Page 18 of Sinful Promise
“You didn’t answer my question.” He nibbles on his bottom lip, nervous. “If it was Minka?”
“And she fucked every coke dealer in town?”
The very thought hits me like a sledgehammer to my heart. An anvil crushing my head. An arrow through my lungs, making it impossible to breathe.
If Minka Mayet cheated on me, would I forgive her?
“I dunno,” I admit. “I love her like I’ve loved no one else in my life. I’d do anything to keep her safe.”Fuck, I’d kill a man in his bed, lie to my best friend, and go out of my waynotto solve a murder, all for her.“I guess I’d like to think I’d help her with her substance abuse problem before it got out of hand.”
“So maybe that’s what I should’ve done,” he bites out. “If I helped her back when it started going pear-shaped, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
“No. She cheatedbeforeshe became an addict. She made that choice sober, Fletch. She made it with a sound mind. That’s not on you.”
“But she—”
“The reason she became an addict was because she couldn’t handle the consequences of her actions. She knew she’d fucked up, so she wanted to escape.That’swhen she started down the path she’s on now.”
“He seduced her,” Fletch growls. “That asshole Beau Fox. He made her—”
“He was a dude who had a dick, liked what he saw when he looked at Jada, so he pursued her. You don’t think men hit on Minka every fuckin’ day of her life?”
“Arch—”
“I hate Beau Fox as much as you do, Fletch. I do. But he didn’t make Jada cheat. He crooked his finger, and she walked straight into his lap.Sober.”
I angle my head when he tries to look away; when he wants to avoid my eyes, and by extension, the truth. “She did that on her own. She knew she was married, with a young daughter at home. But she made her choices anyway. So no.”
It burns my throat to say it. It hurts my brain to think it. But, “If Minkachoseto disrespect our marriage, with a sound mind and zero coercion… If she did that on her own… then no, I wouldn’t forgive her.”
“You’d walk away?” he challenges. “Just like that?”
“I’d probably stalk her every day for the rest of my miserable fucking life,” I answer honestly. “I’d be dead inside and the worst company to have around, until eventually, I’d shrivel up and die… a dried old prune of unhappiness.”
For a beat, he smirks.
Then I remind him, “But this isn’t about me and Minka. We’re talking aboutyou, and I’m telling you, you deserve better than how Jada treated you and Mia. You deserve happiness. And most of all, you deserve to be able to trust the woman you promise your life to.
“Be her friend, Fletch. Be the very best baby-daddy ex-husband any woman ever had. But nowhere does it say you have to hand over your heart and risk her tearing it to pieces again.”
“And you think she will?” He glances to the doorway as the transport driver clatters and clangs her stretcher inside the house. “You think she’ll screw up again?”
“Yeah.” I don’t know where I get my certainty. I sure as hell have no clue why I get to decide this for them both. But I nod anyway. “I do think she’ll screw up. I think she’ll struggle with sobriety for the rest of her life, and every time she slips, she’s gonna hurt you and Mia. Every time she falls down, she’ll do whatever needs to be done to get that hit—and when she does, she’ll force all three of you into this shitty half-life, where everyone stays put because of a wedding certificate, but the love and trust are long gone.”
I reach across and pat his shoulder. “It’s no longer your responsibility to catch her, Fletch.”
“But I—”
“It’s your responsibility to catchMia. It’s your job to makehersafe. When Jada’s in and out and fucking around with everyone’s lives, Mia needs you to be her constant.”
Before he can respond, my phone trills in my pocket. Not with just any call, but with my wife’s ringtone that makes me giddy every time I hear it.
Fletch knows it, too, so he sends his eyes skyward and forces himself out of his funk with a grin. “Go talk to your perfect, sober, non-cheating wife. Ask if she’d be willing to step out for me.”
“Not happening.” I accept her call and bring the phone to my ear. “Chief. How’s it going?”
“I caught a dead body, so I’m working.”
“Like… you caught it in your arms?” I look up, despite the highest multistory on this block being four floors. “Was he a jumper?”
