“Then I rest my case.”
“You going to try and get some assets when you divorce?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I won’t be divorcing.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going back?” I exclaimed.
“No. However, I can’t afford a lawyer.”
“Pretty sure you can get your husband to pay for it.”
“Which leads me to the second reason, which is, I have to stay far away from Joseph. He can’t ever know where I am.”
“You’re worried he’ll hurt you.”
“More like he’ll kill me.” She said it matter-of-factly and I didn’t doubt her claim. The black eye kind of confirmed what kind of asshole she was married to.
“Does he know where you’ve gone?”
She shook her head. “No one ever suspected I’d dare to leave. I told you I didn’t plan. Just acted. Grabbed some cash from his office and then took a bus to the train station. Zaza and I boarded the first train.”
“You rented a car, though, after that trip. That requires a credit card,” I pointed out.
“I bought it—cash—to avoid leaving a trail.”
That raised my brow. “How much money did you take?”
“Enough.” She lifted her chin. “I know stealing is wrong, but I figured I was owed something. While what I took might seem a lot to most folks, to someone like Joseph, it was a mere pittance.”
“Not saying you didn’t deserve it, just surprised there was that much lying around.”
Before she could answer, a rustle drew my attention and I saw Percy stumbling towards me.
“Hungry again?” I asked.
Percy didn’t point to its belly, but to my surprise reached its arms in my direction.
“That’s new. I wonder what Percy wants?”
“I think your lizard wants to be held.”
Hunh. Okay then. I snared and snuggled the reptile against me and frowned at the cold radiating from Percy’s flesh. Odd, seeing as how the room remained toasty warm.
“Percy is very attached to you,” Nicky remarked.
“Yeah. Weird because we only just met yesterday.” And I wasn’t the kind of guy people went to for comfort.
“I should get to bed. Zaza is an early riser.” Nicky grimaced.
“See you in the morning,” I said as I headed back upstairs. Alone. Well not quite. It was me and my lizard. I’ll admit, I’d have preferred to snuggle the woman downstairs. A foolish desire that would never come to pass. I’d sworn off relationships. I wasn’t about to saddle a woman with a broken excuse for a man.
To my surprise, despite the chilly lizard spooned against my chest, I didn’t have a nightmare.
I did, however, wake biting back a scream.
