Page 51 of Outplayed

Chapter Thirteen

Violet

Jim walked out after stating he would be getting the bill. I didn’t know what to say to Travis. I still couldn’t believe Travis said what he did knowing Jim was a police officer. I also couldn’t comprehend Travis giving up the business to begin with. For me.

Guilt swept through me.

Needing to centre myself, I took a sip of my drink. “You shouldn’t give something up for someone.”

My stomach was in a spin, along with my head, and my heart hadn’t stopped its hard beat since he’d arrived.

Travis shook his head. “If it’s for the right person, then you’d be willing to do anything.”

Dear Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

“You know my life. How my mother was a drunk and didn’t give a fuck about my sister or me. How my sister hated me because I refused to get her the drugs she wanted.”

I did know this. I just didn’t understand where he was going with it.

“It was a year after we parted when I learned my sister, my own sister, took up prostituting to make money for the drugs she was hooked on.” I gasped, my hand flew to cover my rapidly beating heart. “I went looking for her, to try and help get her clean once and for all. But I was too late. She died in a hospital bed after her pimp, the man who was supposed to protect her the most, beat and raped her because she wouldn’t take on certain clients.” Tears welled in my eyes for his loss. “It was then I took over his business.”

I knew what he meant by that. He’d killed the man who ended his sister’s life, and I could never hate him for it.

He tapped his chest. “I chose to clean the business up. Got the women who wanted to leave out and made sure they would be content in life until they could find other employment. Those who wanted to stay, who liked the work they provided for the money they got, I made sure they were protected. The money that’s made goes to the women. The only cut I take is to pay for their security. I have other businesses. I didn’t need anything from this one. I did it because the women were treated poorly and I could help. So I did. So none of them ended up like my sister.”

He’d told me, in front of Jim, he loved me. I couldn’t understand it, but really in my eyes alone, he not only took up being a pimp for the right reasons, but he was giving it up for me. He couldn’t imagine his life without me in it.

What did I do with all this information?

I couldn’t think. I couldn’t…. I didn’t know what I couldn’t do because I was lost in emotions swarming through my whole body and head.

He’d seeped his way into my life, but then hurt me. Did I take the leap of faith from what I was feeling in that moment? I cared for him too much, yet I was still scared it wouldn’t work out.

I wanted to throw myself in his arms, but fear had me holding myself still. When I didn’t react, Travis sighed. He nodded. “I have to go.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

His eyes shone in what I thought was pain and worry. “You’ll probably hear about it soon, but I want you to know from me. Izzy made a revelation tonight about her mother. She went to Izzy’s kinder and told her she blamed our daughter for our breakup. That she wanted her dead.”

I gasped. My hands clenched. “Is Izzy—”

“She’s okay. I just need to make sure to be there tonight.”

“Of course.”

“Will you talk with me tomorrow?”

I hesitated and his jaw clenched. “Yes,” I said.

He relaxed a little, and then stood. His hand steeled on my shoulder and applied a small amount of pressure. Then he was gone.

I made my way home with a mixture of feelings. Anger over what happened to Izzy raced through me. How fucking dare her mother say that to such a precious little girl.

That was another reason I had to be sure about where Travis and I would go in the future. Izzy. I had to take her into account. She may not want me with her father. The last thing I wanted to do was start something with Travis and settle down for it all to go to shit. Izzy’d had enough heartache. I refused to be the one to give her more.

Walking through my door, I went straight into my room and changed out of my dress into my sleeping clothes.

Sitting back on my bed, I pulled my legs up and hugged them to my chest.

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