Page 23 of Saved by Him

To my surprise, he flushed. It took a moment, and then I realized what had happened.

“We already talked once, didn’t we?” I asked, heat flooding my face. “And you asked me what you were to me.”

“You said I was everything.” Jalen’s voice was hoarse. “Rona–”

“You should be with your wife,” I said quietly.

“We both know that Elise isn’t my wife,” he countered. “Not in any way but semantics.”

“All right,” I conceded. “She might not be your wife, but she is the mother of your child.”

“I don’t know that,” he said as he reached down to take my hand. “I don’t even know if she’s pregnant, let alone if the baby’s mine.”

He had a point. I knew he did. Just like I’d known it the day I walked out of his house. It didn’t change anything.

“I don’t want to be with Elise. If the baby’s mine, I’ll be a father, but I’m done being her husband. I was done being her husband way before that drunken night.” He put his free hand on my cheek and waited until I locked eyes with him. “I don’t want her, Rona. I only wantyou.”

Shit. My insides warmed. “Is that why you bought me?”

He straightened, shaking his head. “You can’t really be pissed about that, can you?”

“You gave money to human traffickers,” I pointed out.

“I paid them to get you free,” he said, his voice tight. “If I hadn’t, you’d be with some fucking–” He stopped, a pained expression on his face. “I didn’t want to. Understand that, please. I wanted the cops to rescue you and everyone else there. I wanted the FBI to arrest every one of those assholes. But no one would listen to me, and I was running out of time. I’m not a cop. I’m not FBI. The only thing I have going for me is money. I’d do it again.”

“You left them there,” I said, surprised when my voice shook. “You left all those scared kids there.”

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my head against his chest. “I tried to buy more. I swear I did. I wanted to buy them all because it was right, but also so I didn’t have to see the look on your face when you realized that you made it out, but they didn’t. They told me it was one purchase per customer. I offered them everything I had, Rona, I swear.” He kissed the top of my head. “I would’ve let them bankrupt me, but they told me I could have you and leave, or they’d kill me and sell you to someone else. I couldn’t stay.”

I pushed my face against his chest, letting his shirt absorb my tears. I believed him, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. It didn’t make me feel any less like shit, any less guilty for being here, safe. I had a feeling it would be a long while before that changed.

If it ever did.

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