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My jaw clenched and he laughed, which caused me to face him. “What’s funny?”
“Nothing. Instead of getting angry just talk to me.”
Ellie and Diesel looked at us with two opposing expressions. Diesel looked concerned and Ellie was smiling.
“C’mon, let’s go check on the kids,” Diesel said as he rose from his chair. Ellie followed him, giving me a weak smile.
“Well?” Slate asked, once it was just us at the table.
“Fine,” I groaned. “Alex’s brother, Mark. He’s a private investigator and he showed up during my interview that felt more like an interrogation with the police yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
I shrugged. “Nothing to say, not really. He accused me and when the cops admitted they had nothing, he promised that he would find proof that I did something to his brother. Been on my mind a lot.”
“I got a bad feeling from that fucker too,” he muttered.
“What? You didn’t say anything.” He’d told me about Mark’s visit but hadn’t said anything about there being trouble. “What happened? I thought you said he just came to see where Alex was. Are you planning something?”
“No Emma, I’m not planning anything. He was being a belligerent asshole, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you to worry about it. And because I might have used a profanity-laced threat in front of Ashlyn to get him to leave.” He shrugged with an adorable smile. “I figured she told you.”
“She didn’t. She likes you and probably didn’t want you to get in trouble for your potty mouth.”
He laughed. “I simply explained to him why it would be a bad idea if he showed up at your house again.”
While I appreciated his effort to keep us safe, I realized something else. “I can’t go back to that house. I won’t.” It wasn’t safe for us. It never had been and even though Alex was gone, it never would be, not if Mark had anything to do with it. “I’ll pack some things and that’s the last time I’ll ever set foot inside that house.”
“Emma,” Slate began and rested his big, slightly calloused hand on top of mine. “That’s your home. You’re his wife.”
“No,” I whispered, my voice shaky and half-watery with unshed tears. “You don’t understand. Nothing is in my name, and he’s probably left all kinds of conditions on everything. The house probably goes to Mark along with everything else which means it’s only a matter of time before he has the right to come inside without my consent.”
“How’s this gonna look to the cops?” he asked.
I shrugged, “I don’t know, but Sheriff Cross saw how Mark lunged at me yesterday, I can say I’m scared of him. He might have a key, I—”
“Shit!” He blew out a deep breath and sat back in his chair, his eyes were on the kids, but I could tell he wasn’t really seeing them. He was thinking.
Mark’s threat meant I had less time than I thought to set up our future. “I need to find a job. Any job. That has to be at the top of my list. I need to be able to support us.”
“You can stay with me.” He sat up taller, seemingly shocked by the words that came out of his mouth. “Yeah, you two will stay with me until you get on your feet.”
I shook my head. “No. I can’t ask that of you.”
“You didn’t ask.”
He was right. But still. “I can’t put my whole future in the hands of another man.”
“You’re not,” he shot back quickly. “You’re using my home as a steppingstone to put your life back together again. I’m not looking to control you, Emma, just keep you and Ash safe.”
The last time a man made a promise like that to me, I ended up married to him and abused by him regularly. I know Slate’s not like that, but still. The thought of putting my trust in him. I sighed, “I don’t know.”
“No pressure. It’s not as big as your place but there’s room for two more. And I have an excellent security system.”
I turned to him and stared into those gray-blue eyes for so long that I lost myself in them for a long moment. The last time I’d been truly happy with a man was the night I spent with him. That night had given me the most precious thing in the world to me. And he still doesn’t know, my conscience taunted. I had to tell him, but it seemed that each day was bringing me yet another obstacle. “I’ll think about. I promise.”
“That’s all I can ask.” His gaze searched my face, and he looked as if he wanted to say more, but instead he turned back to the table with a smile. “Are we sharing some appetizers or am I pigging out alone?”
And just like that everything went back to normal. I laughed along with the adults when the kids did something funny, joined in conversation and enjoyed a meal not cooked by my hands for once.
