Sophie (The Boss 8)

She sniffed and raised her head, her eyes rimmed with red. “I’m so afraid, Neil.”

When she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder, my heart ached for a much different reason than before. Seeing Valerie so vulnerable emphasized how alone she was. I didn’t want that for her.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” El-Mudad said softly. I’d never heard him speak to her so informally. Like me, he harbored unfounded, but not entirely illogical, jealousy toward Valerie. Now, though, he was as comforting as he’d been when he’d come to me in the wake of Neil’s suicide attempt. “You helped Sophie when I could not be here for her. We can return the favor.”

“And you helped me the first time Neil O.D.ed,” I reminded her. “You didn’t have to do that.”

She lifted her head to face El-Mudad and me. “What you two must think of me.”

“I don’t think anything,” I said.

She smiled a little through her tears. “Yes, you do.”

I nodded in agreement. “But nothing I think about you makes me want you to suffer or be vulnerable to abuse. And I promise we’ll leave you alone. I won’t be knocking on your door every day for gossip. You’ll never even see me.”

“Thank you,” she sniffled, accepting a Kleenex from Neil. “That does make me feel better.”

Okay. She could be a bitch to me this time, and I’d let it slide.

“We have ‘round the clock security,” Neil told her. “And I’ll add more. You won’t be in danger from him. And you can stay here for as long as you need. Before the divorce, after it, during, we will be here for you. All you need do is ask.”

Rudy cleared his throat. “The first step, however, is getting the hell out of your house before Laurence comes back.”

“I have so much...stuff…” Her eyes went wide with panic. “Emma’s baby photos, her clothes...what if he does something—”

“When does he get back? Do we have time to hire movers?” Neil asked, and I knew without a doubt that if there weren’t time, he would load and drive a truck all by himself.

“He flies in on Sunday night.” Her shoulders sagged in defeat. “And I’m so overwhelmed.”

“Don’t be, baby,” Rudy said firmly. “You’re going to get what you need and be safe behind the walls of Neil’s ridiculous compound before the plane even touches down.”

“Not so ridiculous now, though, is it?” Neil shot back at his friend.

“I’m afraid to go home by myself,” Valerie admitted, so much shame and revulsion at herself in her tone that I couldn’t reconcile her with her usual, confident self. It was rare that she didn’t appear fully in control—or, at least, believed she was. Without the armor of her ego, she was more exposed than she could stand.

That’s why things couldn’t have worked between her and Neil; they were too alike, in all the wrong ways.

“I’ll stay with you tonight,” Rudy said firmly. “We’ll get the locks changed tonight, just in case. And in the morning, we’ll start packing.”

“I’ll call a moving company,” El-Mudad offered with an encouraging smile. “And help to unpack, if you need it. I’m unemployed, so my days are free.”

She laughed, a sad sound of gratitude. “I don’t deserve this. After what I’ve put you through. And what I’ve put Olivia through.” Though she covered her face again, Valerie couldn’t hide her sobs.

"You didn't do anything to Olivia. You were being threatened and coerced. For god's sake, Valerie, if we can see that, why can't you?" Neil practically begged. "We're going to get you out of there. You're going to rebuild everything you've worked to build. It will be difficult, and it will be scary. But we've done difficult and scary before. And I've never turned my back on you during those times. I'm not going to do it now."

After all the years we’d been together, I finally agreed with Neil on that point.

Chapter Fourteen

We left Rudy with Valerie—and the police she'd called to report Laurence's latest assault—and went back to the penthouse. As we entered the foyer, I wished we could return to the house. But we were all too exhausted to even think of getting back in the car, let alone onto a helicopter.

"That went so much better than I expected it to," Neil said quietly as we unpacked the food that waited on the kitchen counter.

"I miss Sue," I said wistfully. Not that the food wouldn't be divine. It had just been nicer to have a meal prepared in our kitchen, rather than dropped off by a service.

"As do I," Neil agreed. "But someone told me it would be ridiculous to keep a full-time housekeeper on staff if we no longer lived here full-time."

El-Mudad had been quiet on the ride over. He leaned on the counter, his fingers laced together, thumbs working anxiously around each other. "Do you think she'll be all right?"