Page 33 of Bittersweet Redemption

When I pull out the pile of mail, a plain sheet of paper is on top with the word WHORE written in all caps in black marker.

What the fuck?

I look around, even though I know no one is watching. Who would call me a whore? I’ve literally only been with one man my entire life. I freeze. Unless you count last night.

My heart rate picks up. He wouldn’t. Would he? He walked into my room. I didn’t ask him to, and I certainly didn’t throw myself at him. The paper starts shaking in my hands as I think of the worst possible scenarios. Did he write this? Is he trying to send me a message? Does he really think this little of me? I storm off toward Kai’s house. He doesn’t get to call me a whore for what we shared last night. Even if he doesn’t want it to happen again, he doesn’t have to be cruel about it.

I stomp up the stairs, swing the door open, and walk past my room, where Roman is adding extra tissue paper to the gift bag. I’ll come back in a second to help him. I don’t bother knocking when I get to Kai’s bedroom door. I walk right in and look around his empty room. I hear a noise to my left and stomp over to the bathroom.

He’s wiping his face with a towel like he just finished shaving while steam from his recent shower still lingers. A towel sits low on his hips, and the whole bathroom smells like him. But I’m not here to think about that or to admire his strong arms and defined abs.

“Can I talk to you?” I blurt out.

He puts the towel down on the counter. “Make it quick. I’ve gotta get to work.”

“What the hell is this?” I hold up the piece of paper.

He turns to me and reads it. “It looks like a piece of paper with the word ‘whore’ on it.”

“Obviously,” I deadpan. “Why was it in my mailbox?”

He leans against the counter. “No idea.”

“Oh, please. You think it’s a coincidence that this shows up in my mailbox after. . .” I lower my voice. “After what happened last night?”

He crosses his arms over his chest. “Let me get this straight. You think I wrote this and went out of my way to put this in your mailbox? If I wrote it, why wouldn’t I just slide it under your door, or better yet, say it to your face?”

My bravado starts to fade. That’s a good point. I’m living in his house. He could’ve easily put it anywhere around here for me to find. “I don’t know.”

“Why would you assume it was me?”

My brows furrow. “Besides Roman’s dad, you’re the only person I’ve been with. . . intimately.” I hate even telling him that, but I want to explain how I reached my conclusion.

He stiffens slightly. “I’m not one to shame a woman about their sex life. I’d never call you a whore, especially after last night.” He stands up straight. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to work.”

He walks past me and into his closet. I hesitate only a second before leaving with my tail between my legs, embarrassed by my little outburst. I was so sure it was from him, but now I’m not sure how I could’ve possibly thought that.

I walk into the bathroom I share with Ro and shut the door. Sliding to the floor, I hold my head in my hands. If Kai didn’t put this in my mailbox, then who did? I was supposed to be getting out of this kind of life when I left Nick. I don’t want to live a life of threats and blackmail, which is what his life revolves around. It was shady, but I held his hand through it all until I woke up and realized I needed a better and safer life for my son.

Who would leave me this note and call me a whore? I rub my hands down my face. Roman calls for me from the other room. I shake my head. I don’t have time to worry about this, so I tuck the paper into a drawer. I’ll add it to my list of things to stress about when I’m trying to fall asleep at night.

I help Roman tuck the birthday card into the envelope and stick it into the bag that’s now overflowing with tissue paper. Luckily, I don’t run into Kai before we leave. As I get Ro strapped in, my phone vibrates with a text.

Unknown: Hi, this is Jason. Sorry if this is weird, but I’d love to take you out sometime. Kayla spoke highly of you, and I’d like to get to know you.

Chapter 17

Kai

The house is oddly quiet for a Saturday afternoon. Typically, something’s going on while I’m getting ready for work: cars racing down the hallway, sing-a-longs to kids shows I’ve never even heard of, or yelling outside while a soccer ball is kicked around.

But not today.

No, today there’s silence, which makes me suspicious. The kid was just with his tool of a father last weekend. Roman told me how his dad dropped him off at his grandparents’ house for most of the weekend, which actually seemed preferable to him.

So, where is he? Why isn’t he playing and laughing in my living room? I throw on my plain black tee and walk down the hallway. Willa’s door is open. You’d think she learned her lesson about leaving her door open after our little incident last weekend. Yeah, I’m referring to it as an incident. It was a lapse in judgment on my part. Lust took over, and I couldn’t think straight. All I wanted was to touch her. Make her come. So, I did. And then she practically begged to return the favor. What’s a man supposed to do? I know I shouldn’t have allowed it, but I can’t take it back now. I think we’ve been doing an ok job at pretending like it didn’t happen. Other than her accusing me of calling her a whore, of course. I haven’t stopped thinking about that note and who would’ve put that in her mailbox. I’ve been on edge all week, watching the cars that go through the neighborhood, looking for anything suspicious.

I can’t imagine she told anyone what we did, and I sure as hell didn’t tell anyone. It bothered me so much that I called Kellan on his honeymoon and asked him to get me recommendations for a home security system with a camera. He put me in touch with one of his best private investigators, River, who sent over a few options, and I just selected the best one this morning. Even if it was just some sort of prank, it wasn’t funny. I’m not messing around with Willa and Roman’s safety.