Page 13 of If You Love Me

She kissed my cheek before floating out the door to Iona’s car. I turned to my fiancée and reached for her. She was slow to come to me. When I leaned in for a kiss, she opted to give me her cheek.

“You’re upset,” I noted.

“Nope.”

“Iona.”

“What would I be upset about, Tyrion? Your wife’s best friend crying to you about how I’m trying to replace her? And don’t lie to me. Your responses told me everything.”

“It’s just hard for her—”

“It’s hard for me competing with a ghost,” she snapped. She took a step back and crossed her arms. “Maybe you aren’t ready for this.”

I frowned. “I asked you to marry me, Iona. What about that says I’m not ready?”

“Have you filed the divorce papers yet?”

I looked away. “I’m getting to it.”

“Exactly. I have to go.”

She tried to walk out the door, but I gently took her arm.

“Baby… you know I love you.”

“That’s the sad part, Tyrion. I know you do.” She snatched away from me. “I’ll drop Summer off after school. I think I should stay home tonight.”

Without another word, she made her way down the steps and to her car. I silently cursed myself, knowing somehow, I had to make her feel secure in her position in my life before I lost her too.

5

Evenie

“No, no, no! Don’t do this!”

I beat my fist against the steering wheel as the old truck came to a slow roll. As I pulled off to the side of the road, I realized that the gas tank was empty. I’d only been driving for about twenty minutes, and I was still deep in the countryside. All I could see ahead of me were miles and miles of trees.

I dropped my face in my hands and cried.

How could I possibly get freedom only to get stuck on the side of the fucking road? I looked around. It was still early, and there weren’t any cars on the road. The sign I passed said the nearest town was about fifteen miles away. There was no way I could walk that far. Grabbing the phone from the passenger seat, I pressed the button to unlock it.

My heart sank when I saw it was on one percent. With a hopeful heart, I dialed 911.

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

“Hello? My name is Evenie Lewis. I was kid—”

The line went dead. I pulled the phone from my ear, only to find that it was dead. Frantically, I searched for a charger, but there wasn’t one.

“Fuck!” I screamed.

Burying my face in my hand, I cried profusely. Why hadn’t I called for help when I left the house? I was so focused on getting away that it hadn’t crossed my mind. I was free but still very much trapped. I wanted so bad to just give up right then.

“Pull it together, Evenie,” I told myself. “You have two very good reasons to fight as hard as you have the last ten years.”

Tyrion and Summer Rose were the reason my very existence was still intact. I would have ended it so long ago if I hadn’t had faith that I would make it back to them. I had to hold on to that, or I would surely perish. Gathering myself, I slipped the wallet into my pocket and climbed out of the truck to begin walking. I had no idea where I was going, but I couldn’t be a sitting duck.

As I trekked down the road, I kept looking around, praying that Leon hadn’t miraculously recovered from whatever caused him to take that fall and come after me somehow. I’d been walking for about thirty minutes when I saw a set of headlights in the distance. My pace quickened as panic set in. The closer the car got, the more anxious I became.

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