“That’s fair,” I say. “But you knew enough to marry me, sign that agreement with me, and to wear my cut. That means you know enough to tell me if someone is leaving you threatening messages.”
“He’s not really threatening me,” she says quickly. “He’s being a nuisance.”
“I’m starting to wonder if you don’t want me involved because this is more consensual than Mac thinks. What kind of person would just blow off a potential stalking threat? Does that make rational sense to you?”
She goes still. “What did Mac say exactly? Does he know something that I don’t?”
“Enough.” I set my mug down on the desk. “You’re my wife, Nova.”
“On paper,” she points out quickly.
“Look, I’m not going to have my wife get abducted or murdered because she’s too stubborn to talk to me about being stalked. If that’s your attitude, we get unmarried on paper and then you can toddle off and handle this dude however you want all on your own. Is that what you want?”
She just stares at me without saying a word. I get the distinct feeling that maybe that is what she wants, but she needs this marriage in order to get her inheritance.
When she doesn’t speak, I do. “If someone is circling you, the responsibility of dealing with that falls to me. That’s what the cut you’re currently wearing means.”
She looks down at the property cut on her chest and then back at me. Only then does she grudgingly admit, “I should have told you.”
“Thanks for saying so, but this isn’t a conversation about assigning blame. It’s about deciding how to move forward in a more constructive way.”
“Fine. I’ll let you handle it. Are we done?” she asks brusquely.
“Almost. Show me the texts. I want to read those messages myself.”
Her jaw tightens and her head jerks to the side. “Why, Mica? You just get off on lording control over me, don’t you?”
This woman is pushing all my buttons this morning. “Why are you being resistant? Is this just more stubbornness or is there something else going on here that you’re not admitting to? This isn’t a control thing. I need to read what he wrote to get an idea of how much of a potential threat he poses.”
Nova just shakes her head in disbelief. Then she unlocks her phone and holds it out for me to take.
I read every single message he’s ever sent her, even their messages during the short time they were dating. It hurts to see the exchanges where she’s being carefree and flirtatious with him. I freeze when I get to an exchange where he’s talking about them having sex and she pushes back that she wants her first time to feel special. I begin swiping rapidly, searching to see if they resolved that conversation. My heart is pounding when I realize they didn’t. She broke up with him for wanting to know where she was every minute of the day and because he kept pushing her for sex before she was ready.
I lower the phone, and when my eyes find her, she looks emotional. “You’re a virgin, aren’t you?”
“Laugh it up, asshole. Yeah, I’m a virgin and I’m going to stay that way while we’re together. It’s the reason I made sure the contract said I wasn’t obligated to have sex with you.”
“I wouldn’t have been a sex pest anyway. But that’s why you didn’t want me reading the texts, right?”
She glares at me. “It’s fine, I’m getting used to the idea that literally nothing in my life is private anymore.”
I bring the phone up and continue scrolling. “I’m sorry for pushing you out of your comfort zone on this issue, Nova. And I apologize for insinuating you weren’t being honest with me.”
She doesn’t respond, and it makes me feel even worse. I keep scrolling. When I get to the gigantic thirty-day window of no texts, I realize this is the stint in jail that she mentioned. On the thirty-first day, he’s back to texting her. At first, he’s sweet, but when she refuses to meet with him, he gets nasty fast. He would be a good manipulator if he had any degree of patience, self-control, or ability to hold his mask in place for more than a few messages. I’m glad Nova was able to see through his bullshit.
I hand the phone back. “You were smart to see how unhinged he was and get the hell out of there. And again, I’m sorry about being so pushy. I think he might pose a real danger to you, so from now on, we won’t each be living at our own place. We stick together until I deal with this asshole. In fact, I’m going to work with you this morning.”
She just shakes her head. “Can you afford to just take the day off? Don’t you have work of your own to do?”
“I have my laptop. I’ll sit in the office and work. If Devon shows up, let me handle him.”
“Mac already told him not to come back and threatened to call the police on him if he does.”
“You pointed out yourself that Devon Marsh doesn’t like to take no for an answer. He knows where you work, that you come to work in the early morning, and that all the drivers leave to make deliveries, which means you’re there alone. That he’s been to the yard also means he knows the layout. He has all the pieces of information he needs to make you regret not taking his threat more seriously.”
She stops dead in her tracks, and when our eyes meet, I know she finally gets it. “I honestly didn’t think about all that.”
“From now on, you don’t have to think about sick shit like how this deranged lunatic can get you alone. You’ve got me for that. I’ve been around enough sick fucks to know how they think. And I know just how to handle him if and when he shows up.”
