Page 47 of Derek

Derek drew a steady breath, meeting Sonja’s wary gaze. “I know what you think you saw tonight, and I hate that it hurt you. But I need you to hear me out.”

She folded her arms, her expression guarded. “I’m listening.”

He nodded. “Angie and I were over long before you and I ever started. A year, at least. And it wasn’t a clean break. She didn’t take it well.”

Sonja arched a brow. “Didn’t take it well, how?”

Derek rubbed a hand through his beard. “She kept showing up—at work, at the gym, even at my place a couple of times. Not in a full-blown stalker way, just… enough to push my patience. I thought she’d finally moved on, but clearly, she hasn’t.”

Sonja’s shoulders relaxed just a fraction, but her eyes still held doubt. “If it’s been a year, why is she pulling this now?”

“Because she’s Angie,” he said flatly. “She saw an opportunity and took it. She wanted to make you jealous or drive a wedge between us—hell, maybe both. But I swear to you, babygirl, I shut her down then, and I’ll shut her down now.”

Sonja chewed her lip, but she was absorbing his words. “So you’re saying she just… grabbed you out of nowhere?”

“Yes.” His voice was firm. “I was just as caught off guard as you were.” He hesitated. “If I’d known you were there, if I had eventhoughtshe’d try something, I would’ve handled it differently. But I didn’t see you, and by the time I realized?—”

“I was gone,” Sonja finished for him, her voice quieter now.

Derek reached across the table, taking her hand. “Yeah. And I hate that. I hate that you felt like you had to leave instead of confronting me.”

She let out a slow breath, some of the tension in her grip easing. “I didn’t know what to think. I saw her all over you, and I panicked.”

He traced his thumb over her knuckles. “I get that. And I’m telling you now, I don’t want Angie. I wantyou.”

She was quiet for a long moment, then asked, “So, during the two years you were together, you tried to break it off several times, but she kept coming back?”

Derek nodded, his jaw tightening. “Yeah. Every time I thought we were done, she’d show up again. Sometimes acting like nothing had changed, sometimes pulling the whole ‘I can’t live without you’ act.”

Sonja frowned. “That sounds a lot like stalking to me.”

Derek let out a dry huff. “Yeah, well. I tried to get a restraining order once but got nowhere with the local police.”

Her eyes widened. “You did?”

He shrugged, the frustration still a bitter taste in his mouth. “She never made threats, never broke into my place. She just…showed up—unwanted, uninvited, but never in a way that checked the right legal boxes. The cops said they couldn’t do much unless she escalated.”

Sonja reached across the table and touched his hand, her fingers warm and steady against his skin. He exhaled and squeezed hers in return.

Shebelievedhim. Shesawhim.

Relief crashed over him, loosening something deep in his chest.

“What now?”

“This time, things will be different. Jackson and Will were with me and supported me. Today, I’ll file a complaint with the KCPD. Angie is unstable, and she needs professional help, but she’ll never submit to therapy voluntarily.”

Sonja nodded. “I talked to her for a while last night, and I sensed something was off, but I didn’t know what.”

“I was miserable last night, babygirl.”

Sonja looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Me, too,” she whispered.

Derek scooted his chair back and tugged on her hand. Sonja didn’t need much encouragement to round the desk and throw herself in Derek’s arms.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Despite her earlier misgivings, Sonja had adjusted seamlessly into the lifestyle. She loved the freedom ageplay granted her. She enjoyed settling down with her coloring books before dinner, but her greatest pleasure was Derek reading her a bedtime story.

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