“For what?” Jenny sighs out.
“The SEALs are selling t-shirts for our fundraiser and I want one,” she says, proudly.
My breath lodges in my throat. My worlds are mixing. This was never supposed to happen. In my mind, I’d be able to dutifully ignore Aidan until he moved away. Far away. Never to be seen or heard from again. That request would make my life too easy, obviously. My chest aches when Juliet snatches the twenty-dollar bill from her mother’s hands and bounces away. I follow her with my gaze to the t-shirt table and I see Kendall. She’s talking to a uniformed man, her grin wide and if her lashes batted any faster, she’d take flight.
I don’t even pause to consider the consequences. Marching toward my daughter, my mind is on only one thing. Getting her away. Saving her.
“Kendall,” I say, breathless. She turns to me with wide eyes. Deer in the headlights.
“Mom,” she replies. “Uh,” she mumbles. “Can I buy a t-shirt?”
I clear my throat, looking at the man she’s talking to. He’s tall, broad like his friends, but unlike his friends he has a different air, a more devious aura seeps from his body. Also, he is so much younger. “Introduce me to your friend.”
The man smiles. My stomach sinks. He extends his hand. “I see where Kendall gets her beauty from.” His tone drips with sarcasm. “I’m Leo Callaway.”
Leo. Leo. Leo. It connects. Kendall must read it on my face. Or she’s intuitive enough to know she’s in trouble after all of this time. “No,” I say, taking my hand from his. “You can’t buy a t-shirt, Kendall. Go sit at my table next to Jenny right now. I need to talk to Leo.” Kendall doesn’t say a word, she leaves quickly, her heels clicking as she finds her way to Jenny. My breathing quickens. My pulse hammers. I see red. When I’m confident Kendall is safely with Jenny, I meet Leo’s gaze.
“Looking for your ex-boy toy?” Leo slides in, licking his lips.
“Excuse me?” I say, furrowing my brow.
“He decided on something a little younger. Sally?” Leo says, tapping his chin like a condescending asshole. “No, wait.” He snaps. “Polly. That’s it. Polly. He’s probably fucking her in the bathroom again. I can’t believe he tapped your old pussy for so long. We all like them young. Everyone knows that.” His nefarious gaze flits over to Kendall.
My stomach sinks and my brain does that funny swimming thing that happens before I faint. It’s only happened once before many years ago. I steady myself on the table next to us and take several deep breaths. Leo walks away, cackling under his breath.
“Is that little asshole bothering you, Mrs. Sager?” a low, southern voice rolls over me.
“I’m fine,” I say, keeping my face down.
He clears his throat, so I force myself to acknowledge the voice. It’s Aidan’s friend, Mercer. He smiles a lopsided grin. “Don’t believe anything he says. He’s been fighting with Aidan for months. Rabid. Fucking. Fighting. Are you sure you’re okay ma’am?”
I’m not okay. “Don’t call me ma’am. Or Mrs. Sager. I’m not married. It’s Magnolia!” I scream, and people turn to gawk at me. “Is he with Polly?” I choke on the name of the girl who came to his house the first night I was there. The memory is hazy because it has been replaced with good things, but it’s funny how much I overlooked at the start. Why? Because his touch felt like magic. Because his words were a salve to my soul. Because I fell in fucking love with the devil himself.
Mercer looks uneasy. “I’m sorry, Magnolia. I didn’t mean any offense,” he drawls, holding up two palms. “Can I get you anything?”
“Answer my question,” I growl.
He glances away toward the table of SEALs, and then back toward me. “I don’t know,” he whispers. “I don’t know what game Leo is playing at, but it’s dangerous.” Mercer walks away, and leaves me alone in a crowded room, my body turned inside out. Others have to be able to sense my vulnerable state, it has to be on display. It shouldn’t affect me. Aidan has moved on. Or moved back to his old ways. I was a fool to believe I’d changed him. I was merely another stop on his whore train to pound town. I bet he does the falling act for every woman. It’s how he hooks them. Makes himself seem like an honorable, desirable candidate.
Mercer may not know what game Leo is playing at, but I’m about to find out. Not for myself, no. For my daughter.
