Page 56 of Playing with Trouble

I smiled faintly, staring at the spot where Violet had been standing just a short while ago.“Yeah,” I said quietly.“She is.”

I rubbed a hand over my face, feeling that familiar pinch of guilt and decided to be honest with my mother.“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.Anything.”

So I told her everything.The cover story about Violet being my girlfriend, the break-in, the threats, the case—all of it.By the time I was done, I felt like a kid again, standing in front of her after breaking the neighbor’s window with a baseball and waiting for the lecture I knew I deserved.

To my surprise, my mom just laughed softly.“I’m sorry, honey.What’s happening to Violet isn’t funny, but you really expect me to believe you twoaren’tdating?”

I groaned.“We’re not.We’re just…” I grimaced as I let the words trail off, realizing how cringe-worthyjust sleeping togetherwould sound to my mother.“I need to know what to do.”

“About what?”she asked, sounding confused.

I exhaled a frustrated breath.“About Violet.About how to help someone who keeps pulling away when all I want is to keep her safe.You and Dad…you went through stuff when he was in the military and he’d come home in between tours.How did you handle it when he put up walls between you two?”

Mom was quiet for a long moment.I could hear faint kitchen noises on her end, probably her using her mixer while thinking through her answer.When she spoke, her tone was thoughtful.“Honestly?I didn’t handle it.Not at first.There were days I wanted to shake him, force him to open up and talk to me.But you can’t make someone do anything.You can only meet them halfway.”

“That’s not exactly a satisfying answer,” I muttered.

“I know.”I could hear her smile.“But it’s the truth.A relationship is a two-way street.You take care of your half.You show up, you work on your relationship in good faith, and then you wait for them to do the same.”

I wanted to growl.“I hate that.I hate not being able to fix things.”

Mom chuckled softly.“You sound just like your father.You men in this family, always wanting to problem-solve everything.”

“Yeah, well, it’s worked for me so far.”

“Has it?”she countered lightly.“Because it sounds to me like you’re trying tocontrolthe outcome instead of trusting her to meet you there.”

That landed like a punch to the gut, and she continued before I could respond.

“I love everything about your father,” she went on.“I had to remember that during the times we were apart and when I worried about our marriage.I had to trust that he was committed when he was gone for months to a year at a time because of the military, and if I put the work in, so would your father when he was present and on leave.And for the most part, he did.”

I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck.“You make it sound easy.”

“Oh, it’s not,” she said with a laugh.“Your father and I spent years figuring it out.There were arguments, and even fighting about issues we had to resolve in order to make our marriage work.But I loved him and that meant trusting that he’d show up, even when I was scared he wouldn’t.You can’t demand faith without offering it first.”

I huffed out a quiet, reluctant laugh.“Don’t take this the wrong way, Mom, but sometimes I hate how right you are.”

“I know you, honey,” she said, her tone soft with understanding.“I know what a protective person you are.You’re a man who likes to take care of people.And I’m so proud of who you are.But you can’t dance a tango by dragging your partner around the floor.”

I almost laughed at her analogy, but she was right.I’d been treating Violet like every other client, like someone who needed me to manage the dangerforher instead of trusting her to walk beside me through it.

“There’s that saying,” Mom added thoughtfully.“If you love something, let it go.If it was meant to be, it will come back.It sounds like you’ve clearly shown Violet how much you care, but maybe it’s time to show her that you believe in her, too.That you trust her to come back because love isn’t about holding on tight.It’s about giving someone the space to choose you.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, exhaling slowly.“Thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime, honey.”

We said our goodbyes, and after we hung up, I stood there for a while, the phone still in my hand, thinking about what she’d said.I’d done everything to make Violet feel safe.But now, maybe the bravest thing I could do for her was…nothing at all.I had to trust her the way I was asking her to trust me.

My phone rang and when I glanced at the screen, I saw it was Sutton.I connected the call and put the phone back to my ear.“Hey, Sutton.What’s up?”

“I just received a call from my contact at LVPD.They found Brian Halpert and have him in custody,” Sutton said of the man who’d threatened Violet after losing his money at her poker table.“He was arrested at another casino.He was drunk, belligerent, and causing a scene.They ran his ID and saw he was part of an active investigation.They have him in a hold tank at the precinct and I figured since you have the day off from watching Violet, you can head down there and see what Halpert has to say.”

They fucking caught the guy.Sutton’s words landed like a punch and then a weight lifted all at once.“Let your contact know to wait on the interrogation if they can until I get there.I’m on my way,” I said, already heading out the door to my car, hoping and praying this would finally be over.That maybe Violet could finally relax and live her life normally again.

At the precinct, Paul Miller, the sergeant who’d been liaising on Violet’s case, met me in the hall and walked me toward the holding area.I’d spoken to him a few times, and although he hadn’t been one of the officers to respond to Violet’s home being broken into, he’d been apprised of the situation.