I have to know what the fuck is going on. “Tess, baby—”
“Wait, what time is it? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at your game for another hour at least. Ryan, why aren’t you at your game?”
“I left,” I reply, stating the obvious.
“Why would you leave in the middle of a game?”
“Jake said you needed me here, so I left. Now I know why—”
Her anxiety is palpable. “Did anyone see you come in? God, of course they did,” she says to herself. “His car is parked out front…and so is mine.” She glances up, fear in her eyes. “Ryan, you have to go—”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say, standing my ground.
“Ryan,” she begs, snatching up one of the moving boxes.
“I told you I would put you first, and I meant it,” I say, crossing the room towards her. She goes stiff at my approach, and it breaks my heart. She’s so fucking scared. All my anger and bravado melts away. “Oh…baby. What did he do to you, huh?”
She blinks back her tears, using the box like a shield to keep me back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t fucking know?” I counter, my voice rising. “Tess, look around you.” I gesture at the chaos on every surface of the room. “You’re packing up to run again. I think I deserve to know why. What did he say?”
“It’s not your burden to bear,” she says. “Ryan, I’m dealing with it. You have to trust that I’ll fix this on my own—”
“No,” I counter. “Tess, no. This isn’t love. Hiding all this from me, carrying the weight of it all on your own when I have two strong arms and a strong fucking back to help you—it’s not love, Tess. It’s control. You’re trying to control the outcome for both of us by keeping me in the dark. You need to tell me right now, aside from the photos, what else has he done?”
“What photos?” she dares to say.
I take three steps back and point down at the bed.
She inches closer, needing to see over the large mound of her open suitcase. As soon as her eyes settle on the boxes, I watch the emotion flash across her face—fear, disgust, sadness, anguish. Fresh tears well in her eyes as she looks up at me. “How did you know?”
“Jake,” I reply.
She shakes her head, her frustration evident.
“Don’t be mad at him. He was just giving me a fighting chance.”
“I didn’t want you to get dragged into my mess. I—” She sucks in a breath that comes out like a sob. “Oh god—I didn’t want to hurt you, but I think I did anyway. Just being near you is hurting you. Even now, he’ll know, and he’ll use it against us. I never wanted to use you, but that’s what he’s going to say. He’s going to twist this all up and take what we have and ruin it. He’s going to take something so beautiful and make it ugly and I can’t fucking stand it.”
The moving box drops to her feet again, and then I’m rushing forward, wrapping her in my arms. “I’m so sorry,” I say into her hair, my hands brushing up and down her back.
She sobs into my shoulder, her entire body trembling as she clings to me for dear life.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry,” I repeat. “He violated you with those photos. He stole from you. From us. Our joy, our happiness. And we have so much of both together, right?” I pull back, tipping her chin up to look in her eyes. I need to see her face. I do better when I can see her.
“I never wanted this,” she says, her mascara leaving streaks down her freckled cheeks.
I brush her hair back. “No one wants their privacy violated. Tess, this is a crime,” I say as gently as possible, praying she’ll hear me this time. “All these photos are evidence of Troy’s mounting crimes. Stalking, harassment, blackmail. He’s digging his own grave.”
“The creep brought them to my work,” she whispers. “He watched me leave the office and brought the box to Cheryl. He’s been watching me for weeks. He’s probably outside even now,” she says, glancing around as if he might be peering in through the windows.
My gaze darts over to see the curtains are pulled tight. “Is that why all the lights are off?”
“I didn’t want to give him anything else to photograph,” she replies with a little nod. “I don’t know that I can stay here anymore, even without Troy’s demands. This place is tainted for me now.” She glances up at me, trying to show me her vulnerability.