Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sonja woke with a massive headache and needed a moment to remember what had happened. Her stomach dropped as she reviewed the events of the past evening. She covered her mouth as she bit back a sob. She was done crying and feeling sorry for herself. She wouldn’t give in to the urge to curl up in a ball. Resolved to move forward, she sat upright and received a disgruntled look from Snuggles.
With fake cheer in her voice, she crooned to him, “Want some breakfast, sweet boy?” Snuggles stretched, turned around, and flopped on the bed again.
Okay, I guess he’s not hungry, but I’m going to get up and have breakfast—strong coffee and a couple ibuprofen!
Sonja pulled on her fluffy robe and shoved her feet into her favorite pink slippers. Before she left the bedroom, she gave in to temptation and grabbed her favorite stuffed animal from the shelf. Sonja cuddled the light-gray elephant to her chest as she went down to the kitchen.
As she waited for the coffee to brew, she fought to keep her tears at bay.
Apparently, people forget pain because I can’t remember feeling this hurt before. The silence in her home pressed down on her, and she picked up her phone to put on music at the same time the device started to vibrate.
She almost dropped it but answered without glancing at the screen. “Yeah?”
“Babgirl.”
She sobbed at hearing Derek’s voice and answered, “Daddy?” before realizing what she was doing. She stiffened and pulled herself together. “Why are you calling, Derek?”
“Whatever you saw last night, it’s not what you think.”
Sonja scoffed. “You mean another woman wasn’t hugging you and calling you Daddy?”
“Please, can we talk?”
“Why?”
“I want to explain.” Derek sighed, and she imagined him running his hand over his face as he did when agitated. “But not over the phone. Can I come over?”
Sonja thought for a moment. She didn’t want him in her home right now, but she wanted his explanation. He was right. It was a conversation to have face to face.
“Meet me in half an hour at The Sweet and Savory Table.” Sonja had to go to work anyway. “Aside from Suzie, no one will be there yet, and she’ll be busy in the kitchen.”
“I’ll be there.”
Sonja poured herself a cup of coffee and set it on the counter to cool off then added a chocolate-filled croissant, Suzie’s specialty that was a favorite among the café’s regulars. After eating half, she downed two painkillers with a tall glass of water and went for a shower.
Derek paced up and down the pavement in front of the café for at least ten minutes before he spotted the familiar small red sports car. His knees almost buckled in relief. She was here, and she wanted to talk.
His beautiful babygirl got out of the car and greeted him with a nod and a terse, “Derek.”
He could live with that. As long as he didn’t have to live without her .
“Good morning, Sonja.”
She opened the café and went inside in front of him. He followed her and almost had to laugh at how out of character their dynamic was, but when he saw her rigid shoulders, he sobered. She was hurting, and before he could remedy that, they had to talk.
“Coffee?”
He shook his head. “No, thank you.”
“All right, let’s go into the office.”
Sonja took the lead again, and he followed her into the room at the back of the café. “Take a seat.”
Derek did as she suggested. Sonja sat behind the desk, putting the formidable barrier between them.
Derek drew a steady breath, meeting Sonja’s wary gaze. “I know what you think you saw tonight, and I hate that it hurt you. But I need you to hear me out.”
She folded her arms, her expression guarded. “I’m listening.”
He nodded. “Angie and I were over long before you and I ever started. A year, at least. And it wasn’t a clean break. She didn’t take it well.”
Sonja arched a brow. “Didn’t take it well, how?”
Derek rubbed a hand through his beard. “She kept showing up—at work, at the gym, even at my place a couple of times. Not in a full-blown stalker way, just… enough to push my patience. I thought she’d finally moved on, but clearly, she hasn’t.”
Sonja’s shoulders relaxed just a fraction, but her eyes still held doubt. “If it’s been a year, why is she pulling this now?”
“Because she’s Angie,” he said flatly. “She saw an opportunity and took it. She wanted to make you jealous or drive a wedge between us—hell, maybe both. But I swear to you, babygirl, I shut her down then, and I’ll shut her down now.”
Sonja chewed her lip, but she was absorbing his words. “So you’re saying she just… grabbed you out of nowhere?”
“Yes.” His voice was firm. “I was just as caught off guard as you were.” He hesitated. “If I’d known you were there, if I had even thought she’d try something, I would’ve handled it differently. But I didn’t see you, and by the time I realized?—”
“I was gone,” Sonja finished for him, her voice quieter now.
Derek reached across the table, taking her hand. “Yeah. And I hate that. I hate that you felt like you had to leave instead of confronting me.”
She let out a slow breath, some of the tension in her grip easing. “I didn’t know what to think. I saw her all over you, and I panicked.”
He traced his thumb over her knuckles. “I get that. And I’m telling you now, I don’t want Angie. I want you .”
She was quiet for a long moment, then asked, “So, during the two years you were together, you tried to break it off several times, but she kept coming back?”
Derek nodded, his jaw tightening. “Yeah. Every time I thought we were done, she’d show up again. Sometimes acting like nothing had changed, sometimes pulling the whole ‘I can’t live without you’ act.”
Sonja frowned. “That sounds a lot like stalking to me.”
Derek let out a dry huff. “Yeah, well. I tried to get a restraining order once but got nowhere with the local police.”
Her eyes widened. “You did?”
He shrugged, the frustration still a bitter taste in his mouth. “She never made threats, never broke into my place. She just… showed up —unwanted, uninvited, but never in a way that checked the right legal boxes. The cops said they couldn’t do much unless she escalated.”
Sonja reached across the table and touched his hand, her fingers warm and steady against his skin. He exhaled and squeezed hers in return.
She believed him. She saw him.
Relief crashed over him, loosening something deep in his chest.
“What now?”
“This time, things will be different. Jackson and Will were with me and supported me. Today, I’ll file a complaint with the KCPD. Angie is unstable, and she needs professional help, but she’ll never submit to therapy voluntarily.”
Sonja nodded. “I talked to her for a while last night, and I sensed something was off, but I didn’t know what.”
“I was miserable last night, babygirl.”
Sonja looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Me, too,” she whispered.
Derek scooted his chair back and tugged on her hand. Sonja didn’t need much encouragement to round the desk and throw herself in Derek’s arms.