“Zoe’s being difficult.” Jack eased down into the front seat of his car and put his forehead to the steering wheel.
“Difficult? What the hell does that mean?”
“She won’t move in with me. She won’t take any help for the baby. In fact, she doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“Whoa, that’s not difficult, that’s painful. I mean, basically, you guys should be on your honeymoon.”
“That’s not how she sees it.” He pulled on the seat handle, stared up at the gray fabric on the car ceiling, and moaned. “I really fucked up.”
“I keep forgetting she thinks she’s normal.”
“It’s worse than that, Josh, seriously. She has issues from her childhood so I sent her to Diane.”
His brother didn’t say anything for a long while, then let out a long breath with a whoosh. “Shit. Even you should know better than that. What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t know.” His insides hurt like he was being turned inside out. “When I’m with Zoe, I’m not myself. She makes me crazy. Besides, Diane and I haven’t been together for over a year. I really thought it would be okay, but she made Zoe think we were still hooking up.”
“Diane was no doubt a great lay but she’s always been a vindictive bitch.
“No shit.” Jack squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Zoe’s different. You gotta treat her differently than the women you’ve hooked up with in the past. I got the sense she wouldn’t leave you even if you weren’t mated. Think. How many women would mate with a guy they didn’t even know in order to save his family? You have to fix this.”
“I don’t know how.” Jack put his car seat back into the upright position. “She’s an emotional wreck. Said so herself. A walking, talking napalm bomb.”
Josh exhaled. “How bad is it? I don’t mean to pry, but a witch as powerful as her with emotional issues could be a serious problem.”
Fuck, if he didn’t already know that.
“She had a nightmare the other night and almost blew up the bedroom in her sleep.”
“Shit.”
Jack banged his head on the steering wheel. “I’m screwing everything up.”
“Give her some space. If she doesn’t come around, go caveman on her and drag her back down to the shore.”
“Thanks for the advice,” he said sarcastically. He pulled his car into traffic and shook his head. “Did you find anything out about the guy that ran me off the road?”
“He’s Russian Mafia. That much we’re sure of.”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing firm, but if he really has the vortex, he has to be related to her.” Josh cleared his throat. “Keep her safe and back off for a few days. Everything’s going to work itself out.”
“Easy for you to say. Your wife is probably already warming your bed.”
“Sure is.” He said something to his wife and she giggled. “My girl is always there for me. That’s the reward at the end of this. Keep that in mind.”
Jack hung up.
How was he going to give Zoe space when he was going out of his mind with worry? And with want. He headed in the direction of his office. He’d submerge himself in work. Exhausted, he wouldn’t be able to think so much about her warm body beneath his. About them swimming together in the ocean. The smooth curve of her hip–his cock twitched and he grimaced. Two weeks. He’d give her that long. Then, come hell or high water, he was going caveman.
Chapter 31
Zoe spent the next few days in a fog. She managed to buy three smoke alarms and a fire extinguisher so she could sleep, and a new deadbolt for the door. No more taking chances on any late night visitors. She would take control of her life one step at a time.
After a long internal debate, she made an appointment with her therapist. Feeling better knowing she had just made some positive steps towards improving her mental health, she logged into Nan’s computer and requested more projects from her boss. He had enough to keep her busy, but not saturated. She needed more.
