“He’s orchestrating that, yes. But he hasn’t really come after me yet. That’s all just mildly annoying compared to what he’s planning. I don’t know what it is yet but I know it is coming.”
“Don’t think you’re pulling away from me to protect me. I agreed to let you protect me if you let me protect you, too.Remember?”
She smiles weakly at me but doesn’t respond. I think I know why I felt like I was losing her earlier tonight. She’s already pulling away from me in her attempt to protect me from the storm she feels brewing. I feel it, too, but I feel it in her. I feel her angst and her worry but I won’t let her do it alone.
“Andi.I mean it. Don’t. Even. Think. About. Doing. It.”
I pull in my spot in her garage and close the door before we exit my truck. Her hand is on the door and she’s ready to jump from the vehicle when I place my hand on her shoulder. “I’m not scared of him and I’m not leaving you to face whatever’s coming alone.”
She squeezes my hand and gets out of the truck. I’m hot on her heels and we can barely walk because my arms are wrapped around her waist from behind, but I’m not letting her go. I need to feel her close and she needs to feel I’m here for her. I feel her tense body suddenly relax as she allows her body to mold with mine as we walk together as one unit.
“See how this works, baby? Together, we are stronger. Together, we can take on anything. Don’t pull away from me now. You’ll never have to face hard times alone again. I promise.”
She turns in my arms to face me and I see love glistening in her eyes. She doesn’t speak words, but her kisses and her touch tells me everything I need to know. She loves me and she believes me. She knows I’m here with her no matter what comes.Bring on your worst, Jackson Rhoades – whatever you have in mind could never be worse than losing this woman in my arms.
I tell her to wait for me on the couch while I open a bottle of wine and pour a couple of glasses. She’s more relaxed now, restingwith her back against my chest and I’m just enjoying the feel of her skin, the rise and fall of her breath, and the way she loving strokes my forearm that’s wrapped around her.
“Tell me about when you were a psychologist,” she requests.
“I didn’t feel like I was any good at it. I met with patients, applied my training, tried to get them to come to their own conclusions and give them the tools they needed to work through their issues themselves. But it all came to a head with one patient who was referred to me from the court,” with this last statement, I feel her tense in my arms. I hug her tighter and nuzzle her ear and place kisses on her temple until she relaxes again.
“This guy was accused of beating his wife. She wouldn’t press charges but the police had been to their house on enough domestic calls that they’d had enough. The judge sent him to me and I saw him several times. His wife even came in a few times – alone – and their stories matched enough that it didn’t seem off to me. I cleared him, said they had the normal marital spats but it wasn’t abusive and she wasn’t in danger.
A week after his court case, he held her hostage while the SWAT team waited outside. He killed her before killing himself, but he was yelling that he knew she was having an affair with me. The SWAT team said he screamed over and over that was the only way she could’ve convinced me to testify that he wasn’t abusive to her.
They both fooled me, Andi. It was my job to know they were lying. It was my job to identify the anomalies, the signs, symptoms, and put it all together for the victim’s safety. I didn’t do that. I fucked up and someone died because of me. I couldn’t do it any more after that.”
She turned to face me, staying in my arms and lying chest to chest with me. “I understand exactly what you mean. I felt the same way – I should’ve put it all together. I should’ve known what he was doing to those little girls. I mean, I took care of them like I was the parent – I should’ve known, right?”
“No, Andi. People like Jackson Rhoades are devious and have developed ways of manipulating the victims. Making them believe it’s their fault, making them feel ashamed and unable to tell anyone what was really going on behind closed doors. If the girls didn’t tell you, didn’t show you any signs of it, there was nothing you could’ve done to stop it any sooner.”
She pulled back slightly, keeping her eyes trained on mine, and smiled a knowing smile.
“Damn. Did you just use psychology onme?” I asked incredulously. I can’t believe she just played me like that. Her grin widens into her mega-watt smile and she unsuccessfully holds back a giggle.
“I just helped you come to the conclusion you already knew,” she states matter-of-factly.
“You’d made a damn fine lawyer, ya know?”
“And you’d made a damn fine shrink.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ANDI
Ihave changed my mind about doing a press conference. After Jackson was at the club, then at Luke’s parents’ house, I don’t think it’s such a good idea. Plus, I’ve been invited for an interview by a very popular morning talk show. They say they want my side of the story. I’m seriously considering accepting this invitation, but I’m concerned they will turn on me at the last minute and make me look like the bad guy.
I have one week to decideif I want to do the talk show or not. A lot can happen in one week of my life.
Luke is at the gym training hard this week. He’s missed so much time lately because of all my drama that Mack threatened to drop him. I am working at the gym and at the youth center all week, trying to get back into a regular routine and stop letting everything and everyone else run my life. I was almost to the gym when I realized I forgot my gym bag at home and had to turn around to go get it. Now I’mreally running behind.
When I walk in the gym, I’m suddenly overwhelmed by the number of people inside. Camera flashes are going off everywhere, video cameras and microphones are being shoved inevery direction, and people are crowding me all around. Then the questions they’re asking finally register in my brain – they’re not directed at me. They’re not about me. They’re not taking pictures of me – they’re pushing me out of the way.
They’re going after Shane.
What. The. Hell. Is. Happening.
“Shane! Shane! Is it true you’ve lost eligibility for the title fight because of steroid use?”
