Page 41 of Make Me Whole

“Yes, he did, Mick. Many times and in many ways.”

The words rolled off my tongue. Both Walshes stared at me with matching anger, but I kept my head high and my eyes firm on Eli’s. I was done being intimidated by him and his family.

“This meeting is over. See you in court,” Mick declared and got up from his chair.

He left the room, followed by the two associates who scurried as if a bomb were about to explode. Mr. Kent gathered his papers and shoved them back into his briefcase as Mr. Walker bade us a good afternoon and left.

Eli was the last of their group to leave. I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him. When it was just Mr. Kent and me in the room, I smiled at him with tears in my eyes.

He shook his head, asking me not to say anything yet. I obeyed and followed him out. Once we were in the parking lot, he turned to me looking very proud of himself.

“We did it!” he exclaimed. “The battle is going to be hard and long, but we won this day.”

“Yes, we did.” I laughed, and without thinking, wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “You were wonderful, Mr. Kent. Thank you.”

He patted me in the back in an awkward, avuncular way, then requested I set up an appointment at his office so we could discuss the abuse. He also asked me to bring Max along to turn his statement into an affidavit. I agreed, and we said goodbye.

I walked him to his car since it was closer and waved goodbye as he drove away. I was on cloud nine as I made my way to my car.

My phone beeped with an incoming message. I stopped looking for my keys and dug the device out of my purse instead. The text was from Max.

Is the meeting over? Are we celebrating or drowning our sorrows?

Ideasof how wonderful the celebration would be filled my mind. As I typed my reply, Eli’s cold voice sounded behind my back.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

I turned around and pressed my back against my car. Trying to remain calm, I replied, “Going home.”

“Fuck off with the smartass replies, Skylar. Do you really want to play the beaten wife card? Do you think you can threaten me like that and come away clean?”

“You’re giving me no other option.”

He tsked at me and cracked his knuckles, his I’m-gonna-punch-you routine, but luckily, he didn’t take a step closer.

“I gave you a choice. The choice to come home, but instead you had to expose our personal life and embarrass my father in front of his partner and employees. Now, you, that cheap lawyer of yours, and your dad’s big-mouthed friend will pay the price.”

I wanted to ask what he was talking about, what he was going to do, but I was frozen and he was walking away. Shaking, I dug the car keys out of my purse and drove home.

17

MAX

Ichecked my phone for the hundredth time since sending the text to Sky. Once more, no reply.

Frustrated, I shoved the device into my pocket and went back to the mindless task of tightening the hardware on the new kitchen cabinets. I had gone with Sky’s choice of polished brass, and I was glad I had. It complimented both the white cabinets and the emerald-green island to perfection. They also would put a smile on her face, which at this point was my main goal in this renovation.

“That’s what men do when they like a lady. We do nice things for them.”

“The ladies like big gestures.”

Aiden’s wise words filtered back into my mind as they often had over the past week.

This house was larger than Sky and Ella would ever need, but I could no longer lie to myself and pretend I wasn’t renovating it for them. Everything from the layout to the hardware to the color of the walls was discussed with Sky and tailored to please her. I still had no idea what excuse I’d use to give this place to her once finished, but I knew for certain that this would be mybig gesture.

Once all the knobs were in place, I checked my phone again. No messages. My stomach sank at her unusual lack of reply.

I considered calling, but I didn’t want to seem obsessive. Since there was nothing else to do in the kitchen until the appliances arrived tomorrow, I went upstairs to finish the bathroom demo we had started with the kids.

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