VICTORIOUS (A Quantum Novel)(24)

“It’s okay to say that,” she says with a smile. “I’m relieved, too.”

“So you’re going to tell the school you’re declining their offer to return?”

Nodding, she says, “I’ll write to each of my students and explain why I’m not coming back and give them our address so they can write to me. That would be okay, wouldn’t it?”

“We can’t give out our actual address, but I have a PO box you can use.”

“That’ll work.” She eyes me with excitement and anticipation. “So does this mean I’m officially moving to LA?”

“Eventually. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re somewhat snowed in for the time being.” I nod to the windows, where the driving snow is highlighted by the orange glow of security lights from an adjacent building. “We’re not going anywhere for the next day or two.”

She runs her finger up the inside of my thigh, sparking an immediate reaction. “Whatever will we do with all that time?”

“Well, I’ve got that drawer full of movies and the tub you love so much.”

Turning so she can see me, she takes a good long look to gauge whether I’m serious. “I’ll admit to being confused.”

“I’ll admit to being incredibly aroused by the fact that you’re so eager to proceed with our plans. I can’t f*cking wait to play with you. But before we do that, we need to talk to someone about whether it’s a good idea in light of what you’ve been through in the past.”

“I’m fine, Flynn. I talked to Doctor Bancroft last week.”

This is news to me. “You didn’t know the full picture last week.”

“But still, we talked about sex… and everything.”

I would give everything I have to know how that conversation went down. “You talked about kinky sex? About dominance and submission and everything that goes with those things?”

“Well, no, but—”

“No buts, sweetheart. We have to be certain it won’t set you back before we try it. I have to be certain of that. We need to see your Doctor Bancroft or someone else who specializes in PTSD and sexual assault counseling.”

“He does both those things, which is why the court sent me to him.”

“You’re already familiar with him, so I’d be fine with talking to him.”

She glances up at me, seeming to gauge my sincerity. “You’re very… private… about this part of your life, so private you didn’t even tell me. You’re really willing to talk to a stranger about it?”

“If it means being confident that you can truly handle what we’re considering, then yes, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. We’ve got to figure that we’ve met our quota of disreputable professionals for this lifetime with Rogers.”

“True. I know Curt very well. We can trust him. He saved my life, Flynn. There’s no way I’d be sitting here talking to you, capable of this relationship, without him.”

“Then I owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Will you reach out to him and set up a time when we can talk to him?”

“Yes, I will, and thank you for being so concerned about me.”

“I’m very concerned about you.”

“I’ll text Curt now and see if he can talk to us tomorrow.”

I love that she wants to get on with our plans, that she’s curious and interested rather than turned off and appalled. That makes her as different from my first wife as it’s possible to get, but I already knew Natalie is made of much stronger stuff than Valerie could dream of being. Valerie… I need to do something about the trouble she caused between Natalie and me. I’ll take care of that when I get back to LA. In the meantime, I take advantage of Natalie going to get her phone to look at mine for the first time in a while.

A message from Liza catches my attention. Pictures of Natalie arriving at LaGuardia cropping up online. You won’t like them. Will send pics in next message if you want to see.

“Son of a bitch,” I whisper as I scroll through the pictures of her looking cornered, frightened and very small next to the hulking men on either side of her. I begin to wonder how I’ll ever let her out of my sight again. The thought of my precious love being afraid or surrounded makes me twitchy.

“What’s wrong?” she asks when she rejoins me on the sofa, pulling the blanket back up over us.