Page 91 of My Silver Lining

Instead, I took action.

I signed up for self-defense classes and cut off every ounce of contact with Beckett on my end.

Rafe was watching me as if he knew what I was thinking about.

It was strange to me that I could feel so close to a person I hadn’t known my entire life.

I didn’t get close to people often. I kept my inner circle very small, and it was intentional.

I was social and friendly and outgoing, and I had a wide circle of acquaintances.

But deep connections—I could count on one hand the number of people that I truly trusted.

And somehow, this man, who’d stumbled into my life unexpectedly, had become one of them.

I couldn’t look at him and tell him. But I knew he wanted to know. And he deserved to hear it. He deserved my vulnerability because he’d shown up for me over and over again, and he had no ulterior motives to do so.

Rafe Chadwick was a really good man. And those didn’t come around often.

And I may not have been at a place in my life where I was open to finding a good man, but he’d found a place there anyway.

“Will you take a bath with me?” I asked.

“You want me to sit in warm, dirty water with you?” he smirked.

“It’s still hot, and I’ve bathed twice today, so it’s also very clean.”

As if he understood what I was asking, he stripped off his briefs and stepped into the tub behind me.

Not because he wanted to, but because he knew thatIwanted him to.

I scooted forward, making room for his large body, and chuckled when the water flowed over the rim of the tub.

He reached for the glass of wine, and I took a sip before setting it back down beside me.

“I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone,” I said, no hesitation in my voice.

“I appreciate that you trust me enough to share it with me.”

“I do. And that’s saying a lot because I haven’t even told Henley. The only people that know are me and Beckett, and one of his bodyguards knows the short version.”

He was quiet, and his hands found mine beneath the water.

“A little over a year ago, I had long decided that my relationship with Beckett was over. I told you that he had been unfaithful, and the truth is, it didn’t even hurt because I had emotionally made peace with it. Our relationship had run its course. But he was caught in the press with other women, one being the woman who is now carrying his child, Anastasia. My family was angry because the press was painting me as a woman scorned, and it was an election year, so it was an embarrassment for my father.”

“It’s not like you have any control over that shit. Why is that your problem?” he asked, his fingers intertwined with mine now.

“Great question,” I chuckled. “But I was basically told to fix it. I spoke to Beckett on the phone and made it clear that I was done, but he continued to give interviews stating that we were together. He posted old photos of us on his social media, and that would start everything up again. I was traveling a ton, tryingto get MSL into some big department stores, and consciously focusing on my business. But his drama was all over the news, which didn’t look good for me professionally.”

“That is absolute bullshit that he would continue posting photos of you when you weren’t together.”

“Listen, his band definitely blew up, but his whole persona has been painted as thisbad boy, and dragging my name into it only added to the allure.” I cleared my throat. “I asked him to take the photos down, to stop talking about me publicly in interviews, per my father’s request, and he said he would do everything that I requested if we met in person one last time. I was in New York on business, and he was there for a week on his tour. I didn’t want to meet him at my hotel because Beckett can be a volatile guy, and after years of trying to help him get clean, I knew that addiction won. I didn’t even recognize who he was anymore. So, I didn’t tell him where I was staying. I agreed to come to the show and meet him beforehand. It seemed like a wise option because it was a public place, so what could he possibly do? That was my thought process.”

“He’d never laid a hand on you, had he?”

“Never. But he had these meltdowns. He’d shatter things and flip tables, that type of irrational behavior. That all started shortly before we ended things, but seeing it a few times was enough to make me cautious about being alone with him.”

“So you went to the show?”

---