Page 291 of Unexpected Heroine

“Don’t bother. Just keep him away. K?”

A twitch traverses my facial muscles at the idea of not being able to see him until I’m ready to move out. Then again, I suppose I could have him pick me up, and we can leave occasionally. Yet I don’t think Boss Dad or Tomer will like that. Not exactly safe for me to go prancing around town right now.

And to be frank, I’m not okay with it either, which surpasses all other objections.

This is worse than melted fudge bars with no napkins in sight.

“Sabrina, he’s important to me. And I don’t want to forgo seeing him indefinitely. I mean,” my voice quivers, “I have no idea how long I’ll be living here. It’s unfair to ask me to refuse him a chance to visit.”

“After what he did to you?” she seethes.

My head rears back like I’ve been slapped. “Excuse me? What he did to me?”

The only one in this place I told about Tomer’s deceit was my therapist, Simone. There’s no way she blabbed. No freaking way. And if she did, I’ll be fit to be tied.

“Come on, Lettie. Don’t bullshit me.”

Since I’m about to be up in arms, I cross them suckers over my chest. “I ain’t bullshittin’ ya, Sabrina. And don’t quite like the attitude you’ve charged in here with.”

She rolls her eyes. “On the day you got here, the linguistic gymnastics you did to avoid accusing him of sending you here was laughable. But I let you have it then. No sense making you feel worse than he probably did by kicking you out. Naturally, it triggered a few of us to see you take him back so easily. We’re here to heal, not fall back into toxic shit.”

“You think he kicked me out?”

“Lettie, it’s okay to admit it. That’s why most of the girls came here. Not me, since there was no way in hell I was going back to my dad’s trailer. As for the others? They got a similar shitty reception when they got home. At first, your family or boyfriend is happy to see you. Relieved you’re safe. Then it shifts. The blame starts. The snide comments. Implying you did it to yourself or were asking for it.” She shakes her head, disgust undermining her features. “Then there’s the way they look at us. Like we’re dirty. Damaged. It’s never the same again. And the way you avoided talking about him that day was a big red flag. So we can’t understand why you’d take him back after he treated you that way.”

Heart in tatters, I rub my sternum to dull the pain. “Wait. That’s what happened to some of the girls when they got home? That’s awful.”

Devastating. And entirely different from how I was treated when I got home to Tomer. The opposite. Even Stella and Freya were compassionate. Although, the way they looked at me... I get what Sabrina means by that, even though it wasn’t ill-intentioned.

She studies my reaction closely. “Hold up. You’re serious?”

“Yes. I swear I had no idea that happened to the others. But it wasn’t like that for me. Tomer didn’t kick me out or make me feel dirty. In fact, he begged me to stay. And my gosh, the tender way he cared for me was...” Words fail me as images of his compassion fly behind my eyes. “It was everything I could have asked for. It’s heartbreaking that the other girls didn’t have the same type of love waiting for them.” I reach across the table to grab her hand. “Sabrina, I’m sorry you didn’t either.”

Her gaze falls to our joined hands. Tears pool in her eyes.

Drawn to comfort her more, I add, “You didn’t deserve what happened to you. Not in that house or any of the times before. And I hope and pray with all my heart you find someone who loves you as wholly as Tomer loves me. Because you should be loved properly. We all deserve that.”

By the time I’m done rambling, we’re both crying. She keeps our hands locked together the whole time, her grip tightening as my words rock through her.

After a long spell of silence, only disturbed by our sporadic sniffles, she meets my eyes. “Tina was right about you.”

I blink away my tears. “What?”

“She’s always talking about how you saved us. Like you were an angel watching over us who stepped in to intervene. You were so supportive while we were there, as if you were sent to give us hope so we could endure what happened. And then delivering us out of there via your boyfriend.”

“Honey, I’m no angel. I worked at a kink club before this.”

Her eyes shoot wide, and her brows reach for the ceiling. “Did not see that one coming.”

“It happens.” I shrug. “The sexually repressed, especially those with religious trauma, often find themselves in the kink community.”

She nods her head animatedly, eyes still bulging. “The things you learn.”

We share a laugh.

Almost immediately, her face sobers. “Listen, Lettie. I just realized something I said might have come across insensitive.”

“Which part?”

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