The Fight for Us Read Online Free PDF Page B

behavior. I’m sorry Natalie has to deal with this. I’m just sorry.”
    He was silent. The man was very good at holding his tongue when he chose, and he wasn’t afraid to let that silence draw out uncomfortably. “I don’t need your apology. I need your daughter to stop tormenting mine. Make that happen, and there’ll be no need to apologize. Goodbye, Joss.”
    Her body flushed with warmth at the sound of his voice saying her name. He hung up before she could regain her composure and respond. His voice had been deep and warm, not at all furious and intimidating as it had been earlier in the day, and while he may not have necessarily accepted her apology, his anger was stowed as much as hers was. She was almost disappointed he’d ended the call so soon and abruptly. Of course, why wouldn’t he? But she didn’t like it. She very oddly didn’t want him to hate her.
    On the other hand, within two seconds of hanging up with him she was forced to deal with a man she would give anything to make hate her—at least hate her enough to stay away from her.
    She said nothing as Todd let himself in without even knocking. It had been only a month since he’d come last time. It was usually two to three months, and even that was far too often. She couldn’t deal with him tonight…but of course she would. It was simply easier, and if she tolerated it, he wouldn’t hurt her and Harper would never be the wiser.
    “You were just here a month ago.” She stared at his feet as she spoke.
    “Is she in bed?” He ignored her comment, watching her blandly. He was a handsome man by any account, and always dressed impeccably. But he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or perhaps a monster in a man’s clothing. She didn’t give a shit what kind of clothes he wore, she just plain hated him.
    “Please, not tonight.”
    He harrumphed with a cruel, mirthless smirk playing on his mouth, and she took a deep calming breath, ignoring her rapidly increasing heart rate. “Either tell me if she’s asleep or I’ll start yelling and find out that way. Won’t change the reason I’m here. I could give a shit if she’s awake or not. That’s your concern.”
    Joss stared at the ground for a moment. “She’s asleep.”
    “Then invite me in. Get me a glass a wine, and then you can take me to bed—unless, of course, you’d like to be bent over the kitchen table again.” He smirked and pushed past her into the foyer.
    * * * *
    Todd was gone by the time the sun or Harper were up, but the remnant memories of him stuck with Joss anyway—they always did. She’d soaked in the bathtub from the moment he walked out the door until she heard Harper stirring. She’d nearly fallen asleep as she let the hot water wash away her shame. The damn water never did that good of a job though. At least he no longer beat the shit out of her, and usually his visits, while more frequent than she’d like, fell only once every few months. At first blush, it seemed like a pretty damn good deal. But it didn’t feel like a good deal at all, and by the time she crawled from the bathtub, her eyes were puffy from crying for the past hour.
    It didn’t stop her from launching into one hell of a discussion on bullying as she drove Harper to school. Hell, refocusing her energy on Harper was quite an effective way of driving Todd from her mind. Joss’s lecture was epic, at least that’s what Harper called it. Joss was struggling to concentrate even on her daughter’s behavioral issues, and she wasn’t entirely sure what was so epic about her threatening her daughter with a yearlong grounding, but if epic meant her daughter got the point, she’d take it.
    “I mean it, Harper, you and I understand very well what mean looks like, and I think we both understand it well enough to know it isn’t the right way.”
    “Duh, Mom. Geez.” Harper was muttering as she hopped out of the car in front of school, but when she caught sight of Jen and Lena nearby, she bounced and