“The way I see it, Dante, is that you have two options. You can continue as you are, and eventually these six months will be over. Your relationship won’t have progressed, and Miss Brooks will move into alternative accommodation within your compound. She’ll eventually move on, and you’ll have to accept it, because that’s what your contract states. Or, you can simply talk to her. Even if the conversation doesn’t go the way you hope it does, what do you really lose? It just means that thesame situation happens—Miss Brooks still moves out, you go your separate ways. But at least you can sleep easy knowing you tried.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
She chuckled softly. “Communication is the easiest thing in the world. And it’s also the hardest. I’d even argue the scariest, too. But without it, you’re only setting yourself up to lose everything.”
“You know… It’s not nice to mess around in people’s heads, doc.”
She laughed then. A genuine, hearty laugh. “Messing in people’s heads is what I’m paid for. It’s my job to see the things you don’t. Even when those things are very obvious. And, it keeps me out of my own head, and I’d do this for free to stay out of there.”
“We might just get on better than I thought.”
“Isn’t it funny how appearances can be deceptive? And that people aren’t always what we think they are?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, rolling my eyes at her. “I see what you’re doing. You’re making this about Rachel again.”
“Bingo.” She picked up her pen and hovered it over the paper. “Now, let’s dive deeper into some of those feelings, shall we?”
I groaned, dragging a hand down my face.
Next time, I’m bringing earplugs.
Chapter 34
Rachel
“Can you tell me a little bit about why you decided to come here today?”
Because I’ve trapped myself in an impossible situation. I took off with my ex’s kid, stupidly allowed myself to get caught, and now I’m back in the place I’ve always hated, but secretly felt like I always belonged in. I have a child who won’t speak to me, a man who hates being near me, and a whole lot of murders behind me.
But I didn’t say any of that. Instead, I just shrugged and muttered: “I guess it just felt like the right thing to do.”
She smiled at me, and I wasn’t quite sure why.
“Was that the wrong answer?” I asked.
“There are no right or wrong answers, Rachel. I just ask that you’re honest with me.”
“There’s not really much to say,” I murmured. I fucking hated therapy. Why had I insisted on it?
Well, no, I knew why. I wantedDanteto come here. It would have been fucking hilarious to see him battle his own thoughts and fight against his nature to lash out instead of opening up. Ireally thought I was funny. That I had achieved a minor victory in his stupid contract game. And then he had gone and turned the tables on me and dragged my ass down with him. I didn’t want to be here. Therapy had sucked when I was a teenager, and I really didn’t see much improvement as an adult, either.
“We can talk about whatever you like, Rachel. There’s no pressure.”
“That sounds like bullshit to me. There’s always pressure.”
“I get paid either way, so feel free to talk about whatever you like.”
“I don’t want to talk about anything.”
“That’s fine. We don’t have to talk.”
“Great!” I grinned, settling back on the sofa.
“I should warn you, though,” she began.
Here we fucking go.
“I am aware of the contract in place between you and Mr King. And I am legally obligated to report back on how you respond during these sessions. I can assure you, the subject matter will remain strictly confidential, but I do need to fill in an assessment as to how you have responded and how co-operative you have been during these sessions.”
