Erin's head dropped forward again. This time it did not come back up. Her body went completely limp against the side of the booth. The glass in her hand slipped out of her fingers and fell onto the carpet without breaking. Her eyes were barely open. She was mumbling something under her breath, but the words were too soft and too broken to understand."She is done for the night," the scar faced man announced to the table with a casual and amused tone, looking down at the unconscious woman slumped against his shoulder. "Someone help me move her to the back room. She needs to lie down somewhere quiet."Two of the men stood up from the booth immediately. One of them grabbed Erin under the arms while the other took hold of her legs. They lifted her off the seat like she weighed nothing at all. Her head hung loosely backward. Her expensive dress had twisted around her body. Her shoes had already fallen off somewhere under the table."Put her down," Kitty cried out with a loud and frantic vo

Erin threw herself toward the door. She made it exactly two steps before the scar faced man grabbed her arm and yanked her backward. She stumbled hard and hit the edge of the couch with her hip."Let go of me," Erin screamed with a raw and furious voice, pulling her arm free and swinging wildly at his face. Her open palm connected with his jaw. It was not a strong hit, but it was enough to make his head turn slightly to the side.The room went very quiet.The scar faced man slowly turned his face back toward her. The amused expression was completely gone. What replaced it was something flat and cold and entirely without patience."You should not have done that," he said with a very low and dangerous voice.He hit her across the face with the back of his hand. The force of the blow knocked Erin sideways off the couch and onto the hard floor. She landed on her hands and knees. Blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.Erin looked up at him through the tangled hair hanging over her face

Derek moved so fast that nobody in the room even saw the first hit coming.His right fist connected with the scar faced man's jaw before the grin had time to leave his mouth. The impact was clean and brutal and perfectly aimed. The man's head snapped hard to the left. His knees buckled instantly. Before he could fall, Derek caught him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him forward into a second punch that landed directly in the center of his face.The sound of cartilage breaking echoed off the thin walls of the back room.The scar faced man staggered backward. Blood poured from his nose. His hands came up too late and too slow. Derek was already inside his guard. A third punch hit him square in the ribs. A fourth came up hard under his chin. The man's eyes rolled backward. His legs gave out completely and he dropped heavily to his knees on the carpet.Derek stood over him. He was breathing hard but his hands were perfectly steady. He looked down at the man bleeding on the floor the

Derek gently pulled his fingers free from her grip. He crouched down so that his eyes were level with hers. He did not look angry. He did not look hurt. He looked like a man who had finally finished a very long walk and could see the end of the road clearly for the first time."Erin, this divorce is not about Mike," Derek said with a very calm and quiet voice, looking directly into her swollen eye.Erin blinked once. "What do you mean it is not about Mike? He is the reason you asked for the divorce in the first place.""Mike is not the reason," Derek replied steadily, shaking his head once. "Mike is just the last thing that happened. But this has been building for a very long time."Erin stared at him with a confused and frightened expression. "Building? What has been building? We were fine before the hotel fire. We were happy.""You were happy," Derek corrected gently with a tired and honest face. "I was compromising. Every single day for five years, I was changing myself to fit insi

Derek stood in the doorway of the hidden bedroom for a long and heavy moment. The suspicions burned through his tired mind like hot embers landing on dry wood. Every question led to another question and every answer led somewhere darker than the one before it.Then he stopped himself.It did not matter. None of it mattered anymore. Whether she had used this room alone or with someone else was a question that belonged to a marriage he had already decided to leave. Chasing the truth would not change Monday morning at the courthouse. It would only add more weight to a bag he was already carrying out the door.Derek let the thought go. He released it the way a man drops a heavy stone into deep water and watches it disappear beneath the surface without reaching down to pull it back."Kitty, make sure she drinks water and gets some rest," Derek instructed with a calm and practical voice, turning away from the bedroom door. "I am going to leave now.""Wait," Erin called out quickly from the