Page 49 of Say it Ain’t So

“So apparently,” Van continued, “Peter⁠—”

“Douchebag,” I muttered.

He nodded. “Peter ran Cheyenne and Joss off the road after braining Dakota and leaving him for dead. Dakota was arrested and Peter was let go.”

“Why? How could they let him go after that?” I pulled my eyes away from the screen in time to catch Van’s shrug.

“Discrimination. You’ve got the son of a well-respected politician versus a known criminal and his sister, who just happen to have the wrong bloodline.”

“Did Joss tell you all this?” I held my breath, hating that I had to ask. Hating that he knew this information when I did not.

“No. Just that she was married and that her ex shattered her hand with the same baseball bat he took to Dakota’s head before he chased her in his car and sent her flying into a ravine. Fractured her hand and had to get a pin put in her wrist. She still has problems with it to this day, especially in the cold.”

“Fucking douchebag.”

“I can think of a lot worse names.”

I could think of a lot worse names too. Specifically, his name etched on a gravestone that I’d gladly carve myself.

My chest ached and my mind spun. This was a lot to take in. All that had happened to her. All of it documented in newspapers.

All that I hadn’t been able to find because I hadn’t known her real name.

Van stood and gripped my shoulder. “She’s married. She’s got a lot on her plate.”

I glanced up at him, narrowing my eyes. “And?”

“And, maybe lay off her? Your constant flirting makes her uncomfortable.”

“Did she tell you that?” All I’d seen was her tentativeness flying away in the face of every compliment I gave her.

Van gave me a look I couldn’t decipher. “She doesn’t have to. I can see it plain as day. Did you not notice the way she clammed up the minute you called her gorgeous?”

No. No, I hadn’t. What I’d noticed was the way she’d gone quiet when her thoughts turned to Kelly. Joss was nothing if not a caring woman who hurt for other people’s pain.

“Just lay off, okay?” Van scooted behind me, heading for the door as I fell into the chair he’d just vacated, eyes locked on his screen. “Shut it down when you’re done?”

I nodded without looking up from the article about the accident. The truth about what happened to my wife the day she left our wedding bed, and I’d nearly lost her for good.

Working through article after article, I learned everything I could about Joss, Peter, and the Macawis. The anger I held against Joss morphed until it was no longer directed at her, and solely directed at the man who’d beat her time and time again. Until the vibrant woman she was had been hidden in the shadows that hovered over her head when I first saw her.

That still hovered over her today.

Was I the only one who could see the way she trembled when Lee yelled at us men? The same way she shook and jumped when a car backfired on the Strip? She’d lived in terror for years, in constant fear of being beaten by this douchebag, Peter Wright.

This douchebag that’d gotten the lightest sentence possible for nearly killing three people within the span of ten minutes.

I was lucky. There was no other explanation. It was nothing but luck that’d brought Joss and I together. Nothing but luck that we’d found each other again. I couldn’t hate her. I couldn’t hold onto the anger I’d been carrying for so long.

Not after all she’d been through.

Not if I wanted a chance at being with her again.

Husband and wife.

After shutting down Van’s computer, I switched off the light and headed back up front. From the end of the long hallway, I could see Joss wasn’t at her desk. I peeked in Lee’s office, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

Only to find Lee, arms sprawled across his desktop with his face smooshed against the wood.