Page 82 of Strength

“Why are you investigating him?”

“I’m not, I . . . I guess I wanted to know more about him. I was worried.”

“Worried?” I hissed.

“That he’s still at large. That he hasn’t been captured and locked up. That he has the power to do whatever he wants, and that he might one day come back for you.”

I got to my feet and the papers crumpled as I curled my hands into fists. “He won’t come back for me. He can’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“He doesn’t know my surname. I changed it.”

“He still has men in L.A., Olivia. I learned that by reading the file. Miguel might not be in the country right now, but his cartel is.”

“I-I can’t even think about this. It’s all in the past. It’s my past, Emmett, and it has to stay there. Please don’t stir up trouble for us. They could hurt you, they could hurt me, and they could hurt Charlie. Worse, he might take Charlie from me.” Tears streamed down my face as I stared down at the name of my ex-husband. “He has to stay buried.”

Emmett’s face was distraught as he pulled me against his body. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to cause you this pain. I only wanted to look out for you.”

I pushed away from him and glared at him through my tears. “Don’t you get it? You don’t need to take care of me. I’m a grown woman, I can take care of myself.”

I threw the file into the embers of the fireplace. Maybe it wouldn’t burn, but to me, it was already ashes.

I picked up my suitcase. “It’s time to go home.”

* * *

“I hated leaving Wayborough Shores.”

They were the first words I’d spoken to Emmett since finding the file. I’d politely said goodbye to his family and all, but then I’d closed in on myself. I couldn’t believe Emmett had been digging around for information about Miguel. I didn’t know how long he’d been doing it for, and I worried that he’d set off some kind of alert amongst his men. What if what Emmett said was true, and they were still in L.A.? I feared it would be like stirring up an ant nest—some would come racing out of the nest and some would run to him and tell him all about us.

I looked around Emmett’s beach home and felt claustrophobic. It had nothing to do with the size of the place and everything to do with my current frame of mind.

“You enjoyed yourself up there, huh?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“I’m glad.” Emmett ran his hands down my arms.

I pulled out of his touch. I tried to ignore the hurt in his eyes as I picked up my black shoulder bag. “I need to go visit Latisha. I said I wouldn’t forget about her when I moved.”

“I understand. Call me if you need me, sweetheart.”

Despite my standoffishness, Emmett was still being sweet as could be. My demeanour softened. “I will.” I glanced down the hallway toward Charlie’s bedroom. “Charlie, would you like to come and visit Duke and the other kids with me?”

“Yeah, I’d love to see Duke,” Charlie answered as he raced into the room.

“Okay, get your shoes on and grab a jacket in case it gets chilly.”

Charlie went about the tasks.

I turned to Emmett and pecked his cheek. “We’ll be home later.”

Charlie talked and talked the entire way about what he was going to play with Duke, what he was going to tell him about his new life and our trip away. I tried to sound encouraging, but I was too caught up in my own brain.

We eventually arrived at my old apartment building. I automatically went to pull into my old parking space, only to discover another vehicle there. I shouldn’t have been surprised that my old apartment already had a new tenant—the place was cheap and not far from Venice Beach.

I parked across the road and Charlie and I headed toward the building. In his excitement, Charlie dashed off ahead of me. I heard Latisha’s kids and I began to feel lighter at the familiar sound. I honestly couldn’t wait to catch up with my friend.

All that joy faded when my ex-husband stepped out of my old apartment and blocked my path.

---