I’ve had it. When I enter my room after an unforgettable day with Bryant, I find dozens of missed calls from Dustin. Maybe the only way to make him stop pestering me is to tell him to back off. The last thing I need is to hear his voice, if anything I’d like to pretend he doesn’t exist, but if I want peace, I don’t feel I have much of a choice.

I can handle it. I’m a stronger woman now and it’s time he knows it.

The phone rings before I can dial his number. It’s him. I raise the phone to my ear.

“Why are you calling me?” My voice is steely, controlled.

“Is that how you pick up the phone, these days? What happened to hello?” The tone of his voice gets my heart rate spiking.

My hand tightly clenched over the phone, I go to sit on the bed. “I don’t have time for this, Dustin. Tell me what you want.”

“Fine.” He clears his throat. My stomach turns at the sound. “I need your help, Grace.” I almost scoff at the idea he thinks I can help him after everything he did. When I don’t respond, he continues. “There’s this girl from work, who’s been giving me some kind of . . . trouble.”

Not long after we signed the divorce papers, Dustin lost his job. Last I heard he was working as a waiter while he searches for another. “The girl claims I’m harassing her.”

I lift an eyebrow. “Harassing her?” Funny he doesn’t find it tasteless to talk to me about other women.

“Fine,” he adds, his voice lower. “She says I’m . . . stalking her or something.” He puffs out a laugh. “Crazy, right? She’s only seventeen. I think she has some kind of crush on me.”

“Why do you feel the need to tell me all this? I’m not your wife. Did you forget that little fact?”

“Well, we’re no longer married, but I thought we’re still friends. We were before we got together. Look, I’m in deep shit right now.”

“I don’t know how you expect me to help you with that.” My tone is hard and unrelenting. “And I don’t think we can be friends, Dustin.”

“Help me out for old time’s sake. We were happy once, weren’t we?” I hear him swallow hard. “The stupid girl has the nerve to take me to court. I need money to pay for my defense. A loan. I’ll pay you back as soon as I get back on my feet.”

I don’t want to believe that Dustin did it, but I’ve learned some unpleasant things about him since we got divorced. As much as there’s been gossip about me not being able to save my marriage, I’ve heard a lot about him sleeping around. From the way he treated me on my wedding night, like some kind of failed sex toy, it makes me wonder if he could be capable of stalking the young girl to feed his sex addiction. The whole thing makes me feel sick to my stomach.

“Babe, if you don’t help me out, I could go to prison.” His voice is soaked in desperation now.

“Dustin, hear me out. I won’t do it.” I keep any kind of emotion from my voice. “If you’ve hurt this girl in any way, maybe you deserve to go to prison. I’m sorry, you have to get yourself out of your own mess.”

“You believe I did this?” His tone freezes. “You know me, Grace. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“Wrong,” I snap. “I don’t know you, not really.”

“You’re turning your back on me when I need you most? I’m your husband.”

“My husband?” My temper pushes up in my chest and bursts from my mouth. “You seem to be forgetting the divorce. What that means is I don’t owe you anything.”

“I see.” The chill in his voice transforms to disgust. “Now that you have your fancy job, you think you’re better than the rest of us, is that it?”

“I don’t claim to be better than anyone. But you’re right, something changed. I changed. I accept myself now for who I am. If I stayed with you I would have ended up bitter and miserable.” I draw in a ragged breath. “You would have made a terrible husband and a crappy lover. For your information, you suck in bed.”

“You bitch,” he growls. “What do you know about sex? My dick is the only one that has ever fucked you.”

It’s the first time Dustin has used such strong language with me, but I don’t mind at all. It’s too satisfying to have hit a nerve. Now he knows how it feels to be humiliated, to be made to believe you’re worthless.

“Call me a bitch all you want. But you know what, Dustin, I do know about sex. I know because I found a great lover.” I never meant to bring Bryant into the mix, but I couldn’t help myself. My anger is spilling over. I’m on a roll, unable to stop rubbing it in.

“I’ve found someone who gives me mind-blowing sex, something you were incapable of doing. Now I know that I wasn’t the problem that night, you were. The few pathetic minutes you spent pumping away on top of me did nothing for me.” My unleashed fury burns the back of my throat. “So, you did me a favor that night you humiliated me. Now I have someone I enjoy doing things to that you can’t even start to imagine. Go on, sleep with anyone you want, or stalk young girls and end up in prison. I don’t care. I’m happy now and you can’t take that away from me.” I glance at my finger. “If you need money so desperately ask my mother for the engagement ring you bought me. It’s in a drawer in my room. You can sell it to get back the fifty bucks you spent on it.”

“It did not cost—”

“Don’t waste your breath. I saw it in the display window of Kiera’s Jewels.”

“Well, seeing how things turned out, I’m glad I didn’t spend more on the ring. You’re not worth shit.”

“Yes, I am. Just not to you.” His words don’t even leave a dent on my heart.

“Wonderful. Now do me a favor and stay out of my life.” I hang up the phone, fuming but also triumphant.

I drop my head into my hands, forcing air into my lungs to replace the amount I lost during my conversation with Dustin. I’m still reeling from his news. It’s disgusting when grown men chase after young girls, and if he’s guilty of the crime he’s being accused of, I’m not going to bail him out.

My phone rings again ten minutes later. I snatch it from the bed and pick up without looking at the caller ID.

“Have I not made myself clear?” I bark. “Seriously, why don’t you piss off?”

“How dare you talk to your mother that way? Haven’t I taught you not to use such language?”

“I didn’t know it was you.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“That’s still no excuse. It’s not right to talk to anyone that way.” My mother’s voice is a squeak when she’s angry.

“Mom, I’m not a child anymore.”

“Then stop acting like one.” She speaks to me as though I’m still five. “Listen, I spoke to Dustin. He’s troubled after the conversation you two just had.”

“Why are you still talking to Dustin? He’s no longer your son-in-law.” I suck in a frustrated breath “He never will be again.”

“He’ll always be my son-in-law. I meant for my daughter to marry only once.” The line plunges into momentary silence. “Let me tell you something. When your father left, I refused to give him a divorce. I didn’t care what he did. The vows I made before God meant something to me.”

“That was your decision, Mom. This is mine. Dustin is no longer a part of my life. If you want him to remain a part of yours, go ahead. Don’t involve me.”

“Have you lost your heart some place? Your husband needs you right now.”

“So, he told you he’s in trouble? Did he tell you what kind?” I walk out onto the balcony. “In case he didn’t, he’s in the kind of trouble that involves a seventeen-year-old girl he’s been stalking. Sorry to disappoint you but Dustin is not interested in getting back together. He called me because he wants to drag me into his problems.” If he’s going around talking to my mother about me, it’s time she knows the truth about him.

“How could you say such a thing, Grace Anderson?” Her tone is stiff with disapproval. “Of course the poor man told me what that girl is saying. He also told me he’s innocent. Desperate girls say all kinds of things. Now, instead of accusing him of things he didn’t do, why don’t you be a good wife and stand by his side?”

“That’s not going to happen.” My voice is deflated now. “I owe him nothing. We’re no longer married.”

“And that’s why you go off gallivanting around the world and sleeping with random men?” The venom in her words penetrates my ear. “You do realize you are living in sin?” She inhales sharply. “I taught you better than to act like a . . . like a whore.”

My blood drains from my face. Did my own mother just call me a whore?

“Who’s the bad guy here?” I ask. “Dustin is allowed to run after young girls, to defile them. And I’m a whore for having a boyfriend?”

“So he was right? Did you leave your husband for someone else? Is he the real reason you broke up your marriage? How long has this been going on, Grace?”

“Stop, Mom. Stop saying more things you’ll regret.” Our relationship is on the verge of falling off a cliff.

“If you continue this kind of lifestyle, you’ll end up in hell. That lover of yours will use you and then toss you away like an old shoe.”

Unable to bear hearing anymore of her preaching, I hang up on her as well.

Tears clouding my eyes, I press a button to go to my message folder. My hands are shaking as I type a text message to Bryant. He’s in his suite waiting for me.

I had come to my room only to freshen up and return to him. But I can’t anymore. Not now.

Hey, I’m sorry, I won’t be coming back tonight. I have a headache. I’ll see you tomorrow. Grace