Page 97 of After Hours

Matthew.

He could show up at any time, and I wouldn’t even know it. For all I knew, he could be watching me. This further emphasized the importance of telling Dillon everything.

Lucio dropped me off at the therapist’s office, and I made my way inside.

“Azzaria,” I heard Dr. Green call out, and all the fear that had left me earlier returned.

“Abigail called me today. She’s worried about you, but she knows I’ll take care of you and do my best to help you. With that said, what’s going on?”

With the fear rattling my bones, I told her everything. I told her that Matthew was here and how terrified I was and for the first time ever, she was speechless.

“Azzaria.” She sighed, the water pooling in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. But we’ll get you through this. Not just in therapy but also in terms of seeking justice.”

The words I wanted to say eluded me, so I shared a smile with her and clung to the nearest pillow. In my mind, it was Dillon. That’s who I wanted it to be, and frankly, that’s who I needed.

She switched the topic by getting me to talk about my relationship with Dillon, and I told her just about everything. It wasn’t easy talking about this with anyone, but she made me feel safe and listened to.

“Why am I like this?”

“In our first session back, you mentioned Matthew.” The mere mention of his name made my skin crawl with disgust. He wreaked havoc on my life, and it frustrated me that I didn’t have the courage to do the same to him. “You spoke about how he never listened to you, and when you wanted love, he offered the opposite. I believe that you feel you don’t deserve love due to that experience. The trauma from your last serious relationship has a profound impact on your self-esteem.”

It was frustrating that one relationship could have such a lasting, negative impact on everything I did.

I despised Matthew. I loathed my father.

And I just wanted them gone.

By the time our session ended, night had fallen, and I was emotionally drained. I longed to melt into my pillow and never leave, but how could I be sure it was safe? How could I know that I wouldn’t walk into the residence and find Matthew waiting there, possibly to hurt me?

I pushed my paranoia aside as I walked down the street to catch a cab.

“Could this day get any worse?” I muttered in frustration and sought shelter in the nearest place. Fuck, it started raining.

CHAPTER 23

Dillon

“Get your head out of your ass and have a drink,” Ronan shouted.

Ronan Emanuel Romano, also known as my best friend.

He’s pretty wealthy, ranking number 20 on the list, moving up from 25, while I recently moved up from 6 to 3. The sudden elevation was terrifying, but when I was with my friends, wealth didn’t matter. I was thankful for that.

All of us were gathered in my game room for our game night. Due to Ronan’s frequent travels, we missed about three games, and he had the audacity to waltz in like he owned the place. Asshole.

“I’ve had my drinks; shut the fuck up. Talk to me when you can win a game of chess.”

Ronan: Great doctor? Terrible chess player.

“You’re such an asshole,” he said, rolling his eyes. “What are you thinking about? What did I miss?”

The guys cleared their throats and glanced at me.

“He’s whipped, Ronan. We lost another soldier,” Alexander quipped, a hint of affection in his voice.

“You’re married to my sister and, you just had a baby. Let’s debate the levels of ‘whipped’.”

“Is it Camilla? And what do you mean ‘whipped’? I’m interested.” Did I forget to mention that he was a gossip monger?