“I hate her.”
I didn’t. But I wanted to hate her.
Another grimace from him.
“Is she pretty?”
“Don’t do this.”
“Answer me.” I kept my emotions in check. Wylder loved me. I knew that. Still … he’d been married to her for five years. A girl that was like me.
“She’s young enough to be my daughter. I don’t focus on her like that.”
“Am I pretty, Dad?”
“Of course.”
“Is. She. Pretty?”
He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. “Yes, Livy. She’s pretty.”
I had nothing more to ask. Nothing more to say. I just had … nothing.
“Let him go.”
“Maybe they don’t find us. Whoever you’re afraid of finding him and hurting me. Maybe they don’t find us. I’ve seen him. He was here. And we’re fine.”
“He was here? In your apartment?”
I nodded.
His jaw tightened. “Where is he now?”
“Texas.”
“Did he find you?”
I shook my head.
“Chance encounter?”
I nodded.
“Good. Let him go.”
“What if—”
“No, Livy! There’s no fucking what-if’s here. It was incredibly stupid of him to come to your apartment, knowing damn well someone could be watching you.”
“Why would someone be watching me?”
“Because you were with him. You lived with him. If there’s the tiniest doubt in anyone’s mind that he’s not dead, you are the place they will look to find him.”
“I’m fine. He was here twice, and I’m fine.”
“Livy, you don’t understand. These people are patient. They will not take you out on a whim. They will wait until you’re married. They’ll watch you build a life of happiness, and then they will take it from you one piece at a time. Abe could have made an attempt on my life years ago, but he didn’t. He waited until I had the best damn life, and then he killed your mom and let me suffer for years, patiently waiting for me to recover just so he could take you away from me too.”
More tears released down my face. What did Wylder want from me? Was our night together a goodbye that felt better than the day I left him for dead? Did he expect me to leave my family forever—to die and take on a new identity? Quit my job. Lose everything I’d worked for over the previous twenty-six years?
“So this other woman, his wife, she’s acceptably disposable? It’s okay if they find him and take her? Kill her?”
“Yes. She’s an acceptable risk because she agreed to it, knowing the risks. She nearly died. She lost all of her family. Every day is borrowed time for her. No family around to miss her or worry about her. Alex is her family now.”
Alex.
I hated hearing him call Wylder Alex.
“Livy, he’s alive and well. He has a good job. A nice home in the suburbs. And he’s protecting a young woman who lost everything. You have a dream job. You have family. You have a boyfriend if you don’t mess it up. I’m sorry … I’m truly sorry you ever had to find out. And I don’t know what it’s like to lose the same person twice. But I know your strength. It’s your mom’s strength. Use that strength to move on. And let time take care of the heartache. Look at me. I was a mess. But here I am, still in one piece. I made it through the pain, and you will too.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The pain.
It took my dad years to make it through the pain. Five years after losing Wylder the first time, I still felt the pain.
Every.
Single.
Day.
And there I was … getting ready to start the whole process over again.
Wylder was the one. My choice was to lose the one or lose all of my family. It shouldn’t have been a choice at all.
I would keep my family and return to my life before Floyd Wright brought Wylder back into my life. He would protect the woman he married. It made sense to my brain, but my heart didn’t understand. My heart looked at it differently.
So I worked. I researched and observed Timothy and Tricia deposing experts and witnesses. The trial came and went. I felt history being made and witnessed justice at its finest. A win for our clients. A win for us. A win for the environment.
Life should have been good, but it wasn’t.
I broke up with my boyfriend. It didn’t feel right after what happened with Wylder.
I joined a gym since my escapes to the beach were rare occasions instead of my usual form of exercise.
I went out with people from work to make friends, celebrate wins, and not think about him.
Yet, nothing worked. I thought about Wylder all the time.
“Haven’t seen Floyd Wright around here lately,” I said, casually sipping my tea in the break room while making small talk with Timothy as he waited for the espresso machine to disperse another dose of caffeine. It had been nearly four months since I’d seen Floyd or Wylder.
My dad said to move on. So … I tried to move on.
“I referred him to another firm.”
“Oh?” My head jerked back a bit.
“We were up to our ears in the Solis case, and it deserved this firm’s full attention. And Floyd’s issues require someone with honed skills in international law. I dabble, but it’s not my area of expertise. Wealthy men like Floyd should and usually do have a whole team of lawyers to meet specific needs. I was a little surprised he didn’t already have someone else.” Tim shrugged, lifting his cup to his mouth.
“That …”
Is crushing. Heartbreaking.
How was I supposed to ever see Wylder again? I had no contact information for him, not even his new last name. Maybe it was a sign. Time to let go again. Not just again … forever.
I cleared my throat. “That makes total sense. It is surprising a man like him wouldn’t already have someone who specialized in international law.”
Tim nodded and smiled before slipping around the corner toward his office.
“You look like you’ve lost weight,” Meghan, Tricia’s secretary, eyed me as she walked toward the fridge.
I shrugged. “What can I say? They’ve been riding me hard. I’ve had very little sleep.”
“Hope you’re going home for Thanksgiving so your family can put some meat back on those bones.”
On a chuckle, I shook my head. “We’re a pretty athletic family. My workouts are intensive. It’s hard to keep weight on that’s not muscle.”
“Now you’re just bragging.” She rolled her eyes at me, just before I winked and headed to my office.
“Call on line two, Livy.” Dani smiled at me as I walked by her desk. “An Aunt Jessica.”
I slid my cell phone out of my pocket, looking for a missed call. There wasn’t one. Sitting at my desk, I picked up the receiver. “Jess?”
“Hi, Livy.”
“Why are you calling my work number? Is my phone not working?”
“Your dad monitors your cell phone.”
“He does what?”
“It’s not important. We need to—”