Chapter Ten
chapter ten
RYDER
“When I was growing up, my mom would read me fairy tales. She wasn’t the best mom, but she loved me—she still does,” Kira says with a soft smile. “She grew up poor, and when she was old enough, she started working the streets. She was beautiful, and wealthy men would pay a lot of money to be with her. She learned how to use her body to get what she wanted.
“The problem was, no matter how much they wanted her, at the end of the day, she was still a hooker, and while she was a good lay, she wasn’t wife material.”
The sadness on Kira’s face makes me want to get up and go over to her, pull her into my arms and hold her, but I remind myself that she just forgave me for my momentary lapse in judgment this morning, and the last thing I want is to do something inappropriate to push her away.
“My sperm donor was a married man with an entire other family who made my mom think he wanted more,” she murmurs. “Or maybe my mom was delusional, hoping he would choose her. Regardless, when he found out, he threw money at her and told her to get rid of me.”
She pushes out a harsh breath. “I never wanted that for my life. I did good in school, participated in clubs and cheerleading, and got into a decent college. I continued the same way in college … doing my best to create a life for myself.
“I met a guy I thought was good. He came from a respectable family. He got decent grades and had his future mapped out. We had fun together, and he made me laugh and smile. But then I got pregnant, and everything changed.” She shrugs. “As you already know, he didn’t want any part in the pregnancy or being a dad.”
“He was a fool,” I tell her, wishing I could say exactly what I’m thinking—that I would give anything to find a woman like her.
She’s sweet and kind and so selfless. She’s not only a damn good woman, but she’s also a wonderful mom, and any guy who gets to call her his would be stupid not to cherish and worship her and do everything in his power to keep her.
“It was for the best,” she says. “I would never want someone to stick around who doesn’t want to.”
“I get that. But it doesn’t make it any easier.”
“No, it doesn’t,” she agrees. “After Raymond left, I focused on being a mom. After graduation, instead of starting my teaching career, like I had planned, I got a job at a bar because my mom could watch Violet at night instead of me putting her in day care.
“And then I met Brian.”
She visibly shivers, and I know whatever she’s about to say isn’t going to be good.
“He was charming. He would come in every night and flirt with me. I was a lonely single mom, and he gave me the attention I craved. I could tell he had money. It was evident in the expensive drinks he ordered, the suits he wore, and the way he carried himself. I refused to give in, not wanting to make the same mistake my mom and I had both made, but eventually, he wore me down. He promised me the happily-ever-after, like the ones you read about in romance books, and I fell for it.”
A single tear slides down her cheek. “At first, it felt like a fairy tale—massive house, nice vehicle, a man who worshipped the ground I walked on.”
When another tear escapes, I can’t help but wish I could be next to her, wiping her tears. Seeing Kira sad does something to me. It makes me want to make her happy all the time so I never have to see her cry.
She smiles sadly at me. “I can’t pinpoint the moment Brian changed. Maybe it gradually happened, and I wasn’t paying attention. He asked me to quit working at the bar, and at first, I refused, not wanting to give up my independence. But then he got upset and threw a tantrum, and I gave in, choosing to believe he was doing it because he cared instead of admitting what it really was—possession.”
She glances down at her hands before she speaks her next words. “One weekend, he was out of town for a conference, and a couple of friends asked me to go out with them. I didn’t know he was tracking my phone. Although I should’ve suspected it since, at that point, he was so controlling that I couldn’t do anything without his approval.”
She looks up at me, and it’s like she’s not even here anymore. Her usually bright blue eyes are so dark that it’s as if she were lost in the deepest part of the ocean, and I would give anything to save her and bring her back to shore.
“He showed up at the club and dragged me out,” she murmurs, sounding far away, like she’s back in that moment, recalling what happened. “Accused me of cheating on him, called me every name in the book. When we got home, he beat the crap out of me, saying I was unappreciative of everything he’d given us, pushed me down the stairs, and then he left me for dead.”
“I’m going to kill him.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, but I can’t find it in me to regret them.
I’m not a violent guy, but a man putting his hands on a woman is my breaking point.
I’m busy thinking about how I can go about finding this guy and all the ways I can end his life when Kira places her hand on mine.
“I appreciate that, but I won’t be the reason you go to jail … and you would because Brian is an attorney—and a damn good one. So good that after he left me for dead, I called the ambulance before passing out, was taken to the hospital, and pressed charges after being told by a police officer and an attorney that Brian wouldn’t get away with it, and he managed to get away with it.”
“What the fuck do you mean, he got away with it?”
“I had two black eyes, a split lip that required stitches, a broken wrist, two cracked ribs, and a concussion.”
“Come here, please,” I plead, needing her to be closer. Across the room, on separate couches, is too far away. I need to hold her, comfort her. More for me than her because fuck if she isn’t the strongest woman I’ve ever met. But I don’t want to go to her because I want it to be her choice. I want it to always be her choice.
She crosses the room and sits next to me, and I take her hand in mine, craving the connection. She could’ve died that night, but she survived. She’s a survivor.
“The prosecutor’s office said he would get years in jail with assault and battery and attempted murder,” she continues, staring down at our linked fingers.
I already know there’s a but coming because if he had gotten convicted for all that, she wouldn’t have been living out of her car.
“While we were awaiting trial, he was out on bail. He would harass me from afar, calling and making threats. But he never once crossed the line. I just kept telling myself that, soon, he would be put away, and Violet and I would move forward with our lives, lesson learned.”
At the mention of her daughter’s name, I still. “Did he ever …”
She shakes her head. “He never laid a hand on her. Until that night, he never laid a hand on me. Had he done so, I would’ve left sooner. I was already preparing to leave him as it was. It was hard because he had gone from Prince Charming to the villain so quickly that I didn’t even see it coming. One minute, he was charming me and proposing, offering me and my daughter a great life, and the next, he was cutting me off from the world and locking us up in a gilded cage.”
“Where is he now?” I ask, needing to know how this ends so I can start figuring out how to take care of it.
“He took a plea bargain,” she says with a sigh. “Aggravated domestic assault—Class A misdemeanor. Sounds good in theory, like he would get some major time behind bars. Nope, he got a four-thousand-dollar fine and thirty days.”
Jesus, fuck, and people wonder what the hell is wrong with our country.
“I’d heard him tell me a million times how a guy he’d defended got six months and was out in thirty days. Once, a guy got sixty days, and then he walked in and then walked right back out due to overcrowding. I couldn’t risk it,” she says, meeting my eyes. “I left the courthouse and went straight to my mom’s to get Violet. Because he had cut me off and wouldn’t let me work, I had little money. A couple thousand saved that I’d been slowly stealing from him.”
She blows out a harsh breath. “I knew without a doubt that he would come for me, restraining order be damned, so I had to cut all ties with my mom and leave my phone behind. I had no choice but to take the SUV he had given me since it was my only form of transportation. I stopped at a mechanic shop that a friend owned, and he made sure it couldn’t be tracked, and then we took off.”
“How did you end up here?” I ask since her license plate says California.
“I started driving and didn’t stop until I felt like I was far enough away. I love flowers, hence Violet’s name, so when I saw a sign for Rosemary, I felt like it was fate.”
“I’m glad you came here.”
“I am too,” she breathes out. “But I didn’t realize that I’d picked such an expensive town.” She chuckles. “The cost of hotels added up quickly, and before I could find a job, I was almost out of money, which is why you found us living out of our car.”
“What can I do?” I ask, needing to do something to help Kira.
She’s been through so much, none of which she deserved.
“You’re doing it,” she says, palming the side of my face. “You gave me a job and Violet and me a safe place to live.”
“You can’t run forever,” I tell her, hating that I need to point out the obvious, but I’m a realist. I deal with facts and numbers.
“I know,” she says, swallowing nervously and dropping her hand from my face. “But I’m hoping, with time, he’ll move on.”
“You’re still married to him. You’re driving a vehicle he bought you.”
Speaking of which …
“How are you paying for the insurance?”
“I’m not,” she admits sheepishly. “Because he kept it in his name so I would be forced to be dependent on him, I couldn’t get insurance on my own.”
Fuck. “That’s why you were hiding it in the parking garage and don’t drive anywhere.”
“Yep. I’m sure he’s reported it stolen.”
“And you’re still married …”
“Only until I can figure out how to divorce him without him coming after me. And I don’t know how that’s going to happen when he’s a damn attorney with money and connections. My only saving grace is that I never let him adopt Violet.” She glances down and shakes her head. “I feel like the biggest fool for falling for him. I should’ve known it was all too good to be true.”
“Hey,” I say, lifting her chin so she’ll look at me. “You’re not a fool. And not all men with money are like that. He’s a piece of shit who’s going to get what’s coming to him. Not only will I make sure you get your divorce, but he’s also never coming near you or Violet again.”
“How can you promise that?” she whispers.
“Because money talks and I’m filthy fucking rich.”
“Ryder,” she gasps. “I can’t ask you to do that for me.”
“You didn’t ask. But I’m going to handle it all the same.”
“And what do you want in return?”
“I want you to have a choice. I want you to be safe and free. You won’t owe me anything, but the promise that you’ll live your life how you want. That you won’t let guys like Brian or your or Violet’s sperm donor taint you or your perception of the world. I know it’s hard to believe since you’ve been surrounded by so many shitty men, but not all of them are like that. I promise.”
“I’m beginning to see that,” she says with a sigh, leaning into me and resting her head on my shoulder.
Without thought, I turn my face and kiss the crown of her head. “It’s all going to be okay,” I murmur. “I’m going to make sure of it.”
She nods in understanding, and then after a few minutes of silence, she says, “Can you read another chapter to me? I’m dying to find out what happens now that she’s found him.”
I chuckle and grab the book from the end table. “What do you think is going to happen?” I ask as I turn back to where I left off the other night.
I’ve already finished the book, so I know how he acts, but I’m curious about her thoughts.
“It’s romance, so at some point, he’s going to sweep her off her feet and confess his undying love to her, but it’s only the beginning of the book, so it’s too soon for that. Which means he’s probably going to freak the hell out.”
I chuckle, knowing that’s exactly what happens, and then say, “Let’s find out.”