Page 104 of If You Love Me

“You’re exhausted. Today has been a lot, and you need to get some sleep.”

I shook my head. “I can’t leave her.”

“Then will you at least let me blow up the air mattress and we can both sleep in here?”

I nodded. He sighed as he left the room. Not long after, I could hear the air pump going. About five minutes later, he returned, maneuvering the queen-size mattress into the room. Once he laid it out, he left again, returning with pillows and a quilt for us. Reluctantly, I kissed Summer’s temple before climbing out of bed and joining him on the mattress. I made sure to turn my body so I could see her at all times.

Tyrion wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close to him.

“Get some sleep, love.”

“Sleep is the last thing on my mind, Tyrion. I spent too much time being a victim. I won’t be one again, and I for damn sure won’t let her be one.” I looked over my shoulder at him. “Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“If it came down to it…, would you—”

“Without a second thought. That’s my baby, and you are my wife. I’m not a man if I can’t defend or protect you or her. Ain’t no question of that.”

I nodded as I rested my head against the pillow. For the longest time, I stared at the wall until my thoughts began to driftback to my time in that basement. I remembered feeling like I was going stark mad because I didn’t know what day it was or how much time had passed.

I was completely at the mercy of a stranger, not knowing what he really wanted with me. It was clear from the beginning that he was a little touched. As time passed, I saw just how much of a mental case he could be. His mood was unpredictable. Sometimes he was happy. Sometimes he was sad. Sometimes he seemed like a whole other person, and not one I liked very much. There were times he’d look at me with so much hatred, and his words matched the expressions on his face.

“You thought you were just gonna up and leave me, bitch? You thought I would never find you, huh? Try that shit again. We said ’til death do us part. That means either you die, or I kill you, bitch. You try to leave me again, and I will gut you like a fish, then slit your fucking throat.”

I remembered sitting there praying that someone would save me or that I had the guts to save myself. I wasn’t a fighter or a violent person. Leon had put his hands on me enough to know that he could do real damage to me if he wanted to. But Iona… she had no idea the rage I felt inside just thinking about her. The fact that she shared a bloodline with the man that stole me from my family only fueled that rage. If I had to take all of it out on her at some point, I would do so and repent later.

33

Iona

Tyrion really thought he could keep me away from my baby.

I’d been missing her so much. It was just as much torture watching Summer Rose on camera as it was watching him with Evenie. She’d been my baby for so long. It wasn’t fair that he ruined our relationship just like he ruined us.

In the weeks before I stopped going to work, she always smiled at me and hugged me in the morning. She told me how much she missed me, and I told her how much I missed her. I would take her in my office, where we would have our usual morning drinks, followed by our own little dance party just like we did on the way to school.

I made her promise not to tell her daddy because he would get mad at her. As much as she loved her father, the last thing she ever wanted was for him to be upset with her. So she kept our secret.

It had been two weeks since I saw her.

While, I would never hurt her, I needed her daddy to see that we could be happy together still. I was willing to forgive him if he did one little thing for me. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I would.

I kept two cars behind Mrs. Lewis, in the cash car I’d bought, as they drove into town. Because I had been around so long, I knew that old bat’s routine too. Today, she was headed to the pharmacy to pick up her medication.

I bypassed the building as she pulled into the parking lot. After circling the block, I pulled in and parked a few spaces down from her. Going into my armrest, I grabbed a skull cap and pulled it on my head, tucking my hair up under it. I then hooked a cloth mask around my ears to cover my nose and mouth and got out of the car.

Walking inside, I could see Mrs. Lewis at the counter, talking to the pharmacist. Summer stood next to her, rummaging through the bins of penny candy. She turned around just as I made it to the end of the aisle off to the side of them. Pulling down my mask, I showed her my face. Hers lit up, and she grinned, waving at me. She vacated her grandmother’s side, and came to me, hugging me tightly.

“Ms. Iona!” she said in a whisper. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby. I’m so sorry I haven’t seen you.”

“It’s okay. I haven’t been to school.” She took a step back and hung her head. “Daddy said it’s not safe to talk to you, Ms. Iona. Did you do something bad?”

“Daddy is just a little mad at me right now. It’s okay. We’re gonna be a family again very soon.”

She frowned. “But how? Mommy and Daddy said we’re a family. Daddy gave her a ring.”

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