Page 135 of Stone

Still, I could play the long game.

After some time, I tested the waters and began driving to Main Street to buy personal items. I even stopped for coffee, until one day, I saw Iris walk past the coffee shop with a pretty dark-haired woman pushing a baby boy in a stroller.

John’s wife.

John’s son.

My stomach roiled, and a wave of agonizing pain hit me square in the chest until I couldn’t breathe. I stumbled out of there, somehow got to my car, locked myself inside, and had a full-blown panic attack while my heart shattered all over again.

Talk around town was that she was sweet, if a little kooky, but I found I liked that for him. God only knew my John needed to loosen up sometimes. The thought of them together ripped me in two, but it wasn’t quite as agonizing as the way I broke when he died. I could handle him being happy with somebody else, even building a beautiful family, because at least he was alive.

Though admittedly, he was lost to me forever.

John had a family, and I knew him well enough to know his loyalties ran deep. He would never leave her or his son. He would never stray or falter. If times got hard for them, he’d either bury his head in the sand or, if she proved to be worth it, he’d work at making things right.

What he’d never do was ever touch me again.

I had to accept it.

John had moved on.

With a churning stomach, I stared unseeingly into my cup of coffee. I’d just dropped some paperwork off at Robert’s office and, of course, studied it first.

What I read sickened me.

I always knew he was a monster, but now I knew he was the Devil incarnate. Evil, warped, and vile. What he was involved in was way bigger than me. I needed help, but I didn’t know who I could trust. Robert had spies everywhere. Half of them didn’t even know they were spies. The week before, Monica Barrington mentioned to Robert that she had seen me somewhere he wasn’t aware I’d be.

My scalp and stomach were still bruised from where he’d beaten me black and blue, and the inside of my thighs were still tender from where he’d done even worse.

The local sheriff lived in Robert’s pocket, probably through monetary bribes or even blackmail. Every person I knew who held a sliver of power was in his social circle and, again, probably kept in line through business deals or blackmail.

Still, I had to think of something.

My mind was furiously contemplating this when the bell above the coffee shop’s door jangled, and a beautiful husky voice exclaimed, “Oh, Xander. Don’t make me castigate you.”

Slowly, my gaze lifted, and suddenly, my heart plummeted, and bile filled my throat.

It was her, Adele Stone.

I closed my eyes because I immediately understood why she was John’s.

She was filled with a light so bright it burned my retinas.

John’s girl was perfect for him.

My arm automatically went to my chair where my purse hung. I swung it off and went to stand but was stopped by a soft touch to my arm.

“Don’t go,” Adele pleaded. “I’ve wanted to meet you for so long.”

My eyes lifted and caught her blue ones sparkling with concern. My breath caught in my throat because, who did that? Who conveyed every feeling that way? How could she be so open when I was so guarded and closed?

“Can I join you?” she asked. Before I could reply, she’d unstrapped her little boy from his stroller and plonked him in my lap.

A gasp tore through my throat as I stared, shocked, into golden eyes identical to John’s.

I blinked.

He blinked back at me.

---