Page 33 of The Wife Stalker

My knees buckled. This couldn’t be happening! I’d never laid a hand on either of the children before. And besides, it was just a swat, barely anything, in reaction to a terrifying moment. Surely everyone had had a moment like this?

But the next thing I knew, we were in the backseat of a police car heading to the Westport Police Station. The children were terrified, and I did my best to calm them.

“It’s going to be okay, guys. They’re calling Daddy.”

“You’ll have to wait here until DCF arrives,” the officer told me as he showed the three of us to a windowless room. He brought in water for the children but nothing for me, looking at me like I was some sort of hardened criminal. Stelli sat on my lap, and I stroked his head while we waited, my other hand holding Evie’s. It wasn’t long before Leo and Piper burst into the room.

The children jumped up and ran into their father’s embrace. “Thank God you’re okay.” He hugged them close, tears rolling down his face. He stood up and glared at me, fury in his eyes, his voice a low growl. “What happened, Joanna? The police said there was a suspicion of”—he lowered his voice so the children couldn’t hear—“child abuse.”

Piper jumped in then, her tearstained face red with anger. “I told you not to let her take them today. We’re supposed to be getting married right now, not standing in a police station!”

Before I could say anything, Leo cut in. “We need to take thisdiscussion elsewhere,” he said, inclining his head toward the children. “Piper, take them to the detective’s office while we wait for DCF. I want to talk to Joanna alone.”

After the door closed, he looked at me and spoke in the tone he used for witnesses. “They told me that you hit Stelli. Have you ever done that before?”

“Of course not. You know I love him, and I would never hurt either of them. It was just a heat-of-the-moment reaction to his running out into the street in front of a truck. It happened before I even realized it.”

He gave me a skeptical look. “I’ll see what the children have to say about that. If I find out you’ve been hurting them in any way...” He balled his hands into fists. “And did you know that now DCF is going to investigateme, make sure thatI’ma fit parent?” He shook his head. “Do you know how easy it is for parents to lose their rights?”

I started to cry. “I’m sorry. I just got so scared when he ran into the road. You have to know I would never ever, ever hurt them.” I looked at him and suddenly felt very tired, every emotion draining out of me.

“This is the final straw. You stay away from us. I’m going to fix it so that you’ll never be able to come near any of us again.”

And just like that, I was newly full of anger. I was on my feet before I even realized it. “You can’t do that. They need me.”

He started to speak, then just shook his head and stalked out of the room. I sat there alone for another half hour, until the police officer returned and gave me a citation for child abuse and a court date.

The children had left with Leo without even saying goodbye.

23

Piper

Piper took the dress from the hanger and unzipped it, glancing briefly at the pale-blue Valentino she’d bought for the wedding that never happened. She’d told Leo it was a bad idea for the children to be with Joanna that morning, but he wouldn’t listen. If she didn’t know better, she might think that Joanna had gotten herself arrested on purpose just to stop the wedding, but even she couldn’t be that desperate. It had been humiliating, having to explain to the guests that the wedding wasn’t going to happen. After they’d gotten the call from the police, they sent everyone home. By the time DCF had finally arrived and then finished interviewing all of them, including the children, it had been close to six o’clock. They were all too drained even to talk about rescheduling the wedding.

The only positive thing that had come out of it was that Leo had been enraged with Joanna. Piper had never seen him so angry. Maybe he’d finally listen to her and cut off all communication with that woman.

When they’d gotten home from the police station with the children, his family was still there, waiting for them. Evangelia, Leo’s mother, a serious look on her face, had pulled Piper aside before the Drakos family all left to drive back to Astoria.

“I understand the children are not happy that you and Leo are marrying. It is a big responsibility, having children. You are not just marrying my son, you know, but my grandchildren as well.You have to consider their feelings, too.” She walked away before Piper had the chance to respond, which was just as well since she might have said something to her soon-to-be mother-in-law that she would later regret.

The kids were still crying and asking for Joanna. Stelli ran up to his father and beat his fists against Leo’s chest, yelling at him to bring her back. Leo’s face had gone white, and Piper could see that Stelli’s pain was killing him. And poor Evie had looked so small and lost, crying into the beach towel she was holding.

The next morning, the first thing Stelli said to Piper was “At least now I don’t have to be a stupid ring bearer. I’m glad I went to jail instead.”

A few days before the wedding, Piper’s things had been moved into the house. She had spent every day since the aborted ceremony wishing she were still in her old house, which she was now preparing to list, instead of in the middle of a three-ring circus. She could only hope that things would improve once she and Leo were married. One thing was for sure: her suspicions about Joanna had been legitimate. She reminded Piper of Ava, when she’d tried to ruin Matthew and Piper’s wedding six years ago. That day, none of the flowers had arrived—either at the church or the country club. When she’d called the florist in a panic, they’d told her that they’d received a call canceling the order the week before.

Matthew’s mother had stepped in and found a florist to pinch-hit. But it wasn’t the same. Ava had achieved her goal of disrupting everything. And now Joanna had done the same thing, only worse.

She thought about her first wedding. It seemed a lifetime ago. Maybe she and Ethan had done it the right way—a simple ceremony with the two of them standing hand in hand under a fullmoon on the beach in California, a commitment to love each other forever and into eternity. They had been so young. Too young to know that forever was an impossible promise.

She looked at the dress she was holding. Sighing deeply, she wiped her eyes and stepped into it, then sat at the vanity and took her time to finish her makeup. She sat back, satisfied, and then went down to join Leo.

“You look beautiful,” he said as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Thank you.” They had decided to go alone, with only Leo’s brother George as a witness. She took his hand in hers as they walked to the car together.

Piper settled into the passenger’s seat and clicked her seat belt into place as Leo pulled out of the garage. “I wish I could make everything up to you. I know getting married at the courthouse is not the kind of wedding you wanted.”

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