Page 57 of Playing For Keeps
My stomach knots. There’s a lot more to all of this. I can feel it in my bones. I roll my lips between my teeth and nod, telling him to continue.
He takes both my hands in his. “I should’ve told you from the start, but… Aiden and Hunter had a plan to take down his mother so you wouldn’t be in any more danger. I knew about it and didn’t tell you.”
“What kind of plan, and why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know the specifics at the time. They wouldn’t share them with me, but I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to rebel and put yourself at greater risk. It was wrong of me to keep it from you, but I wanted her locked up and out of our lives for good.”
My knee-jerk reaction is to be furious, but I purposely seek more answers as my therapy has taught me to do and try to remain calm.
I squeeze Jami’s hand. “I’m confused. If they didn’t share the details with you, how could you have kept it from me?”
“I knew they were up to something.” He lowers his head. “You were reinstated, and Hunter asked me not to tell you.”
My thoughts go blank. There’s so much to this, and I’m having a hard time making the connections. The drugs must still be messing with my mind.
“When was I reinstated?”
Jami raises his head. “Before I left for Miami.”
“You knew I was reinstated before you moved?”
“Yes. I should’ve told you. If I had, you never would’ve been in a situation where Hunter’s mom could get to you.”
My heart thumps hard. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Hunter asked me not to. He said he wasn’t going to tell you because it would interfere with the plan they had to catch his mom, but I assumed he would tell you before you got on the plane to come to Miami.”
“You thought Hunter was going to tell me about my job?”
“Eventually, yes.” Jami palms my cheek. “I waited for you to say something. Every day I talked with you, I expected you to tell me about it, but it never came.”
“Would you have told me if Hunter didn’t ask you to keep it from me?”
“Of course.”
I breathe to stay centered. “That doesn’t sound like you weren’t willing to tell me. It sounds like you were manipulated not to.”
Jami pushes off the bed and runs his palm down his face. “I promised to share everything with you and not keep you in the dark. If I had done what I said I’d do, you wouldn’t have been in the situation.”
My thoughts get mangled into a pile of rubble. It’s too much for me to take in. I need time to think and get my mind straight.
I make the decision to work through this information with my therapist so I can better understand it. It’s too confusing and important to try to do it on my own.
“Jami, I don’t care about all that right now. I’m tired, and we can talk about it later. Right now, I just need to feel safe.”
He strides back to me and holds me. “I’ve got you from this day on. No one will ever hurt you again.”
“Then take me home. I just want to go home.”
“Let me get you out of here.” Jami rushes around and arranges for us to leave as I try to regain my senses.
I’m still tired and overwhelmed from my ordeal. I force allother thoughts away so I can feel some semblance of control and normalcy.
Once the doctor says I’m medically stable, I’m released out of their care.
The nurse hands Jami my discharge orders. “She should be fine. Just make sure she stays hydrated and gets some rest.”
He takes the papers from her. “Will do.”
