Tommy was already coming in the doorway, “What the fuck did I say?” He looked incredulously at me and at the others. Lisa was standing by the sofa looking at Tommy with hatred on her face.
“Go!” he shouted to his sisters. They both started to go.
“You killed my husband, didn’t you?” Lisa said and the sisters both stopped in their tracks and stared at Lisa and then looked to Tommy for a reply.
“Go.” Tommy repeated softly to his sisters, through clenched teeth.
“Lisa…” I started.
“Tia, stop,” Tommy said.
I looked to him and didn’t know if I should stay or go.
I stood there and waited.
“I loved him,” Lisa started to cry.
Tommy started, “You don’t want to have this conversation. Trust me.”
“And at least I was going to have a piece of him, you know? But now my baby is dead and so is my piece of him.”
“I’m sorry you lost the baby. You need to chill out, though, Lisa. You need---”
“I need to know what happened.”
“Fuck.” Tommy’s face was so filled with pain it hurt me like a physical blow.
Lisa sobbed, “I tried to forget, I tried to bury the pain like I bury all my emotions but I just keep feeling. I keep feeling so much,” she looked at me, trying to explain herself.
“He tried to kill us.” I blurted, “Tommy had no choice.”
“Tia,” Tommy stared at me and shot daggers from his eyes.
I continued anyway, “It was self-defence, Lisa. It was. Tom had me taken to that cabin and he was going to kill me in front of Tommy. He was going to kill Tommy, too. It was self-defence. It was like a quick draw race. Tom was about to shoot and Tommy drew on him to save us.”
“Tia, shut it.”
“No Tommy, it was. You need to hear this, too. You did the only thing you could’ve done. Lisa, he’s not sleeping. He’s tormented. He is in so much pain over losing his father but it’s not his fault. It’s Tom’s fault. You loved Tom and I’m sorry but Tommy loved him, too. Tom did this, not Tommy.”
Lisa covered her face and fell to the floor and wept into her hands. I went to her and put an arm around her. She cried into my shoulder and put her arms around me.
I looked up to Tommy’s face and he was staring at the ceiling, flexing his jaw. I looked past him and saw that his sisters were in the doorway.
“Tommy?” I called out. He turned around and put his fist into the wall. I jolted. Then he did it again. Then he stormed past his sisters and he left the house, slamming the door on his way out.
Angel
“Roll over,” Dare told me and I rolled to my belly. It was late and I’d fallen asleep waiting for him through an endless day of worrying about him. He’d carried me upstairs just like last night, just like most nights, and as usual, it was a wonderful way to wake up.
He pulled my yoga pants down and off. He took my socks off. Then he pulled my hoodie and tank top off, leaving me in a white bra and white lace thong. He made a deep Mmm sound that reverberated all through me, making goosebumps rise.
His hand was on my ankle. He caressed it. Then his hand moved up to behind my knee. I felt his lips on my behind and he kissed upwards, slowly, kissing the small of my back, my spine, my shoulder, my neck. He swept my hair to one side and then said, “Up, on your knees. Cheek stays on the pillow.”
I put my rear up in the air and then felt both of his hands on me, caressing up my legs toward my bottom and then grasping my hips.
“My beautiful angel,” he said and I looked back at him in the lamplight of the room. He was still fully clothed in a suit and tie and looking at me with passion.
I smiled at him, “I love being yours. It feels like I was born to be yours.”