Page 104 of The Woman Left Behind

“And yet he’s been married twice since?”

“That’s what I heard. But I haven’t talked to Willie personally since Shane warned him off.”

“Has he gotten in touch since Sunday?”

“No.”

Harry rolled off me and onto his back.

I turned to my side and got up on my forearm to see him rubbing his face with both hands.

“You seem more upset about this than I was,” I noted worriedly.

He stopped rubbing his face. “If any of the Zowkowers get anywhere near you, I want you to tell me immediately.”

“You’re kind of freaking me out, Harry,” I whispered.

His hand darted out, catching me at the back of my neck and pulling me close.

“That’s the point I’m making. You tell me, I worry about it, and you don’t.”

“I know the Zowkowers are bad news, but I was never a part of that.”

“I know.”

“Willie just probably heard about us, because everyone was talking, and he knows you’re the kind of guy I’d get serious about, so he got territorial, because he’s an idiot.”

“If he knew about me, he’d know about Storm, and this didn’t happen then?”

I sighed. “Harry, everyone knows what Angelica did to Stormy. So everyone knows it’s going to take a while for him to get over that and trust women again, if he ever does. With him, I fell into the trap of ‘I can fix him, I’ll show him how awesome I am, and he’ll get it.’ Needless to say, he didn’t get it.”

Harry swept his thumb out to stroke the side of my neck.

“We’re getting into a lot of deep shit tonight, baby, but unfortunately, the time picked itself.”

Oh Lord.

“What?” I asked.

“I don’t want to freak you.”

Oh Lord!

“What?” I breathed.

“I know myself,” he announced.

“Okay,” I said when he said no more.

“For me, this is a lot more than I’m into you and I want to get to know you better. I’ve processed through both of those. For me, the man I am, the woman you are, what’s happening to you, I’m your man, and you are my woman.”

I stopped breathing.

You are my woman.

Oh Lord.

“So,” he went on, sounding vaguely uncomfortable, “your ex-husband dicking with you at all would get a rise out of me. This happening right before you found out about your parents triggers something in me that’s a bit more extreme.”

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