Page 67 of Second Chances
When he had finished, he let his hand holding the card fall to his side, his other hand coming up to press briefly on his temples before running his fingers over his mouth, as though his rage had stifled his ability to respond.
“I know it’s not true,” Beth said quietly, breaking the silence, pushing aside her own insecurities to show her love and confidence in him.
“No, it’s abso-fucking-lutelynot true,”Darcy spat. “I can’t believe her; I can’t fucking believe this…”
He trailed off as he spun towards the window, his arm coming up to rest on the frame as he leaned over, laughing harshly in disbelief at what he had just read.
“I can’t even imagine what you thought when you read this,” he continued, still facing away from her. “After everything I’ve done to you, I’m sure that what she said sounds pretty convincing.”
“No!” Beth interjected emphatically, standing up and moving to put her hand on his back, reassuring him of the truth in her words. “I mean, I’ll admit, it had me questioning myself, questioning us, but deep down I know that what she wrote isn’t true; you’ve shown me that.”
Here, he finally moved to face her, his face tortured with anger at his ex, and misery at the pain she, and he, had caused Beth.
“I know what she did to you,” Beth continued, placing her hand lovingly on his cheek. “I know how you suffered and I know that you would never wish that on anyone, let alone be willing to subject yourself to that again. I know that you love me.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Darcy said, his voice raw with the emotion raging through him. His hand came up to rest on hers, pulling it in front of his mouth so that he could gently kiss the soft, sensitive skin of her palm.
“I love you,” she finished quietly.
“God, Beth,” he began, pulling her hand from his face and walking a few steps away from her, “I never thought it would come to this. I swear. I can’t fucking believe her. What is she thinking?”
The vehemence in his question took her aback as she watched him open the card again to reread it. She saw his eyes begin to read the first few lines again before stopping abruptly, looking up at her with furrowed brows.
“Why did she ask if you ‘missed her’ because you ‘hadn’t seen her in a few days’?” he asked, his voice hollow, his eyes narrowing on her. “Have you seen her before?”
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
THAT’S why she didn’t want to give him the card. She hadn’t told him about the email earlier in the week. The silence was becoming deafening as her brain tried to sort out the best way to gently tell him that she’d been hiding their previous communication from him. She felt her face flushing as the one or two seconds dragged on, feeling like hours.
“Well, ahh, no…” Beth stuttered, half turning towards the couch, his probing gaze making her squirm. “I mean, no, I haven’t seen her before, but she has seen me.”
“Where? At Renée’s party?” Darcy pursued relentlessly.
Ugh, that would be such an easy cover except that you know it’s wrong, Beth. And you promised Jane that you would tell him.
Ducking her head, her arms coming to cross in front of her chest, she continued reluctantly.
“No. She emailed me earlier on Monday. She emailed me and told that she’d wanted to come and talk to me but my bodyguards were in her way, but she was there, watching; she complimented the color of my sweater. Then, she basically said the same things.”
When he didn’t respond immediately, Beth hazarded a glance at him, nervously biting the corner of her lip. Her mouth parted when she saw him glaring at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” his voice clipped, barely holding back his frustration now at her for hiding this from him.
“I don’t know,” she began, “I wasn’t thinking. I should have told you; I just saw how upset seeing her made you and you seemed pretty sure that she would just get bored and go away so I thought I would just not bother you with it…”
“Not bother me with it?”he began, his voice beginning to rise. “Not bother me with the fact that my ex-girlfriend is threatening the woman that I love?”
“I’m sorry, Darcy, truly,” Beth said, a tear slipping down her cheek. “I just thought I could handle it; you were already doing so much…”
“You shouldn’t have to handle it!”Now, he was yelling. “She is my fucking problem; you shouldn’t have to handle any of this!”
Even though his anger had been unleashed into his words, she could see how it was directed at himself, knowing that as much as he tried, he hadn’t been able to prevent this woman from finding and toying with Beth.
“Darcy!” Beth yelled back, getting his attention with her sudden display of frustration, “We are together, a team; if something or someone is bothering you, then it is also my problem. I know that she is from your past, but you can’t shut me out of your present in order to deal with the CB.”
Beth watched as the color drained from his face.
