“I want Derek and me to move there—”
“Well, you can’t. Lawyer up and you’ll hear the same thing. You have no chance at winning this, Valerie.”
She stared at me for a long time, working out her anger, working out her thoughts. She wasn’t getting her way, and she didn’t know how to cope with it. She’d held the power for so long, and now it was gone. “Fuck you, Deacon.” She slapped me across the face as hard as she could.
I took the hit, reverting in time to when this was a regular part of my life. I never laid a hand on her, never fought back, because that wasn’t the kind of man I was. So, I took it…because I had no other option.
I turned back to her, my cheek hot from the strike of her palm. “I’ve put up with a lot of shit from you. I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt more than you deserve. But if you really do this, if you really leave him…I’ll never forgive you.” I would put up with her bullshit every day for Derek’s sake. I didn’t want my son to grow up thinking his mother didn’t love him. That shit would damage him. I knew, every single day, that both of my parents loved me so goddamn much. Derek deserved the same.
“It’s my life, Deacon.” She walked off.
I couldn’t believe this was happening, that she would do this to a perfect boy. “That’s really the kind of mother you want to be?”
She turned back to me.
“You want to be some whore who abandons her son to chase some guy?”
She came back to me to slap me again.
I grabbed her wrist and pushed her hand away, fighting back for the first time. “That shit is over, Valerie.” Now I stepped toward her, making her shrink back. “I won’t be able to protect you. I won’t be able to lie to Derek. When he gets older, it’ll be very clear that you chose to be with another family instead of working on the one you have. You can really live with that?”
She stormed off, like she didn’t want to listen to me anymore.
I followed her down the hallway. “You’re better than that. Come on, Valerie.”
She reached the front door and opened it, revealing Cleo, who was about to step inside. Her big purse was over her shoulder, and she immediately shrank back when she realized what she’d just walked into.
Seeing Cleo come to my condo like she lived there just made everything worse. “This is for Jake.” Valerie raised her hand.
I grabbed her arm again, pushed her back, and then stood in front of Cleo. “I’m tired of your bullshit, Valerie. I’m not putting up with it anymore. Try that shit again…and I’ll come after you.” I could deal with her hitting me, but not my woman, not the kindest person on this planet.
Valerie gave up the fight and stormed off. Her hips shook from side to side as she pushed her stilettos to the brink. She got into the elevator and flipped me off before the doors closed.
I turned around and faced Cleo.
She still looked shocked. “Jesus…what was that all about?”
I grabbed the door and shut it so Derek couldn’t hear us out in the hallway.
Her eyes narrowed on my face, the cheek where I’d been struck. She moved closer, her fingertips lightly touching the skin. “Did she hit you?”
I grabbed her wrist and pulled it down. “Baby, I’m fine—”
“Who the fuck does she think she is?” Her eyes watered even though the mark would be gone by morning. It wasn’t even an injury, just a strike that caused some inflammation. But Cleo was hurt like I’d been shot. She cupped my face and moved close, heartbroken at my treatment. “Deacon…”
“Baby, I’m okay.”
“I know that. I just… You don’t deserve to be treated that way.” Her heart was on her sleeve, in her eyes, in her words. Her love for me had never been so obvious, so clear, as it was right now. Everything she did showed her devotion to me. But this moment, this fragility, showed just how pure her heart was. “I’m sorry.”
My hands wrapped around her tiny wrists, and I placed my forehead against hers. “I know.” I kissed her forehead then pulled her soft fingertips from my cheeks. “It’s over now.” And it might be over forever.
“What happened?”
It took me a second to piece together words that would make sense. “Jake’s ex-wife is pregnant…so he’s moving to London to raise the kid.”
“Whoa…”
“And Valerie wants to move with him.”
“What?” she asked blankly. “They hardly know each other.”
Yeah, it didn’t make any fucking sense. “She wanted to take Derek with her—”
“Fuck that bitch.”
“But I told her that wasn’t possible, that she would never win that case in a million years. The conversation escalated… It was bad.”