Page 138 of Committed to You

Jamison’s jaw tenses. I don’t know what is happening between Quinn and him, but I feel bad for him, and he just flew all this way for Chase. I put my hand on his arm. “We are all going to get something to eat. Come with us. Only one person is allowed in at a time right now, and Páppa is with him, so we can all eat.”

He looks over at Quinn then back at me. “Okay.”

Our group walks toward the cafeteria. We are almost to the elevator when the police walk by, escorting Meredith. Her hand is wrapped in gauze, and she looks a bit loopy. Her wrists are handcuffed together. I know I should hate her, but I feel sorry for her.

She stares at me, tears pouring down her face. “You ruined us,” she hisses.

Jamison puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me away from her. My mama comes over and stands on my other side with her hand over her mouth.

“I’ll kill you someday,” Meredith screams, as the police officers tell her to be quiet and hold her by her elbows.

I shudder.Will Meredith ever realize that Chase never loved her? That it would never have been?

“You okay?” Jamison asks me as everyone else stares at me.

I tell him I am. But I wonder if I will ever be able to not worry about Meredith coming after me someday.

32

Chase

Nico is staring at me.As soon as Vivian leaves, I say, “I’m so sorry, sir.”

He sits down in the chair and holds up his hand. “Stop.”

I wait for him to lay into me. I do deserve it after all. His daughter was kidnapped at gunpoint, beaten up, and almost killed.

He furrows his brows. “What you did was very brave. And very dumb.”

I gape, not sure what to say.Close your mouth, asshole.I close it, swallow hard, and look at him to continue.

“You saved my daughter, and I know that you risked your safety for hers because you love her.”

“I do love her. She’s my everything.”

“Yes, I can see that. But why did you not call the police? They are trained to handle these matters.”

“Sir—”

“I told you to call me Nico.”

I gulp again. “Nico, Meredith told me if anyone came except me, she would kill Vivian and then herself before I even walked into the house. I convinced her that I needed my driver to bring me, and Noah ducked down in the back seat when we got there. If I called the police, I couldn’t guarantee what they would do, and I didn’t want her to shoot Vivian. I couldn’t risk that.”

He sighs. “Okay.”

“Sir—Nico, I will always do what I can to protect Vivian. I am sorry that this happened. I wish I could do so many things over.”

“You can’t go back in time.”

“No, I can’t, but I wish I could. I’ve been a fool, and my actions caused this.”

He takes a deep breath. “Chase, I was once like you.”

What? “Sorry? I don’t understand.”

“In Greece. I had all the ladies in the palm of my hand and, well…in my bed.” A flush creeps up his face.

No fucking way.

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