Her Men

“I can see why you did that,” she said. “I get it.”

“Your parents wanted me to marry you. They said I had to pay for their silence. I’m married to you, and their demands for money stay the same. They spend it so damn fast. I didn’t want to hurt you. Not even a little bit.”

“I know,” she said. “I guess, I wanted to believe that this was all natural with us, you know. That my parents hadn’t created something toxic, but I should have known they would. I should have known their vileness would spread.” Abby sighed. “I take it you’ve heard of Maggie?”

“Your sister?”

“Yes.”

“I know of her. I had a PI investigate. I don’t know the full story.”

“She had the most beautiful singing voice. She could have been a real star someday.”

James waited as she took a break.

“My parents wanted the success. The fame. They made Maggie compete so much. We’d travel so much. I’d do all my homework in the back of a car. They would make her perform, and then we’d move on to the next competition. After some time, Maggie got sick, and they wouldn’t listen. They kept on forcing her until one day, she was about to hit the big time, but she stopped. She couldn’t do it. She went into the hospital one day, and she never came out. She threatened my parents that she’d never sing again. They’d never have the wealth they wanted. She was about to hit the big time. I often wonder if my parents did something to her in the hospital.”

“They never forced their dreams on you?”

“I didn’t have any talent. I couldn’t do anything. I was nothing to them. No one. I couldn’t help them with their dreams.” She shrugged. “I was thinking about Maggie, and I cut myself on the knife. I just needed the pain to stop.” She shook her head. “I’ve given them power when they didn’t deserve it. I allowed my pain to get in the way.”

He saw the tears in her eyes. He pulled her in close. “We both have. I guess I can’t be angry with the situation anymore.”

“Why not?”

“I’m with you,” he said. “I wouldn’t have even had anything to do with you, but here we are.”

“Here we all are,” Drake said, sitting down on the sand with them.

“That didn’t take long,” James said.

“I know. I only needed a few items.” Drake reached out, taking her hand. “How are you?”

“I’m okay.” James watched as she squeezed Drake’s hand. “I will be.” She looked toward him. “Would you like that divorce?”

“No.” He didn’t even hesitate.

“But the two of you?”

“Abby, both of us want you. We want to give this a try,” Drake said. “James isn’t just speaking for himself. He’s speaking for the two of us. I know we weren’t completely truthful at first, but we’ve given you the truth. James and I are together, but we want you to be part of that.”

She sniffled, and James got closer, needing to comfort her.

“I’m so sorry for what my parents did,” she said.

“Don’t cry. No more tears. There’s nothing to be sad about.” James felt like a complete and total asshole. He’d not been the best husband.

He was all over the place.

Her parents had pushed him into a corner, and he didn’t know of a way out. He’d lashed out at Abby, and in doing so, he’d caused this.

“I’d wanted to make them pay. I thought you were like them, and I was going to use you to get them out of my life. I’m not proud of it. Not even close. I’m sorry for my part in this, Abby. I don’t want to hurt you. It’s the last thing I want to do. I know I’m the one to blame for all of this. Let me fix it.”

“There’s nothing you can do,” Drake said.

“Maybe there is,” Abby said. She looked from him to Drake.

He didn’t have a plan.

“I mean, seriously, guys, it’s so obvious right now I can’t believe I didn’t think about it before.” Abby smiled. “Why don’t we turn this on them?”

“What do you mean?” Drake asked.

“Well, you were going to use Drake and me to get out of a divorce so why not use all of our relationship against my parents? They’re greedy. They want money. There will be some fallout I’m sure if this doesn’t work and they release the tapes, but some people have made a sex tape work. We could make this work for us. If not, I can tell them about how my sister died, exhausted by their thirst for wealth and power. They shouldn’t be benefitting from this. They can’t send me away. Not if I have the two of you.” Abby paused as she thought about their threats. She had kept most of them to herself, but right now, her men were far more important than she was. “There is something,” she said.