Page 82 of Fighting Fate

“Maybe, but you should’ve told me…fuck, Lo, we could’ve done something about them. We could’ve done something about this! Avoided it even!”

“I didn’t want to bother you or make a big deal about it. You have enough to deal with, and I didn’t need that shit…some stranger telling me I’m ugly or too skinny…or you know, calling me a gold digger and a leech or telling me to jump off a fucking bridge or…or…” A long growl escapes her, with heavy tears following it as she shakes her head. “I did what I thought was best. I dealt with it the way I knew how. I put them all in the bin and walked away.”

I’m so damn angry at the entire situation, but more than that, I’m furious with myself. On top, I feel helpless. There’s nothing I can do to make this better. Nothing I got that will solve whatever the fuck happened today. All I can do is hold Willow’s hand while the officer talks us through what will happen next.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” I tell her as we head to the bedroom, her hand still in mine. “It’s going to be okay.” Tugging her to me, I sit on the bed with her beside me. My arm is wrapped around her while her head rests on my shoulder.

“It wasn’t meant to be like this,” she whispers. “It wasn’t meant to be this hard or messy.”

It wasn’t. Willow is right. I promised her fun and no consequences. I promised I would protect her, and I’ve failed on all of those things. My chest tightens some more, and with it, my arm coils around her harder. I’ve failed before, but I won’t do it again. From this moment, nothing and no one is going near her again. I don’t care what it takes or what I’ve got to do.

“Come on, beautiful.” I press a kiss to the top of her head before I stand and bring her with me.

We’re face to face and toe to toe, and every instinct tells me to kiss her. Every fibre of my being urges me to comfort and love her the best way I know how as she stares into my eyes and gives me that broken smile of hers that tears me apart.

“It wasn’t meant to be like this, and even though it sucks, we have this little guy.” When my hand flattens to her belly, she nods with a teary smile. “And I know it probably doesn’t mean jack shit to you anymore, but I’m not going anywhere, and I’m sure as hell not letting anything else happen to you or our child. Okay?”

“Okay,” she murmurs, touching her hand to my chest and tracing it up to my jaw as she draws closer.

“You trust me?”

After a short pause, she nods. “I trust you.”

At her words, my entire being breathes a sigh of relief. The last few weeks have been torture. Tonight has turned into a nightmare I didn’t see coming. And even though everything is in pieces, the fragments feel as though they’re coming back together. Slowly but surely, and even with the dark clouds surrounding us, I can see the light at the end of it all.

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