She lifts her gaze to meet mine. I watch as she forces a fake smile and shrugs a shoulder. “There’s nothing to talk about, everything is fine,” she lies.
I snort. “Honey, I know when a woman says everything is fine, everything is indeed not fine. Tell me what it is?”
She shifts her gaze to Holden, then swings it back to meet mine. I watch as she inhales a deep breath before she lets it out on a sigh.
“I thought that I would feel overwhelming happiness that all of this is over, especially with the verdict.”
“But?” I encourage when she doesn’t continue right away.
She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip and lifts her eyes to find mine. I see the sadness and the worry floating in her gaze and I know that she’s feeling something intensely and it isn’t anything good. I’m just not sure if it’s because of me or what exactly she’s thinking.
“I feel empty,” she admits. “I feel like Susan is just going to do something else and it’s going to involve him. I feel like I had to put myself out there to a room full of strangers and share what happened to me when as of yesterday less than ten people knew, and last month only four people knew.”
“Tennessee,” I rasp.
Reaching out, I take one of her hands in mine. I hold her hand, giving her a squeeze. She doesn’t look away from me, but my grip isn’t comforting in the least. I want so badly for her to be happy. For her to forget this day.
“I just… I don’t know.”
I hum. “I won’t let her hurt you again. Even if she tries, she has to get through me first,” I announce.
Tennessee’s smile is soft, but unbelieving. I’ll make her believe though. I’m done with this shit, with Susan and her stupid heartless games. Squeezing Tennessee’s hand again, I release it and lean back in my seat as the waiter approaches with our dinner.
Once the food is in front of us, I watch as Holden, blissfully unaware of everything happening around him, quickly digs into his food. Smiling at him, I’m glad to see that he’s happy, that we’ve created an environment where this isn’t affecting him.
What I’m not happy about is the way that it’s clearly affecting Tennessee. “I know you don’t think that I can end this, but I will.”
“How?” she demands.
My lips twitch. “Susan only understands two things, honey.” She arches a brow, waiting for me to continue. “Money and status, or simply put together, power.”
“So what? We pretend she’s won and she’ll leave us alone?”
Shaking my head, I can’t help but smile at her. “Susan can’t win. No victory will ever be satisfactory enough for her. She’s a narcissist. She will always want more.”
Tennessee presses her lips together, I watch as she rolls them, her gaze flicking down to her plate, then back up to meet mine. She tilts her head to the side, watching me for a moment before she speaks.
“How will you end it then, Landry? If she always wants more, she’ll never be satisfied. And she’s the mother of your children, she is in our lives forever and I’m not sure that I want her part of my life or Holden’s. Not now that I know just a small bit of what she’s capable of. I don’t think that I could handle the full force of what she’s able to do to me, Landry.”
“Are you trying to break up with me?” I ask.
My body is heating, the ring in my pocket is burning a hole. My head is swimming and I’m not sure what to expect, but I never could have predicted this moment. She lives with me. Her apartment is no longer available.
Her stuff is in storage, but she’s in my house and in my bed and I’m not fool enough to just let her walk away from me, not when I know that this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with that cunt.
“I don’t know,” she admits. I admire her truthfulness, but I hate it at the same time. “I love you,” she whispers.
“No rash decisions, at least not until we’ve eaten and slept. This whole thing took everything out of you, and I’m equally as exhausted.”
She gives me a sad smile and I know that her mind is teetering on being made up. I have tonight to convince her to stay at