Page 81 of Blindsided

“Des…” I sigh. I move up the bed to sit next to him. He’s barely looked at me during this whole conversation. “Someone did hurt me. Bad things can happen even when you do everything possible to prevent them. I love that you’ve looked out for me all these years. It’s made me feel safe in this scary concrete jungle of a city. It’s because of you that I had the courage to put myself out there as a model. But at some point, you had to know that I was capable of taking care of myself.”

“You’re always going to be that ten-year-old girl with a gap between her teeth, Tills. That’s never going to change. But I see what you’re saying. I hate that I made you think you couldn’t come to me with such an important life event. I’ll also be the first to admit that I would’ve done whatever it took to break the two of you up, and seeing the two of you together now, I realize that would’ve been the worst mistake I could’ve made.

“Matthew loves you. More than I ever believed he would be capable of. I let our past history cloud my judgment of the man he is today. He’ll take good care of you, Tills. Of that, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, he will.” I lay my head on his shoulder.

“And if he doesn’t, I’ll kick his ass.”

I laugh, happy we were able to work through this elephant of a fight. I doubt he’s going to forgive Matthew as easily as he forgave me, but it’s a step in the right direction.

CHAPTER37

Matthew

“How many are down there?” Desmond’s voice carries into the living room. I look over the couch to find him pacing in his kitchen. His agitation has grown in the two weeks we’ve been in New York.

It only took a few days for the story to break on Tilly’s stalker. One of the world’s top models getting kidnapped is a big deal, and reporters have been hounding us for the past two days. They’ve set up camp outside of Desmond’s building, waiting for one of us to make an appearance.

They haven’t made the connection to me yet, but they’ve got plenty to work with on Tilly’s story alone. Add in Desmond being her brother, and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.

“Okay, keep me posted,” Desmond says to the front desk guy. They say goodbye, and then he hangs up the phone.

“I guess we’re stuck here for another evening, then?” Tilly sighs.

“Is there a back entrance we could sneak out of or something? Maybe they won’t see us,” I suggest. I hate the idea of Tilly being miserable. She doesn’t deserve to be miserable anymore.

“I need to get out of here, Des. I might go crazy if we stay here another night.” Tilly flops over my lap in dramatic fashion. It makes me smile at her, and it grows when she smirks up at me.

Desmond rolls his eyes. I have to give him credit; he only flinches a little at seeing his sister lying across my lap. Ever since their talk, he’s been a little more accepting of our relationship. He’s still giving me the cold shoulder, but I’m glad he’s no longer freezing her out.

“I’ll see if I can make something work. I’d rather you not go any crazier than you already are.” Desmond raises his eyebrows, obviously pacifying her.

Tilly sticks her tongue out at him, making him laugh. He stands back up from his chair, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He takes off toward the kitchen to make some phone calls. Who he’s calling is anyone’s guess.

I run my fingers through Tilly’s silky hair. She sighs and snuggles further into my lap. Tilly’s parents are at their hotel. When we realized we were going to be in the city for a while, Desmond booked them a room at a place down the block from his apartment.

With only one guest bedroom, Desmond’s was getting pretty crowded. Although, sometimes I wish Tilly and I were the ones who got a hotel room instead of her parents. Things get weird when Tilly and I get ready for bed. Desmond glares at me like he thinks I’m going to fuck his sister in his apartment. It’s not ideal.

“I love you,” I whisper, bending over to kiss her on the forehead.

“Love you more.” She looks up at me, her eyes soft. It’s moments like these that give me hope that we’ll be okay. In the early mornings, after waking up to Tilly’s nightmares, it’s hard to see the clearing through the trees. Holding her to my chest as she cries is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do because there’s not a damn thing I can do to make her feel better.

But when she looks at me with her golden-brown eyes filled with love, I know we’ll get through it, one day at a time.

“Okay, I’ve got good news.” Desmond plops down in his chair. “I talked with your agency, and they are willing to run interference for us. They’re already working on dealing with the media. There’s only so much they can say since the investigation is still ongoing, but Veronica assured me that they are doing everything they can to get it to die down. As for getting out of the apartment… Unfortunately, they can’t do anything tonight. They are going to work out a plan for tomorrow, though.”

“You talked to Veronica?” Tilly sits up with a start.

“Yeah, it was the only thing I could think of doing. She sort of owes us, and I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt for calling in the favor.”

“Tomorrow is better than nothing.” Tilly shrugs. I have a feeling she doesn’t want to think about the Veronica thing at the moment. Not that I can blame her.

“I’m going to go rest for a bit until dinner.” She stands from the couch and walks out of the living room. I wait until I hear the click of the bedroom door closing before I turn back to Desmond.

“Are your parents coming over here to eat?” I ask.

“Mm-hmm.”

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