Thankfully Nadia's too busy to interrupt, as a low thud resonates through the phone.Has to be a car door since she said they would meet me in the middle.
"Since she moved out and started school.Didn't want her to be alone or hurt herself.Mostly watching and texting until recently," I continue.
Things go deadly quiet for as Nadia processes, her mothering mind dropping puzzle pieces into place.
"Run that by me again.What, exactly, do you mean by recently?"Sharp assessment replaces her warmth—coldness so frigid my own breath fogs at the phone's receiver.
"Elias, what do you mean!"
Her scream catches me unprepared.Another jerk, another twinge of blinding pain radiates through me.Kace mumbles in the background; thankfully I can't quite make out what he's saying but I'm going to assume he's promising violence.
Keeps me on my toes.
"Nadia..."
"Fucking say it, Elias!"
There's only one thing left in this existence that matters, and that's to claim Sadie for everyone to see.Hoist her high onto a pedestal where the world can envy her beauty and how gone I am for her.But I can't.Not when people will judge and accuse me of the worst shit imaginable.
Groomer.
I'll never get away from the accusations, false as they may be.I didn't have anything to do with her like that, I'd never go that far.She was a child—destructive, alone, dependent.To me, that person and the woman I’m with now are two completely different people.
Kace and Nadia will focus on their blinding rage for a while.Then there are the guys.Mav will be disgusted and others will have opinions.If I spill it all, our delicate relationships will go up in flames.
Do I choose her over them?Yes.
I kept her safe, showed up when she called because she felt like a burden to her parents.I was always there.My attraction, feelings, and devotion came well after.
No one will see it that way.
All they’ll see is a predator.
I can only pray that Nadia will listen with her mind and not her heart.She was once stuck between a rock and a hard place and felt the same fear I'm battling.Her illegal relationship with Kace, I hope, will make her more understanding since she knows firsthand we cannot control who we love.
"I've been seeing her for several months.When I'm not working a job, I'm here.In her home, caring for her.Dealing with the fallout of her drama at school, picking her up off the floor when she's coming apart.I'm doing it all because I'm in love with her."
Kace grunts in the background again, more urgently before I hear him clear as day.
"Put it on speakerphone, Nadia.Now!"
I'm a dead man.
"Sullivan."He's short.Fury rattles his deep voice.
"Patton."
"You get one chance, and one chance only.Have you been fucking my kid?"
"Your adult daughter who makes decisions for herself?Yes."
"She can't make decisions, she's mentally unstable!"he screams.
"I'm going to put you in a pine box and throw you down the deepest hole I can find.You sorry sack of shit!"
"Kace..."Nadia tries to calm him.
"It's alright, Nadia.I deserve his—"
