“Why did you ever think I wouldn’t believe you?” There’s a punishing tone in my voice, but I still love this man to the end of the earth and back.
“Nobody believed me back then,” he says. “Your dad . . .”
He stops, swallowing hard and glancing away.
“Your dad was my only phone call,” he says. “He came to the station late that night, calmed me down. Everything was fine until he was shown the police report. And the recording. The ripped clothes. The physical marks. He read my sister’s statement and Rick’s, which claimed I tried to fucking rape my sister and that Rick had to peel me off of her and kick me out of his house. They’d obviously taken the time to corroborate after I left . . .”
My trembling hand flies to my lips.
“My word wasn’t good enough for your dad,” Royal says. “He said the case against me was too strong, the evidence too damning. He didn’t believe me. Told me to work with a court-appointed defense attorney and to never set foot around you or the rest of the family ever again. I’d never felt like a bigger piece of shit in my life.”
“And you didn’t even do anything.”
“Exactly.”
I thread my fingers in his, squeezing tight.
“I don’t hold anything against your dad,” Royal says. “The evidence against me was there, and he was just looking out for his daughter. Can’t say I’d have done anything different if I were him, but goddamn, it was the worst day of my fucking life, Demi.”
I lean into him and press my face against his chest, inhaling the scent of his shirt and resting the palm of my hand against his warm cheek.
“Misty and Rick,” he says. “They fucked me over.”
“Did you try to tell the police what really happened?”
“Of course. They didn’t believe me. They treated me like I was guilty the second they cuffed me, and every time I gave my side of the story, they’d look at me with squinted eyes. Hardly wrote anything down.”
“What’d your attorney say?”
“He said what your father said. The evidence against me was too strong. He said if we took it to trial, there was no way I’d walk out a free man. They had signs of assault, my DNA under her fingernails, an accusation, and two witnesses. Didn’t stand a chance. I was looking at seven years behind bars and fifteen years as a registered sex offender. That’s why I took the plea deal. I served two and a half years of a five year sentence, and I have to register as an offender for ten.”
“Jesus, Royal.”
“Yeah. So. That’s what I’ve been reliving on a nightly basis for the last seven years.”
“So that’s why you were so uncomfortable around Misty earlier.”
“Uncomfortable? Yeah. To say the least.”
“She knows the truth right? Can’t you get her to go to the police and admit she lied? What about Rick?”
“Rick died a few weeks ago. And Misty won’t ever admit she did anything wrong. Told me the other day that she’s ‘over’ what happened, and that I should be too.”
“Wow . . .”
I stare at this man, this beautiful man with this beautiful soul, and so much inherent, natural born goodness behind his stormy gaze that it’s unreal. The heart that beats in his chest is bigger and better than anyone else’s out there.
He doesn’t deserve that shameful title.
It’s not what he is.
Chapter Forty-Three
Royal
God, it’s hot in here. It’s a fucking sauna. And I’m suffocating.
Stepping out of my car, I welcome the frigid air and unzip my coat. Jamming my hands in my pockets, I lean against the side of the hood and stare at the empty Laundromat before me.
The click and closing of the passenger door brings Demi to me, and she slips her arms into the inside of my jacket, hooking herself around my lower back and placing her forehead beneath my chin, where she fits perfectly.
“I was so fucking scared, Demi,” I say with a bittersweet huff. “Out of all the shit that went down, being kept away from you was the worst thing about it.”
She hugs me tighter.
“And when I got out? Watching you happy with another man? Fucking killed me. It was like losing you all over again. You were moving on, and I was stuck reliving the best days of my life. You were better off without me, and I had nothing but a bunch of faded memories.”
Demi lifts her gaze into mine, her forehead wrinkling.
“I never moved on. Not once, Royal,” she says.
A dusting of snowflakes falls from the sky, and she shivers, pressing her body harder against mine to stay warm. I’m a fucking inferno, and she’s an ice princess, and somehow this just works.