Page 108 of Interference
“I am Emery,” I hear her whisper.
That’s when all the fight leaves him, and the smile forms on his face.
“Emery.” Even in his drunken state, he says it so reverently.
The tears spill over as I watch the video.
“How?” is the only word I can manage.
“Colson is getting his degree in technology. I had him take a look at the video. It took him only an hour to pull the audio off the image, but restoring the original audio took him longer. He finally got it, though. I didn’t do it. I didn’t even know who she was. She drugged me.” He pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to me. “This is from the hospital. It was Rohypnol. The date rape drug. She must have slipped it in my drink and then led me upstairs. Wyatt noticed something was off and followed us. He pulled her off of me and out of our room. When you texted me that morning, I was at the hospital. My next stop was to tell you everything that happened, but she got to you first. I swear, buttercup, I would never cheat on you. You are all my dreams come true. I would never chance that.”
I take a deep breath, my tone coming out shaky. “How do I know you didn’t alter the video?”
He gives me a small smile. “Colson can show you what he did, but if that’s not enough, the police have the doctored one and the original we pieced together. Their own tech wizards are going through it now to confirm what we found, but Ashley will likely be arrested in the coming days.”
It’s what I needed to hear. I needed to be sure. I hate that I questioned him, but I also didn’t know how to reconcile the man I thought I knew with the one being presented to me.
Stepping forward, I bury my face in his neck and let the tears fall freely.
“Shh. It’s okay,” he whispers.
“How can it be? How are you not mad at me? I doubted you. How can this work if I couldn’t even believe you?” I sob into him.
“She did a good job covering her tracks. Even I questioned myself after watching that video. I understand why you did what you did. You were protecting yourself and our child. I will never be mad at you for that.”
I let him hold me as I sob into his chest, the emotions from the last two days overwhelming me.
I missed him. I missed his daily texts asking me random things or telling me random facts about our baby. I missed sharing meals with him and falling asleep in his arms. I missed knowing that he was by my side.
Ashley almost ruined that for me. She almost ruined my life.
Pulling back, I smile when he wipes my tears away. How could I ever doubt the devotion of this man?
Pushing away my thoughts, I clear my throat. “Ashley can’t kick me out. I might not be on the lease, but there are still tenant laws here. She has to give me a thirty-day notice, and even then, I could fight it in court if I want to.”
“Do you want to?” he asks.
“No. I don’t want to ever see her again. I don’t know where I would go on short notice, though.”
He boops my nose before saying in the tone of the Trix commercial, “Silly girl. You’ll stay with me.”
It makes me giggle, and my chest feels lighter. It’s been two days since I have seen anything but darkness and despair. I never want to go back there again.
“We are about to have a baby, Brett. About five weeks or so from now, there will be a screaming baby keeping the whole house up. Are you sure the guys will be okay with that?” I ask.
“They are already planning to kidnap our child and keep them for their own. Seriously, they are so okay with it.”
“They are college guys. Why would they be?”
“It’s what family does. Speaking of, let me call them and have them come help move your shit out. You sit and tell me what youwant moved,” he says, putting his phone to his ear. “Yeah, get the guys over here. Emery is moving to our place.”
When he hangs up, I stare at him, mouth agape. “Just like that? They are all on their way with one call?”
“They are. They want you somewhere safe where we can all take care of you and our little papaya. I know you don’t have siblings and you never really had friends to rely on, but these people are more than friends. They are the family I chose,” he tells me.
“Wyatt stopped by the past two days. He brought me food and took care of me,” I admit. “I thought it was weird at first, but I appreciated it. I might not have eaten had he not forced me to.”
He nods. “Wyatt is good like that. He is the rock of the group. You can always lean on him.”
