Page 91 of Primary Seduction
“And what?”
“My approval came through seven weeks ago,” Trent said quietly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I have been trying to get the courage to do this for us. I searched for Frederick so he could help me arrange this surprise for you. I knew…I knew you’d be reluctant to let me do this if I told you about it beforehand.”
Max was quiet for a moment. “You’re right. I just don’t want you to push yourself to do this if it’s not what you want,” he said finally.
“I needed to see what it was about. And if you couldn’t tell, I think I enjoyed myself.” Trent laughed.
He wrapped his arms tighter around Max, not wanting to move anytime soon. He’d thought that BDSM wasn’t for him. He was glad to have been wrong about that. He would be happy to experiment a little more. He was sure Max would steer him in the right direction.
****
Five months later
Trent
“What do you mean, you’ve never seen that film? How could you? It is an epic Halloween film. Yes, okay, it’s animated, but you should know it’s good just because of who made it!” Trent shook his head in disbelief as he walked to the door to answer the knock. They had originally been discussing costumes for the Halloween party they’d been invited to next month before it dissolved into what the best film was.
“They have her,” were the first words out of Samuel’s mouth as he burst through the open door. Trent couldn’t remember seeing him as excited as this before.
“What? Who?”
“Trish! And George. They have them. They’re in custody right now.”
Trent just stared. He didn’t know what to say. They had waited for so long to hear the words that he’d given up hope they would. He felt arms come around his waist and knew Max was there, helping. He had a mix of emotions running through him: he was relieved that she would be made to pay for what she’d done to their kids; he was pissed off that she was back to mess with his life again; he was worried about how Harper and Jocelyn would take the news; he was scared she wouldn’t get charged.
“Come on, Trent. Let’s sit for a moment,” Max led him to the sofa and sat him down, then sat next to him.
“I never thought she’d be found in all honesty. I thought she’d just disappear from our lives and never be heard from again,” he whispered.
Samuel came to sit in front of him on the coffee table. “She won’t be coming anywhere near you or the kids, Trent. I won’t allow it. The police won’t allow it. We have enough evidence to send her to prison for at least a couple of years. George too. You’ll only have to see her at the court hearing, no other time.” He paused. “I will say though that the kids will have the option to speak to her if they want to. But they don’t have to, it’s their choice.”
Trent rested his head in his hands and blew out a breath. He felt Max rest his head on his shoulder and wrap his arms around his waist and back again.
“Everything will be fine, Trent. She can’t hurt us now.”
Max was right. They’d been through enough these past few months. Harper had adjusted to living with Trent and had just started her final year at college. Jocelyn was into her third year of her degree; she had stopped working at the job because Trent had insisted she concentrate on her degree instead.
They were all finally living the lives they wanted to live, living it the way they were supposed to be living. Even if he had an unplanned addition to his life, in the form of Max, he wouldn’t have it any other way. People still asked him what he identified as, and he’d finally set on bisexual because it was the easiest route to explaining about Trish and Max. It didn’t sit right with him, and he leaned more towards the gay label. But it didn’t matter to him what he was labelled as, he loved Max and that was that.
He sat up. “What’s the plan now? Where do we go from here?”
“Well, the police and I have all the information we need to go for immediate trial but whether they will allow it is another matter. I need to speak with a few more people to find out what’s going to happen from here out. I just thought I’d come and tell you so you knew, rather than hear it on the grapevine.” Samuel leaned forward, rested his hand on Trent’s shoulder and squeezed.
“Thanks, Sammy. I appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry, Trent. She’ll be going down for definite. I’m just not sure for how long.” Trent nodded. “I’m going to head out and get started on chasing down the people I need to. I’ll keep you posted with the information I get. Hopefully, we can get a quick trial so it’s over and done with.” Samuel stood after squeezing his shoulder once more.
Trent felt Max stand and heard him and Samuel talking before the front door closed. His mind had gone on hiatus now, he didn’t know what to do.
“Hey, you,” Max said, quietly. “How are you holding up?”
Trent thought about the question for a moment. “I don’t really know what to think. Although Samuel said she’s in custody because I’ve not seen her, it seems as if it’s not real. Does that even make sense? I don’t want it to mess up our lives. I wish so badly she’d just stayed gone. Not because I don’t want her to pay for what she did, but because it’s messing us all up again.”
Max knelt on the floor in front of him. “Nothing is going to mess us up, Trent. I promise. There is only good that can come from her being arrested. We can finally close the door on the ‘what if’s.’ We now know there is an end in sight. Once this is finished, we can finally put it behind us. I know you’ve put on a brave face all these months, but I know it was always in the back of your mind. Now, we can finish it. Together.”
