Page 113 of Waiting for Redemption

“You’re the bravest fucking woman I have ever met. You know that?” Tears flood my eyes at his words, and I shake my head. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here with you,” he apologizes, pressing his forehead to mine as his fingers travel through my hair.

“You couldn’t have known he’d show up.”

“I’ve been having him followed, Ruby,” he admits with a sigh, leaning back as my stomach drops.

“What?”

“After we saw him with your attorney, I wanted to knoweveryonehe had contact with. Every single person he knew was in a position to sway this case in his favor. The P.I. I hired told me today that he thought he may have been spotted, but that he’d found out something that he hoped could help us. That’s what I was texting you about earlier but my first thought should have been to make sure he didn’t come for you. I am so sorry that I didn’t, baby.” I cup his cheek in my hand, knowing all too well that he would never put me in danger intentionally.

“What did he find out?”

“The judge that approved the case is Mark’s brother-in-law, and the attorney you hired, is his latest mistress.” I have no words. He’s sicker than I thought.

“But… he said he was trying to get back withme. Why would she help him do that?”

“My guess is he left that detail out of it and told her he just wanted a relationship with Hendrix, not you too.” My ears begin ringing and I can barely focus on the words Tank is saying to me, but I still manage to hear the important ones.

“I reached out to a few people about our situation and they all told me the same thing. Mark would never stand a chance in this case without his dirty connections. Hendrix was never going anywhere, baby.”

“Excuse me.” I rush out of the booth, barely making it to a stall before I throw up everything I’ve managed to eat today. I fall with my back against the stall door, trying to wrap my head around evenonepart of all of this. Not only has the stress from this case made it hard enough to eat on a regular basis, but now it has me losing anything I do manage to get down.

Could it really be ending? With my luck, that seems unlikely.

“Honey, you okay?” Tanks' voice fills the bathroom, like a deep serenade for my weary soul, making it easier to breathe the second I hear it.

“I… have no idea,” I admit honestly.

“Can I ask you something?” I roll my head along the door to look at him as he takes a seat next to me on the floor, taking the water bottle he offers me as he does.

“Yeah?” My brows knit together as I see the troubled look on his face.

“Are you upset that we got married? Knowing now that we didn’t have to. Do you regret it?” I almost laugh at his question, but I don’t even have the energy to do that.

Instead, I stare at my husband and let my mind go back in time, replaying every moment that led Tank and me to where we are now. I remember the day he walked into Chattahoochies—I was completely infatuated with him, even if I didn’t want to be. That quiet, broody, and broken version of him that I still couldn't stay away from. I remember how even when he was fighting his own silent battles, he never let me fight mine on my own. Because of that, he became one of my very best friends—someone I could dance with in an empty bar, who knows my favorite color, and who makes me laugh constantly.

I think about the day in my kitchen when I thought we’d come to the end of something that barely got the chance to start, and the day after when I thought I was going to lose him forever. I realized then how desperately I wanted to be able to move past the hurt we’d both gone through and see what could become of us. I remember the way my heart hurt when he was gone from my life for six months while he healed—I’d never hurt like that before and I haven’t hurt like that again since the day he showed back up at the soccer fields.

Tank Landry has always had a way of showing up for me exactly when I need him to and giving me a feeling of safety that I’ve longed for most of my life. He makes me feel brave, secure, and worthy of love without ever taking the credit for giving me those feelings. He’s everything I never thought I would have in life.

“Marrying you, Tank Landry, was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Don’t youeverfucking forget that.” Tears start to well in his eyes as he stares back at me in disbelief.

“It was never fake for me, baby,” he reminds me, taking my face in his hand.

“Thank you… For finding the redemption you were searching for through marrying me—and loving me so fiercely, my love.”

“I really want to kiss you right now.” He leans in closer, pressing his forehead to mine.

“Please don't, my breath is really nasty right now,” I say, making both of us laugh.

“Fine. I can wait,” he agrees. “Let’s go home, Honey.” He stands up, pulling me to my feet. “I have a surprise for you when we get there, but we have one little stop to make on the way.”

CHAPTER37

TANK

It will takeevery ounce of my self-control not to take this guy out and bury him in the woods somewhere. The fucking audacity he had to show up at her work like that, saying all the bullshit he said to her. He doesn’t deserve a next breath.

We pull up to the sleazebag motel he’s been staying at, parking at the dimly lit end of the lot before I turn my ball cap around to shield my face.

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