Jake
“I believe you.”
Three words shouldn’t have felt so inadequate.
Emma cried against my shoulder, and I sat there with one arm around her because she’d asked me to come closer. That distinction mattered more than she probably realized.
She had asked.
I hadn’t assumed.
So I stayed.
I didn’t tell her everything would be okay. I didn’t promise Derek would never hurt her again or start listing all the ways I wanted to make him pay.
This wasn’t about my anger.
It was about her.
Eventually, her breathing slowed.
“Water?” I asked.
She nodded.
I got up, filled a glass, and used the few seconds in the kitchen to get myself under control.
Derek Blackwell had r***d his wife.
Then he’d gone to sleep afterward like he’d done nothing wrong.
My hands curled around the counter.
I wante
