Shattered Vows (The Denton Family Legacy 2)

Grabbing one of the pillows that for decoration on the sofa, she held it against her stomach. Time continued to pass, and slowly, she fell asleep.

It didn’t seem long before the door being opened woke her. Glancing at the clock she saw it was five in the morning. Abel entered his apartment, and he turned toward her. He looked tired.

“Hey, baby,” he said.

Harper sat on the sofa, curled up in a ball, holding onto the pillow. “Hey,” she said.

Her voice sounded hoarse even to herself. She had actually cried herself to sleep.

“Dad told me you called, that you were worried.”

Harper looked toward the food that was still on the table. It probably had horrible flies crawling all over it. “I made dinner. You said you were going to be home by eleven.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Work—”

“What were you doing?” she asked, cutting him off.

“I was working.”

“Doing what exactly? What took you to five in the morning to do?” Was she being a nagging wife? She didn’t know, and right then, she didn’t care.

“Work.”

“You never tell me about your work. You don’t talk about it. I don’t know what you do, yet you know every single second of my day. I talk about school, about work, about everything. What is so damn special about your job that you can’t tell me?”

Licking her lips, she stared at him, hating how this moment was making her feel.

“I can’t.”

“You can’t, or you won’t? You know what is stupid, I could search your name on the internet and it would probably tell me who you are.”

“Don’t,” he asked. “Please, don’t.”

“This is scaring me, Abel. I’m actually scared right now.”

“You don’t have to be afraid. Please, just give me a chance.”

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and got up from the sofa. Moving toward the table, she picked up the plates, staring down at the food. She had been cooking for over two hours to make the perfect meal, all for nothing. “Is this how our life is going to be? Me waiting at home worried, not knowing where you are?”

“No.”

“Tell me what you were doing.” She walked toward the kitchen, dumping the food in the trash. It hurt a little to see the food going to waste.

“I can’t, babe.”

“This is what I can’t do. I can’t sit around waiting for you to get home, especially when I’m worrying about you!” Throwing the plates into the sink, she watched them shatter, and stared at them. The plates were exactly how she felt inside.

Abel moved up behind her grabbing her shoulders. “My work, it’s—I, I locate people that have threatened my family.”

“Threatened?”

“Yeah, I go and see what they want, do a show of force, and that’s it. I swear. The guy who had threatened my family, he was a little difficult to find.”

“Why can’t I just search your name?”

“Because I want you to trust me, Harper.”

She spun around. “How do you expect me to do that with all the lies?”