He scowls as I swing my leg over his and go to pull my pajama pants back on. “I would spank your ass for saying that, but that’s going to have to wait.”
I laugh as I retake my seat, and we finish our dinner with a much lighter mood than we had found ourselves in just a few minutes prior, soaking in every minute we have in our private dining room before heading back to the realities of our lives.
Gasping for breath,I spring up in bed, my heart beating wildly and my eyes unfocused and fuzzy in the dark.
“Beautiful.” Ian’s voice is close to my ear when his hands find my body, and his lips are on the side of my head. “Another nightmare?”
I press my hand to my chest to help calm my heart, nodding frantically. It’s been four days since I testified, and three since we’ve been back in Nashville, and every night since the trial, I relive my past. The wails of the judge replay in my mind. The warm blood splattering across my chest and cheeks still feels so real. Reese’s gleeful voice telling me precisely what I’m going to have to do to help him. When I awaken, my muscles ache with the effort of moving the man who had fifty pounds of deadweight on me.
“Come on, lie back down,” Ian coaxes softly.
We settle back into bed, and I cuddle into his side, my head on his shoulder, and his arm wrapped around me.
He kisses the top of my head, then rests his cheek where his lips just were. “I know I’ve brought this up before, but I think you should see someone. I happen to know a great therapist if you want a referral.”
I trace the muscles on his bare chest. “I thought you said she’s kind of breaking the rules for you.” He told me about how Pamela refuses to accept any money or call their sessions a session due to conflicts of interest, and instead refers to them asconversations between friends, which I actually love.
He shrugs underneath me while his fingers toy with the ends of my hair. On a yawn, he says, “Yeah, but I’m sure that she’d make an exception for you if I ask.”
Talking to someone probably isn’t a bad idea. Ian tries to be there for me when I’ve needed to talk over the last couple of days, but it just ends up making him furious, and I hate upsetting him. He’s worked too hard on himself to be brought down by my issues.
Falling back asleep doesn’t come easily as I listen to the cadenced beat of his heart. Each flash of a memory brings on new ones that I thought were long forgotten. They’regetting harder and harder to shake. I just wish that the trial would wrap up soon so I could find out the verdict. I need to know the outcome, one way or another.
Only then will I finally be able to move on with my life, no matter what that may look like.
32
David
Smoke billows around me as I drop my cigarette butt on the ground and stamp it out with my foot.
“That’s littering. You should really pick that up.” The most annoying female voice sounds from behind me.
Without turning around, I call out, “You should really go fuck yourself.”
She lets out a gasp of indignation, and I smile as I cross the parking lot. This is a prison. Why anyone would care about what someone throws on the ground here is beyond me. I’m sure there are much worse things around here than my cigarette butt.
I wish I didn’t have to be here today, but I’ve been summoned. Reese was a demanding asshole before, but now that he’s locked up, he’s a needy and annoying asshole, which is much worse, in my opinion.
And yet, here I am.
I sniff and roll my shoulders. One of these days, I won’t have to be anyone’s lackey. Sadly, for me, today is not that day. So here I am. Taking a day I could have spent balls deep in some chick, but instead I have to come here and listen to Reese complain. Sighing, I pull the exterior door open and step inside.
It takes entirely too long to get checked in, and I’m even more annoyed by the time I sit in the little cubicle waiting for Reese to be brought in. I slouch back in the chair and stare at the ceiling, lost in thought about what I’m going to do after I get done here, when a noise draws my attention back to the window. I straighten and pick up the receiver, then wait.
“David, thank you for coming down here today.”
As if I had a choice.
Reese may be in here, but he has enough connections on the outside that if I didn’t show, it wouldn’t have ended well for me.
“Of course, what can I do for you?”
Reese hazards a quick glance behind him. “I think we might need tohire a new accountant for my estate.”
I rear back. “You sure about that? Our current accountant seems fine.”
“I’m sure, David. We absolutely will need a new accountant.”
