Lakelyn suddenly jumped off my lap. “Oh my God, Jenna, I need to call her.”
I reached for her arm. “She knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That you are okay,” I nodded, “and safe. I told her you’d reach out once you felt up for it. The gigantic floral arrangement on the kitchen island is from her, Cameron, and Joselyn.”
She rubbed her temple in confusion.
“Jenna helped me find you.”
“How? I don’t understand.”
“Anthony went live for twenty seconds in a chatroom on the dark web and then posted a photo of you lying unconscious and tied-up with a wedding photo on your chest as proof that you had had an affair on him with Tyler.”
Her hands pressed into a triangle over her mouth and nose.
“Cameron’s security team caught wind of it, and Jenna tracked me down at the precinct just as the mainstream media was starting to run with the story.”
“I . . . I can’t—It was Annabelle.”
Lakelyn clutched her chest while her breathing turned rapid and shallow. I picked her up and carried her inside until we neared the couches and reached for my water bottle. She stared blankly at the ground while I encouraged her to focus on breathing.
“That’s it, deep breath in and out. You’re okay. Remember, this feeling will pass. Deep breath in and out; you’re doing great. I’m here with you, and I’m not going anywhere.” After a few more repeated mantras, she lifted her chin and met my eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the spark of life returning as she regained her coloring. “Here, take a sip of water.”
“Thank you.” Her voice was soft and timid, and it broke my heart to see her in distress. “I can only imagine what my parents must be thinking of me. Do they care? Did they even understand the severity of the situation and that Annabelle’s husband was all kinds of fucked up? Or that he killed her?”
“While I’d like to say their opinions don’t matter after how they’ve treated you, I can’t. That’s only something you can reconcile. If you want to reach out to them, I will stand beside you every step of the way, and if you don’t, that’s okay too. Either way, you have my full support, free from judgment.” I clasped our hands together. “The only compass you need to follow is your heart; trust it will steer you in the right direction.”
“It led me to you.” She beamed with pride.
“That it did, my love. Everything happens for a reason, right.” I slid my hands up over her bare thighs, since she was only wearing a T-shirt of mine, and continued moving toward her hips. “And I plan on telling you just how much I love you daily for the rest of our lives.”
“I love you too, so much.”
In my attempt to pull her off the couch down to where I sat on the floor, she squirmed when I discovered a new ticklish spot, and she came crashing down over me. We erupted in a fit of laughter before I rolled her onto her back and plunged my tongue deep into her mouth, kissing her senseless as I gave her every ounce of my love.
“You know what I want to do?” she asked, panting after angling her head to the side as I decorated her jawline with butterfly kisses.
“No, how about you tell me?” Praying like fuck it involved both of us naked for the rest of the day.
“I want to do something completely out of my comfort zone, something crazy, something I wouldn’t normally do.” I propped myself up on my forearm and looked down at her before she continued. “I want to feel alive, free, unrestrained.”
This girl just kept surprising me with her fearlessness.
“I know just the thing,” I told her, feeling the adrenaline already pumping through me with excitement.
“Tell me.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Unequivocally.”
“Good, then let me handle all the details.”
As for the rest of the day, we put my time off to good use, and there wasn’t a thing I’d change because it all led us to the here and now.
Us, together, and planning a future I never thought possible.
