“I’m right here, Baby Girl,” he says, voice low, like a promise.
God, I want to believe it.
I want to believe he means it.
I want to believe I deserve it.
So I take a breath that shakes, and I let it out slow.
I think I’m ready.
I have to be.
Because if anyone’s worth the truth—it’s him.
CHAPTER 37
THATCHER
It takes her a minute to start talking, and I don’t rush her.
I just sit there, steady and silent—giving her the space she needs, ready the second she decides to take it.
Because I know something she might not see yet.
This moment right here?
It’s more than a conversation.
It’s a turning point.
A line drawn in the sand between what we were and what we’re about to become.
And fuck, I’ve never been more ready.
“See, I was living in Florida for the past eighteen months. With… with a man.”
My chest tightens instantly.
My jaw locks.
Every ugly, territorial instinct I have slams awake, hot and violent.
I shove it down because this isn’t about me. Not right now.
This is about her.
Still, my fists clench at my sides.
“He was sweet at first,” she continues. “We started dating about two years ago. Six months in, he asked me to move in with him. To leave Jersey. To go to Florida.”
I don’t interrupt. Don’t breathe too loud. I don’t want to spook her.
“My mom encouraged it,” she adds, voice smaller now. “She said I was lucky someone wanted me.”
That lands like a punch.
She was lucky someone wanted her?
