the force of my body as the fulcrum and tried to whip him over my shoulder.
Fuck. I grunted. Tim wasn’t budging. And he didn’t go flying over my shoulder like I’d expected.
My muscles flexed, straining with agony as I tried to lever my body against his, to upset his balance so I could hurl him forward.
Still, he wasn’t budging.
The pain was excruciating. Blinding. The world started going in and out of focus.
I need back up. Fast. Cold sweat broke out on my neck and panic surged through me. Where the fuck is Julian?
Chapter Thirty-Four
I froze, watching the scene before me in wide-eyed terror—Sadie’s lithe form twisting with the exertion, her face fierce and reddened as she tried to pitch Tim over her shoulder.
What was she thinking? Granted, in most cases, no matter your size, weight, or strength in relation to your opponent, you can defend yourself by strategically using your body and the simple law of physics.
But Tim was a heavy man. Possibly over three hundred and fifty pounds and the law of physics wasn’t working in Sadie’s favor.
However, I intended to make it work in mine.
Tim was a fucking dead man.
All of this flashed through my mind as I went straight for his jugular notch and slammed him to the ground. I heard his shoulder dislocate with a sickening crunch.
Tim crawled into a kneeling position. “You can have your used up, dirty little whore and—”
Blinding rage tore through me and I delivered a hard strike to his throat, smashing his windpipe. “Shut the fuck up. If I see you near Sadie again, you’re gonna be breathing through a fucking tube. You understand me?”
Fear slipped through his face and he gave a shaky nod.
When I turned from him and went to Sadie, my lungs seized to a halt.
There was a cut on her left temple, and she was panting through her teeth, blood leaking from her lip.
A deep pain sliced through my gut. Seeing her hurt nearly destroyed me.
As I reached for her, an expression flashed across her eyes that bordered on fear and confusion.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” I folded her into my chest and held her tight. “I should have been here sooner.”
She was trembling all over and I felt her lungs expand with deep, gasping breaths. “Shh.” I stroked her hair. “It’s okay, baby,” I said softly, cradling her in my arms, wanting to shield her from the world. “It’s okay.”
“I… I want…” Her voice quivered. “I want to go home.”
I drew back slightly so I could look into her face. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head and there was something in her eyes that hadn’t been there before.
Relief churned with nausea in my stomach.
I lifted my hands to her face and lightly cupped her cheeks. “I think you should see a doctor.”
“No.” A broken cry escaped her. “I don’t want to see a doctor. I want to file a police report and then I want to go home.”
Seeing her distress caused every muscle in my body to grow rigid. I searched her face, studying her a moment longer before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Okay.” I breathed her in, my voice gentling. “Okay.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
When I got out of the shower and padded naked into my room, I found Julian standing by the doorway. Even though he smiled, it did not reach his eyes, and his skin was pulled tight with worry. “Your mom knows what happened. Evan fell asleep on the sofa about ten minutes ago and I carried him to his room.”
I nodded once, then reached for my robe, pulled it on, and belted it.
He took a couple of cautious steps toward me. “Sadie,” he said softly, his voice labored with concern and fatigue.
I turned from him without comment and stared out the window, seeing nothing beyond the glass.
God. I was exhausted. Filing the police report had taken hours.
It was time consuming, invasive, difficult, but it had to be done.
As I kept my gaze fixed out the window, I gave myself over to the thoughts I’d held in check all night.
I didn’t trust Tim. But how well did I really know Julian?
In time, I heard Julian’s approach and felt his warm arms circle my waist from behind. He pulled me against him, melding my body to his.
When I flinched, I felt him grow very still. “Sorry, babes. Did I hurt you?”
I don’t know, I wondered. Did he?
Not in the way Tim had tried to hurt me. The external cuts and bruises were nothing compared to the pain I felt inside. The sting of betrayal that burned like a festering wound. Tim had planted the seed and my doubts had provided the water. “Were you still sleeping with Riley while y
ou were seeing me?”
“Sadie…” His arms flexed around my waist and he drew me tight against his chest. “Why are you asking me this? Where is this coming from?”
“Did you?”
Behind me, Julian took several deep breaths. “No.”
“What about before that?” I felt the muscles along my neck and shoulders clench in apprehension. “You did have sex with her, didn’t you?”
“Sadie, please.” He sighed deeply when I grew rigid in his hold. “Don’t pull away from me.”
I let him turn me around and stood very still, holding my breath. “Tell me the truth.”
He opened his mouth to speak and I watched him, willing him to say no.
“Yes,” he said finally.
Yes. That single word caught me sharply in the chest, driving a wedge between my ribs.
He brought a hand around the nape of my neck and rested his forehead against mine. “But I stopped seeing her once I knew we had a chance.”
My heart was pounding so loudly I could hardly hear my own voice as I spoke. “That’s not what I heard.”
“It’s the truth, Sadie.” His jaw flexed. “I swear. After the night I spent with you at the children’s hospital, the night Evan had his procedure, I cut things off with Riley.”
“How long did this go on for?” I had to forcibly swallow the lump in my throat before continuing. “How many times did you fuck her?”
He didn’t answer, but I saw his jaw tighten.
“How many?” I asked again.
“Sadie, please.” He inhaled sharply. “Don’t do this.”
I pulled far enough away that I could glare at him. “Answer me.”
“A couple. I don’t know…” His voice was strained and hardly sounded like his own. “Sadie, you don’t understand. It’s not what you think.”
“Then explain it to me.” My heart pounded painfully in my chest. “Help me understand. When did it start?”
He was slow to answer. And when he did, I heard the raw remorse in his voice. “Kip’s birthday at the Waterfront Grill. We had a couple drinks, and she came back to my place. It was nothing serious, I swear. Riley’s a lovely girl, I care about her but we weren’t together-together. Not like you and I.”
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