style="font-size:15px;"> He almost smiled. “I couldn’t—and won’t—even try to advise you on what to do. In fact—” he finally met her gaze “—this conversation? Never happened. Got it?”
A frown momentarily dug into her brow, then eased. “Yes.”
“Then you can stay here, at least for the moment. Until you—we—figure something out. I’m sure Dad would agree. And in any case, he won’t be back for a week. By that time... Well. Anything can happen, right?”
Kelly stood and shoved her hair away from her face. “And Abby?”
He’d forgotten about his sister. Crap.
“Tell her whatever you think seems best. People come through here all the time. She probably won’t think anything one way or the other.”
“But you’re still putting your butt on the line.”
“True. But so are you.”
“Why?” she said softly, and he knew what she was asking.
“Frankly? I have no idea.”
Kelly blinked a couple times, then crossed the floor to put her hands on his shoulders, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered, then padded out of the room, leaving Matt pretty sure he wasn’t going to sleep worth crap tonight.
Chapter Two
When Kelly’s phone buzzed at some ungodly hour the next morning, she checked the display, then stiffened. However, tempting as it was to let the call go through to voice mail, she knew Rick would only keep calling until she answered. More than once, she’d considered getting a new number. But even as messed up as things had been, she still hadn’t been able to completely cut him off. Not that she could have, anyway, with the kids.
After last night, however...
Still dressed, she unwrapped herself from the heavy Pendleton blanket that had been folded at the foot of Sabrina’s bed and crunched forward, forking her fingers through her tangled curls before answering.
“Where the hell are you?” Rick said.
Meaning he’d been by the apartment. Squeezing her eyes shut, Kelly hugged the brightly patterned blanket to her cramping chest, reminding herself of how far she’d come, that she was brave and strong and no longer vulnerable to Rick’s guilt trips. To his threats, veiled or otherwise. That she was nobody’s victim, dammit. “You don’t need to know that right now.”
“The hell you say. And that’s not answering the question.”
Anger propelled her off the bed, even if she did cling to the bedpost for support as she shoved her still-socked feet into her sneakers. “Yes, it is—”
“It’s not right, Kelly,” Rick whined in her ear, “not knowing where my kids are. Why are you punishing me like this?”
Dear God—was he serious? She sank onto the edge of the rumpled bed, her free arm strangling her trembling stomach. Had she dreamed last night? Or misinterpreted things that badly?
Then she remembered his voice, low and cold, uttering words she would have never dreamed she’d ever hear come out of his mouth, even at his worst, and her strength returned. “This isn’t about punishing you, it’s about protecting our children—”
“That’s bull—”
“You threatened them, Rick!” she whispered, praying the kids were still asleep. “Said if you couldn’t have them, then neither of us could.”
“What? Where the hell are you getting this?”
“From you. Word for word.”
A beat or two passed before he said, “Even if I did say that, you’ve got it all balled up, I couldn’t have possibly meant—”
“I know what I heard, Rick. And how you said it. You telling me you don’t remember—?”
“I don’t, swear to God. Whether you believe me or not.”
Kelly sighed so hard it was almost painful. “Well, you did. Whether you believe me or not. Look, I know we’ve had this conversation a hundred times already, but I’m going to say it again—you need help. And if what went down last night doesn’t bring that home for you, I don’t know what will. And until you get that help—” she fisted her free hand “—I’m not letting you anywhere near the kids. End of discussion, I’m done.”
Shaking slightly, she disconnected the call as Matt appeared at the open bedroom door, startling her, his arms crossed as if nothing short of a tornado would budge him. While she probably looked like a headlight-blinded possum a split second before splat.
Wondering how much he’d heard—and deciding she didn’t care—Kelly splayed her fingers through her hair again, then let her hand drop.
“Kind of hard to have a meltdown with you gawking at me like that.”
“You think I’ve never seen a meltdown before?”
“Not from me you haven’t. And trust me, it’s not pretty.”
“Somehow, I doubt you can top Sabrina in that department—”
“Matt! For heaven’s sake—don’t you have someplace, anyplace, to be?”
He shoved his fingers into his jeans’ pockets, revealing a dark green corduroy shirt underneath a beat-up leather jacket. Black, of course. To go with the beard stubble, even more pronounced than it’d been last night. “Yeah, actually,” he said on a rush of air, “I’m expecting a delivery at the house, then I’m headed into the city. But it can wait—”
“No. Really. We’ll be fine.” Kelly tried to smile, failed, went with a frustrated growl instead. “Dammit—I thought I’d feel relieved once we got away. Instead I feel... I don’t know. Like...like maybe I overreacted.”
Matt’s expression darkened. “And what was the alternative? Stick around until something bad did happen? Like you said yourself, sometimes you gotta listen to that voice.”
“Then why can’t I trust that? If it’s so right, why am I second-guessing myself?” Her hand shot up. “Never mind, don’t answer that. Not that you could. And, anyway, you don’t need to get sucked into this any more than you already are. But thanks. For letting us stay here.”
“No problem,” Matt said, then extended his hand. “Give me your phone.”
She pressed it to her chest. “Why?”
“So I can plug in my number, why do you think? And I want yours, too.” When she hesitated, he pushed out a breath. “I’m not gonna stalk you, for God’s sake. Just give me the damn phone.” So she did, and watched with the strangest mixture of relief and worry as he deftly added his number to her contacts. “You need anything, you call, you hear me? And before you give me any this-is-my-problem-not-yours crap... I get that, okay? Doesn’t mean you have to deal with it alone.” He handed back her phone, then
