Chapter Seventy Six

Trinity

I was at my boiling point. After everything we’d been through, this jealous woman was trying to make her move. I was tired of people trying to tear down my husband.

He wasn’t perfect, and I wasn’t blind to the fact that we all have a past. Everyone at this table knew mine. But he was trying to be a better man—for his family, for himself, and to break free from the vicious cycle that had been thrust upon him his whole life.

I’d never given Lily a reason to be anything but polite to me. I felt sorry that she had feelings for Stephen that he didn’t return. But what I wasn’t sorry for was the love Stephen and I had found. And I was tired of people trying to destroy it. This was my breaking point. I saw my husband start to respond, but I placed my hand on his, signaling that this was my fight.

I handed our youngest son to Stephen, leaning over to place a soft kiss on his cheek. I whispered, “No, baby, this one is not your battle.”

I stood up and walked over to Lily. Leaning in close, I made my intentions clear. “You will not do this in front of my children. If you continue, I will bury you. Don’t think I haven’t done it before. You should know if you’ve really been talking to Walis and Grounds. Let’s take this outside. Your issue isn’t with Stephen, it’s with me, because he chose me over you.”

I turned to Mia. “Mia, come with us, please.”

Mia nodded. “Excuse us, we’ll be right back.”

I walked past Lily and headed for the door. As I opened it, I saw Mia let Lily go first to ensure she didn’t upset the children any further. I crossed the parking lot to a quiet spot and turned around.

Lily was following, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Mia wasn’t up to anything. Once she reached me, she just stood there, a smug half-smile on her face, thinking she still had a way out.

“There’s only one way this is going to go down,” I told her.

“Yeah, you’re going to leave town, then the charges will be dropped and once Stephen marries me, I won’t be able to testify against him,” she retorted.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Lily. If you testify against him and he’s convicted, that strengthens the FBI’s case against Chief Walis. He was arrested a few days ago. So, if you’ve been whispering in their ears, thinking you could scheme to bring my husband down, you’ve underestimated us.”

I watched as Lily absorbed this, finally realizing she had no leverage.

“Now, the only one disappearing will be you. If I see your face again, I’ll do to you what I did to Mike.”

Her head shot up. “That’s right, Lily, I killed him. If you don’t believe me, ask Mia.”

She turned to Mia, who nodded in agreement.

“Since I was already tried and acquitted, they can’t take the case to trial again. That’s double jeopardy. There was never a time frame on when I would get my memory back, but it just so happens that I have. Now stay the fuck away from my family.”

She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

“You can leave now.”

Mia and I watched as she hurried back to her car and drove off. We turned to head back inside.

“Don’t poke the momma bear, huh?” Mia joked.

“Girl, you need to go have a glass of wine for me since I can’t,” I laughed.

Mia wrapped her arm around me as we headed back. Stephen and Clint were standing a few meters away, watching.

“What are you two doing? Weren’t you supposed to be watching the children?” Mia asked.

“The others are more than capable,” Clint replied.

“And there was no way we were missing this,” Stephen added.

“You two are something else,” I laughed.

We all burst into laughter when Barney told Mia she was getting a bit too loud and a passing group overheard him and started laughing too. I felt Stephen grab my ass as he leaned into me.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing,” he said. “You’re going to get it harder. I’m so aroused after watching that.”