Page 3 of Protecting His Ex-Wife
Caroline remarried a few years ago while I was on tour. I never got a chance to tell her that I still loved her, that I’ll always love her. And I couldn’t tell her that once she was married.
All I’ve ever wanted was for Caroline to be happy, and when she remarried, I vowed not to get in her way.
But a few months ago, Amy let slip that they were having problems.
I hate to delight in someone else’s misfortune, but that was the best fucking news I’d heard in years.
Then Caroline told me Paul had moved out. She was cagey about it, and it gave me the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
I came straight down here, and in a rare moment of vulnerability, she told me she was afraid of him.
That was that. I tried to convince Caroline to come back with me, but she refused, said she could look after herself.
But I know my ex-wife. She’s not telling me the full story.
So here I am. I make the drive down the coast whenever I’m not working to watch her, to make sure whatever threat she’s worried about never comes to pass.
When I can’t be here, I send one of my guys. Caroline’s been on twenty-four-hour security watch. She just doesn’t know it.
She may not want me in her life anymore, but I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to her.
“I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by.”
She doesn’t buy it, of course. Her eyes squint at me, and she shakes her head in exasperation.
“I told you, Tony. I don’t need your protection.”
She did. When she caught me here last week, Caroline chewed me out for spying on her. It’s not spying. It’s keeping her safe.
I’ve done some digging on her husband, and he’s not the kind of man I would have wanted for her.
My fists clench at the thought. A husband should protect his wife, not be a threat to her.
“Have you reported him yet?”
She looks away and lets out a big breath. “It’s complicated.”
Which means no.
“Not complicated, Caroline. He threatened you. You should call the police.”
“I’ll call the police on you if you don’t stop stalking me.”
I tilt my head, giving her a sideways look. “It’s protection, honey, not stalking.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t need your protection, Tony. You might not have noticed, but I’m a fully grown woman. I can take care of myself.”
She puts her hands on her hips, and I don’t know if she’s trying to convince me or herself.
“I know you can.” Because there’s no one tougher than Caroline. She raised our daughter practically by herself.
“But I made a vow, Caro. To love and protect for as long as I live.”
She rolls her eyes at me because she’s heard it before. “We were kids, Tony.”
That’s true. I was nineteen when I made that promise to Caroline, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t mean it. I had already made a pledge to protect my country, and I meant that one too.
“And we’re divorced,” she continues, and I try not to wince at the matter-of-fact way she uses the word. “I released you from that vow seven years ago.”
