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“Don’t fucking lie to me,” Jay ground out.
Skye winced. Harper cuddled in closer. “Mama,” she whispered. “It’s okay, mama.”
“Damn you, Jay,” she said quietly. “You’re scaring her.”
“That’s on you. This is all on you.” He got right up in her face, spittle in the corners of his mouth. “I told you what would happen if you stepped out, Skye. You have only yourself to blame when you lose her.”
“Jay, no,” she shook her head quickly. “No.”
“Shut up,” he muttered. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re such a cheap whore. You deserve everything you get.” And he turned and left.
Skye was shaking from head to toe, but she did her best to hide it from Harper, encouraging the little girl to talk the whole way home, while Skye was numb all over from the awful encounter.
She felt disgusted on so many levels.
How did he know what time she’d been arriving home and with whom? Had he been watching her house? All night, every night? Surely not. Her schedule was too unpredictable for that, and he had a life.
So how had he known then? She looked around the street, at all the houses that surrounded their own. She knew their neighbours. She’d grown up here, and the houses changed hands so rarely that she could recite almost everyone’s name and phone number. No way a neighbour was keeping tabs on her for Jay. So how?
And what was she going to do?
She hugged Harper closer, her dear little body so warm and comforting. Inside the house, she closed the door and double locked it, then fixed Harper some lunch and put on a cartoon before making herself a sugary tea.
She knew one thing for sure: she couldn’t see Leandro again.
She was pretty sure she could calm Jay down, but if he found out about Leandro, she had no doubt he’d be true to his word and take Harper away. She couldn’t risk that.
With shaking fingers, she retrieved his business card from her bedside table and dialed his number. She wasn’t prepared for the sound of his voice when he answered though, and waves of familiarity, affection and awareness washed over her.
“Leandro, it’s Skye,” she said.
There was silence for a moment and then, “What’s the matter?”
Damn it. She squeezed her eyes shut but the tears still leaked from the corners. “Nothing,” she lied. “I just—I can’t see you again.”
Silence. Staticky, reactive silence.
“You know I have a lot of fun with you, but it’s become too complicated. I can’t do it. I’m sorry.”
“Skye—,”
But she couldn’t bear the thought of him trying to talk her out of this. She shook her head. “Goodbye, Leandro.” She hung up the phone and sobbed silently, miserable to discover that she was still very much under the control of her ex after all.
“Leandro!” She stared at him, standing outside her home, his expression unreadable. “What are you doing here?”
“I don’t appreciate being hung up on,” he said, reminding her again of his natural, easy authority. But then he softened. “I was worried about you.”
It was a tipping point, like someone asking if you were okay when you fell down. She would have been fine if he hadn’t said he was worried, but concern was her undoing. She dipped her head to hide the crumpling of her features.
He wouldn’t let her hide, though. He pressed a finger to her chin, tilting her face towards his. “Skye, what’s happened?”
She shook her head. “This isn’t what we are,” she groaned. “You don’t have to be here, saying this, acting like you care.”
“If you are being bullied, I do care.”
“Why?” She asked, eyes wide.
“Because you deserve better.”
