Everlasting - Christine Michelle Page 0,72
I want to run something by you, so this is perfect.”
Chapter 27
Detox Hell
Deck
Durbin was shaking his head at me again and I didn’t miss a single bit of the disappointment in his eyes either when I once again refused to allow Ever to see me.
“I’m going to ask you something and I want you to answer it honestly. You don’t even have to tell me what you decide, this is strictly for you.” I nodded my head for him to continue, not liking where I thought this might be going. “How are you going to feel the day she stops begging to see you?”
“What?” What the fuck did he mean by that? The day Ever stopped begging to see me… I couldn’t even grasp that concept.
“You heard me. A woman, even as in love with her man as she seems to be with you, has limits. You’re testing her right now and she’s eventually going to break.”
“Ever is a strong woman. I’m sure she knows, deep down, that I need time.”
“Have you stopped to consider what she needs?” He asked me and for some reason it made me angry.
“What she needs?” I asked, and there was venom in each word. “She wasn’t the one held hostage, drugged, abused, and…” Shit! I couldn’t say the last part. I only had vague nightmares of it actually happening, and I wasn’t sure if that was all it was or if they were memories trying to surface. “She was tucked up here, all cozy like, while those things were happening to me. If anyone should have some goddamn understanding in this situation, I’d think it should be her.”
“Really? That’s interesting because I would think that it should be the both of you. The fact that she leaves here every day, devastated, disappointed, and heartbroken means she’s been understanding. The fact that you’ve sent her away without even being able to see you, the fact that you’ve been given a cell phone for a means of communication and haven’t used it to reach out to her means you’re the asshole here, not her.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?”
“As a damn drug addict in a room full of blow!” He shouted at me. “You don’t think she suffered while you were gone?” I just glared at Durbin as his bald head turned a slight shade of pink. “I’m guessing your little MC brothers are protecting you from what she went through. Well, I won’t. Nope. I’m not giving you excuses to pity yourself because no one is giving her that option. She hasn’t curled up in a dark room and refused to look life in the face again. That’s all you.”
If I had a gun in that moment, I would have shot the fucker between the eyes.
“Let me tell you what happened while you were away. Your wife, the one you left behind with twin daughters and a baby in her belly, had to explain to those daughters that their daddy was working and couldn’t come home. While she was worried about you and losing her mind over what you might be going through, she was being questioned by those sweet girls. Every. Single. Day.”
I didn’t say a word, just pictured Amber and Ashton asking Ever over and over where I was, and my heart ached with the sound of it.
“She was pregnant too, so her emotions were in overdrive while that was happening. Then, she had to go to doctor appointments without you. She refused to learn the sex of your baby without you. She waited, hoping every day, all the way up until the birth of your son that you would make it back in time to find out with her.” I swallowed at the lump in my throat, trying to get it to go down, but Durbin pressed on. “Your wife received pictures from Sasha while you were away.”
“What?” I asked, panic settling in my bones.
“Yeah, the boys didn’t tell you?” He asked in that assholish manner Durbin had when he had a fucking point to make. “She received pictures of you and Sasha in bed together. Those first shots were easy for her to blow off though. They could see that you were beaten, possibly drugged out of your mind, and from what they told me, she didn’t let it rattle her. Make no mistake, asshole, your wife was rattled seeing those pictures. How could she not be? Even if her brain allowed her to take the woman out of the equation,