Turning down the music, I answer it with a curious hello.
“Hi, Evangeline. Sorry to call you so late in the day, but Penn is accusing you of harassment.”
“What?” I almost slam on the brakes in the middle of traffic. “But I haven’t spoken to him since the last time you and I discussed it.”
“Oh, it’s not you personally talking to him. He’s claiming emotional distress and virtual harassment from your social media accounts.”
“I don’t go on social media anymore, except to check on my family.”
“He says that the old pictures you still have up, along with the lack of name change on your profile, is preventing him from moving forward with his life.”
“I’m preventing him?” Outrage and fury fill me, twining together to burn a hole in my stomach. “Tell me the judge will dismiss this.”
“There are cyber bullying and harassment laws on the books now.”
“The only thing I’m remotely guilty of doing is having an account. So sorry I didn’t think to change my stupid name.”
“I know, and I’m sure that we would prevail in court, but in the meantime, we’ll have to—”
As she lists all the thing that would need to happen, all I can imagine is my bank account balance growing smaller and smaller. It’s like Penn’s stealing from me all over again. Like he’s trying to prevent me from moving on, from having a life without him.
“Asshole.”
“Excuse me?”
“Not you. Penn.” I adjust my grip on the steering wheel. There is no way I’m going to allow him to do this. Not anymore. I’m done. “Lucy, I’ll need to call you back.”
I end our call and dial Penn’s number. Of course, he never bothered to change his. I’m the only one who had to change everything, including my name, my numbers, my residence…everything.
“You bastard,” I growl into the phone as soon as he answers.
“Isn’t this a special surprise,” he drawls.
“The bullshit is over,” I say, launching right into my tirade. “I’m done playing your games. It’s over. You will give me a drama-free divorce. You will pay for all future legal fees until our divorce is finalized.” Never in our six years of marriage did I demand anything of Penn. But that was the old Eva.
Penn chuckles, a sound that both scares me and enrages me. “Do tell me, you little bitch, how you’re going to accomplish that. You’re nothing but a washed-up video girl. Surprised you haven’t gone into porn by now.”
Washed-up video girl? Something in my brain clicks. I know how to get Penn to stop, or at least make it so that his parents will stop paying for his legal fees and therapeutic vacations. “No, not porn. But I do have the means to make a video—about what you did to me. I’m sure everyone would love to know exactly why some little nobody from a Podunk town is divorcing an American hero from a prominent family. All those scars and bruises will finally be explained, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Won’t your parents be thrilled? So you have one option, agree to my terms or I go viral.”
“I will fucking kill you,” he threatens.
My body shakes. It remembers all the other threats he gave me, all the other promises he made good on. “Is that your final, recorded answer?” I ask, refusing to cower.
“This call is over.”
“Agree to my terms or else,” I counter.
“Make the video, Eva, I dare you. No one will believe you anyway,” he taunts, getting one last shot in.
It hits near the center of my biggest fears, but I’m not going to let him win this time. I am not that girl anymore.
“How about we let the two million followers of my washed-up YouTube channel decide?” Then I end our call before he can say anything more.
I force myself to take deep breaths to relax. While I do have the means to make a video, I don’t know if I can. There would be no turning back from that. No way of excusing or explaining away my past.
My marriage and the reasons for our divorce would be front and center. People would talk, and my parents—I swallow—my parents would finally know the truth.
You can do this, I tell myself. You’re not alone anymore. I have Saylor and Hunter now. I can count on them for anything.
But I know who I want to talk to first, the one I want to share this phone call with.
Hunter, the man I— Oh God.
I love Hunter.
Chapter 17
Hunter
Evangeline comes bursting through my door. If I wasn’t expecting her, I would have drawn my gun. The woman has no sense of what makes a cop go into high alert, but I’ll take the time to show her. Although, I kind of like when she bursts in, a wide smile on her face, and— She crashes into me, her arms winding tightly around my waist. “I need your help.”
“Consider it done.”
Leaning back in my arms, she tips up her chin to look at me. Her blue-green eyes are huge. “I spoke to my ex today.”
My jaw clamps down so hard that my teeth grind together. “So you need my help to kick his balls in….Want me to hold him down for you?”
“I threatened to make a video to post on my YouTube channel if he didn’t do things my way.”