Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Too close! She was getting too close to the things I wanted to keep hidden from her. When we switched to our tablets as soon as we made it into the apartment to watch the drama unfold, I had no idea things would take this turn.
I was secretly enjoying the dumpster fire as my ex-wife struggled for her life in the comments. I wished I could add some of my own home truths, but I thought better of it. She was doing a better job all on her own than I ever could. I’m not sure why the nieces were using a different handle, but I was almost certain this Themis person was them or someone acquainted with them.
I was just as curious about some of the revelations as Elena was, though, since some of it was news to me. There was some of what I’d learned from Lyon and the Squad mentioned, and even some that I hadn’t heard of, which added to my fear of her learning something I didn’t want her to.
I didn’t want to lie to her outright, but I had no idea what else I could say to get her mind off of that particular subject. “Who knows? That woman is vile; I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
“But why would Janie know about that stuff? I mean, I know they were in bed together, but I never expected that she would be part of something like this. This is criminal.”
Don’t I know it? She was looking at me as if waiting for an answer, and I couldn’t come up with anything, so I just shook my head and looked back at the screen. I was anxious about how things were going with Lyon and the guys and nervous about my reason for being here. I kept expecting her to knock at the door any minute, and from the looks of things, she’d come unhinged.
She was ranting and raving about any and everything and somehow not seeing how she was wrong in this situation. It was rather eye-opening to see just how invested the fans were in Elena and my relationship. It was like coming out of the fog for the first time and realizing how my actions affect others, something I never paid much attention to in the past.
Their questions and responses were more enlightening than expected, and I kinda got the feeling of looking into a mirror at myself but through the eyes of strangers. It was humbling and revealing at once. I could’ve done without the ones who bemoaned the fact that my girl was giving me another chance, the ones who warned that I would only break her heart again, but even then, I could see their point.
I felt a chill run down my spine as I read some of their recollections of the things she’d endured over the past five years, things she hadn’t told me about, things that I had supposedly said to and about her that I knew had come from Janie or someone else using my name.
It was infuriating as hell, and before I could think better of it, I found myself answering them. I felt her eyes on me as I typed before she turned her attention to the screen to see what I had written.
After the furor died down, the questions came hard and fast. First, they wanted to know if it was really me, which I assured them it was, then I apologized to them for my behavior since most of them seemed to be her fans more than mine. It was as if I was asking their forgiveness, which in a way, I guess I was.
I put it all out there. There was no PR person with thousand-dollar words, just me, unscripted and shooting from the hip. It got easier as time went on, with the added bonus of having her by my side. She didn’t say a word to me, just kept reading as I answered the hard questions with as much honesty as my former manager would’ve hated.
I told as much truth as I could without stepping over the line into the forbidden. It was brutal, learning what some of them thought of me, and even more so when I was reminded of the hardships Elena had faced because of my ill-fated marriage.
And then Themis pulled out the big guns and asked the question that was on everyone else’s mind. “In your own words, tell us what happened, from beginning to end.”
Elena drew in her breath, and though she didn’t look directly at me, I felt the heat of her gaze and saw the way her fingers tensed on her own tablet.
Usually, I’d have ten spin doctors and word smiths on hand to handle the tough questions, but even I knew that I needed to do this. I thought for sure that when backed into a corner like this, I’d feel the need to jump back into my old habits, but the only drug I needed reached out and took my hand in hers.