Rock Wedding (Rock Kiss #4) - Nalini Singh Page 0,6

wouldn’t go bad for months or even years.

She bought meals for every homeless person she saw, bought double meals for the homeless teens.

And she withdrew cash as many times as possible.

The cards finally stopped working on the third day of her determined spree.

By that time she’d spent more than enough money to hopefully hurt Abe a little, but she knew it was nowhere near as badly as he’d hurt her. Again and again, she heard the words he’d thrown at her, felt the bruising pain of taking hit after hit, and she wanted him to shatter as he’d shattered her, but she didn’t know how to find the kind of pit bull she needed to make Abe feel as she was feeling.

It was then that her eye fell on the glossy black of the business card she’d kept, of the man who’d been so kind to her that horrible night. He’d been kind afterward too. The two weeks she’d been at the hotel, he’d ordered her room service, including a bowl of strawberries and cream that came with a handwritten note that said he hoped the strawberries made her day sweeter.

He’d rung once every day to check on her, and when she’d told him she was moving into the apartment, he’d insisted on driving her over himself. Since then, he’d stayed in touch with a call once a week. And though his eyes were admiring when they looked at her, he was always a perfect gentleman.

He made her feel like a woman worth respect. Not a cheap, gold-digging whore.

Picking up the phone, she dialed his number. “Jeremy,” she said. “Do you know the name of a good divorce attorney? A really mean one?”

A pause before Jeremy Vance said, “I know a man affectionately spoken of as the Rottweiler. Will that do?”

Sarah clenched her stomach, hardened her heart. “Yes.”

“I’ll call him for you if you like, set up an appointment. We’re friends, so you’re more likely to get in to see him that way than if you call yourself.”

“Thank you. I’d appreciate that.” Sarah made herself breathe.

Abe was getting no more of her tears.

“Anything for you, Sarah.” Jeremy’s tone was warm. “Would you like me to accompany you to the first meeting? I know you’re still fragile.”

Sarah went to say yes, shut her mouth. She was so scared, so alone, but she’d been that before, and she’d survived. Jeremy was nice, but Abe had been nice once too. The only person she could rely on was herself.

Same as always.

Her every breath hurt.

“No,” she said to Jeremy. “Thank you, but I’ll go alone.” And she’d make Abraham Bellamy rue the day he’d taken on a girl named Sarah Smith.

A girl who would’ve once carved out her own heart and laid it at his feet should he have asked it of her.

PART TWO

CHAPTER 3

SARAH SAT IN THE SOLARIUM of the lovely dual-level house she’d bought using part of the proceeds of her divorce settlement. Her knees were tucked up to her chest, her legs covered by a heavy knitted throw she’d found in a thrift shop; she cradled a mug of coffee in her hands while, beyond the window of the solarium, she could see the daisies she’d planted cheerfully bobbing their heads.

It had made her so happy to buy this house with its stylish appearance and neat gardens and delicate metal fencing. In a solid family neighborhood, nothing about it said that the woman who owned it had a de facto stepfather in prison for the murder of her mother.

No, the woman who lived here had value.

Today Sarah smiled tightly at the memory of her defiant thoughts the day she’d moved into this house less than two years earlier, a month after her divorce from Abe became final. She hadn’t had value. Not then. Not in the way she wanted. She’d bought this house with Abe’s money, furnished it with Abe’s money. Her Rottweiler of a lawyer had more than earned his fee, but in the end, Sarah had been left feeling sick inside. Because she’d never wanted the divorce. She’d wanted Abe to fight for her.

He’d fought her demands, but never had he fought for her.

Now she had this house and this garden and this broken heart that had never quite healed right. And once again, she was alone. Her fingers brushed her cheek, still able to feel the bruise that had blackened it two weeks earlier. “I never thought Jeremy would treat me that way,” she said to Flossie. “He