Chapter 29

Emma

“S prinkles, Mommy?” Ash looked up at me with big blue eyes full of shock. “For real?”

I nodded. “For real. We’re celebrating.” I got a job. Weeks of sending out paper-thin resumes and filling out applications online and finally something came through. I’d done more than a dozen different job interviews, most of them online. I put on my best blouse, did just enough makeup to look presentable and put my best foot forward.

None of it had amounted to a damn thing.

“Why Mommy?” Her smile faded. “Are we going back to Daddy Alex?”

I shook my head. “Never.” In fact I’d gone to a divorce lawyer in town and asked and she told me I could file even if he disappeared. I had to make a publication in a newspaper once a week for a month, then my husband would have twenty days in which to file a response. If none was obtained, I could file for an uncontested divorce. I’d decided to go ahead with that plan once things settled, but that wasn’t the reason for my good mood today, “Mommy got a job, honey.”

She frowned. “What’ll happen to me?”

I squatted down in front of her right there in the middle of the grocery store. “In a few months when you’re old enough you’ll go to school but until then you can stay home with me because my job is online.”

“Really?” Her voice sounded uncertain. I guess to her this was all new. Alex had worked and I’d stayed at home.

“Yes, sweetheart. I can work from home, so nothing will change.”

To that news she gave a big grin.

I nodded as my own smile grew. A job. It had been years since I worked in a regular job, Alex wanted me to be totally reliant on him, and having my own income would have undermined his masculinity in his eyes, and I was nervous as hell. “Yeah, really.”

“Yay! Good job, Mommy.”

“Aww, isn’t this cute. The happy little family.” Mark’s voice loomed over us the same way his presence loomed over my life.

Just like his brother.

I stood tall and turned to face him. “What do you want Mark?”

Even his smile was a threat. “I just wanted to see how my brother’s widow was doing.”

I was proud of myself for not flinching at his accusation. “Widow? You must know something I don’t because last I heard he was in Florida living it up.”

Anger flashed in his gaze, but he cooled it quickly. “You better hope that’s true bitch or you and your little rugrat are going to pay.”

“Is that a threat,” I asked loud enough for passersby to stop and look.

“No bitch, it’s a fucking promise.” There it was again, that threat.

I took a step closer. “Then you better hope I don’t see you coming, Mark.”

“Ma’am, are you okay?” The guy who’d frosted cupcakes especially for us in the bakery stood a menacing presence with tattooed arms at the end of the aisle.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My brother-in-law is upset because his brother up and abandoned me. His name is Mark Edwards. Remember that if something happens to me, please.” I flashed him a polite smile and took Ash’s hand, leading her down the other end of the aisle.

“See you soon,” he called out.

My blood ran cold at his words. I believed him. I didn’t know Mark well other than the fact that Alex referred to him as a screw-up. But the look he gave me made me believe that he would make good on his promise. “Come on, Ash.”

“Why is he mad at you? He’s a scary man. I didn’t like it when he shouted at Slate.”

“Who knows, baby.” I gave her hand a supportive squeeze. “He’s an angry man.” I wondered if he’d always been angry or if something about Alex’s disappearance had triggered this behavior. Having Ash mention Slate, made me think of something else. We still hadn’t gotten around to telling her that Slate was her real father. I wasn’t sure how she’d take the news or even if she’d understand the implications. But she trusted him and was building a relationship, so we figured that soon we’d have the talk.

Ash blinked up at me and then just like that, her worry was gone. “Are we getting ice cream too?”

I smiled. “Of course. Can’t have cupcakes without ice cream, can you?” I had a big dinner planned to celebrate my new job and moving forward with my life, but just like always the appearance of a man put a damper on it.

“No, we can’t!” She jumped up and down as we finished our shopping and headed out to the car, where Mark waited.

Watching.

Always watching.

Even if he hadn’t made a real threat until today, his presence was enough of a threat. It was a reminder that I would never be free of the Edwards brothers. But I reminded myself that I wasn’t alone anymore and made a call for help.

“How did the interview go?” Slate’s first question even before his greeting only highlighted the horrible choice I’d made all those years ago. He wasn’t just a man, he was a protector. He was a man who deserved a family like his brothers and their women. “Em?”

I shifted the car into drive. “It went great. I got the job but that’s not why I’m calling.”

“What’s up?” Instantly he shifted from wonderful boyfriend—even though he wasn’t exactly my boyfriend, we hadn’t quite figured out what we were—to protector mode.

“Mark confronted me at the grocery store.”

“That fucker,” he growled.

Ash gasped. “That’s a bad word you said!”

I bit back a laugh. “Speakerphone.”

“Right. Sorry about that Ash.”

“It’s okay,” she answered. “He was very mean to Mommy.”

“Yep,” I sighed. “He was threatening.” I chose my words carefully to convey what I needed to say without making Ash worry even more. “Literally. And he’s back to his old tricks.”

“Understood. Come straight home. I’m on my way.”

“We got cupcakes,” Ash called out before I ended the call.

“I hope you got a lot because Ash is a greedy little girl,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

She giggled and then I did end the call because I needed to focus on the road, especially with Mark’s threat playing on a loop in my mind. He kept his distance while also staying close enough that I couldn’t forget he was there.

When we arrived home—because that’s what Slate’s home was now—Slate was there waiting. He leaned against his bike and anyone looking would just see a man waiting for his family to come home, but up close I saw the tension and the anger that pulsed through his long, leanly sculpted body as he gazed down the street at Mark’s car. “You okay?” He asked the question as soon as my door opened.

“Yeah. Shaken but good.”

“Get inside,” he ordered and turned his gaze towards the road where Mark slowed.

I nodded and grabbed Ash’s hand, hurrying us both inside. As we rushed inside, Slate’s voice called out.

“You’re not the only one good at watching Mark.”

The next thing I heard was the sound of a motorbike engine revving followed by wheels squealing as Mark drove off and I couldn’t help but smile. Mark was a bully just like his brother and couldn’t handle it when faced with someone who could—and would—fight back.

About a minute later Slate walked in carrying all three grocery bags, a smile lit up his face. “Did you leave anything at the store?”

“Yeah,” Ash answered. “Bunches of stuff.”

I laughed and took one of the bags before heading to the kitchen. “I’m making a celebratory dinner and dessert tonight because I got the job!” I still couldn’t believe it. Working again had always seemed like a far-off dream. For years I thought about it, imagined what my life would be like if I could work again and have friends, but I figured I would be dead before that happened.

Slate’s lips curled into a smile. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” I sighed and paused in unloading the groceries. “And thank you for coming so quickly. Dinner will be in a few hours so if you have to get back, it’s okay. I think we’ll be fine.”

He shook his head. “I can be your assistant if you want?”

The thought of Slate and me in the kitchen together, working as a team to get dinner on the table for our daughter was far more appealing than it should’ve been.