Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Timothy had asked him out at noon, and now, in the afternoon, Vince was reaching out too. Did these two men really think of him as some kind of errand

boy?

"We're in the middle of a spat, so enough talking-just hurry up already."

Yates tried calling Timothy, but his phone was switched off.

Left with no other option, Yates replied to Vince's message.

"Vince, if you ask me, Timothy's got you beat. He didn't just ignore your call-he turned his phone off. Didn't even give you a chance to talk. Honestly, maybe it's time to back off. If anyone else tried to steal his wife, he'd have handled them already. Why push it and turn yourselves into enemies? We're all men here. Whether you love your woman or not, you can't expect someone else to just sit by and watch. Let it go, alright?"

Yates always thought Vince was the one in the wrong here-after all, Timothy and Jessica were legally married.

"If you can't get through to him, I'm hanging up.”

Vince snapped his phone shut and rubbed his forehead. Yates was right-Timothy was more ruthless than he was.

Now that Timothy had hidden Jessica away, it wasn't going to be easy to find her.

It was nearly midnight before Jessica finally sank into a deeper sleep. Only then did Timothy gently lift her and lay her in bed. He knelt beside her, slipping off her shoes, then carefully pulled the blanket over her.

Timothy sat at her bedside the entire night.

near the abdomen, there were scattered dark stains of

morning, Jessica woke to the sound of someone making breakfast. She opened her eyes slowly, the faint

cleared, she saw the tall, familiar figure standing at the kitchen

to sit up, but a wave of soreness washed over her muscles. Instead, she leaned back against the headboard,

to sense she was awake. He turned to look at her, his dark eyes

moment later, he turned away. The sandwiches in the skillet were

and sliced them neatly into small squares. He

a steady, graceful step. Stubble shadowed his jaw, and

wrinkled, stained

around his

set the tray on the nightstand, then bent

he tucked it behind her

watched it all,

matter how gentle he was now, she

wounds could reopen; she wouldn't worry for

she wouldn't bother

shirt could stay wrinkled; she no longer cared to get