Twenty-Five | Jo
Twenty-Five
Jo
Dom was sitting on the couch watching a movie when I sat beside him. He didn’t say anything, just shifted his position as he lifted his arm and rested it on the back of the couch, giving me space to curl up beside him if I wanted to.
My body was tense as I opened the Photos app on my phone and started scrolling until I found the one I wanted. I fought back the tears that threatened to spill over as I turned it toward Dom so he could see.
“This is what I look like dead,” I said. “Or close to dead since I’m obviously still alive.”
Dom’s jaw tightened as he stared at the picture of me with my face bruised and swollen from Tray.
“I had dressed up for Tray’s birthday party,” I continued, ignoring the lump in my throat as the memories of that night resurfaced.
“I had just bought a new dress, and I thought he would love it, so I surprised him by wearing it that night. When he saw me, he was pissed. He accused me of trying to get attention and called me a whore. I tried to assure him that I was only dressing up for him, but he didn’t want to hear it.
He demanded that I change, and when I refused, he hit me for the first time. ”
I swallowed and licked my lips, trying to keep my mouth from going dry.
“I still remember the shock I felt when it happened because I had never seen that side of him before. Well, I had, but not when it came to me. He had always been so loving and kind, I never would have suspected he would hurt me over something as stupid as a dress.”
Dom worked his jaw back and forth as he listened, his eyes never straying from the photo.
“I tried to get up on my own when I realized he wasn’t going to help me.
Before I could, he kicked me several times, knocking the wind out of me.
The man I thought I knew changed in a heartbeat, and I remember being so confused because the man I loved wasn’t the same man who stood there beating me until I was barely conscious. ”
“Fuck, Jo,” Dom hissed, as his nostrils flared.
“He eventually helped me up, but only to pin me against the wall by my throat while he lifted my dress and took what he wanted. By that point, I was fading in and out of consciousness and couldn’t say or do anything to stop him.
The last words I remember hearing him say before I passed out were ‘if you want to act like a whore, I’ll treat you like one.
’ After that, I woke up on the floor in a puddle of blood.
I searched for my phone, knowing that I needed to call for help, until I realized I didn’t have anyone to call. ”
“I wish I fucking knew what was happening,” Dom growled. “I would have fucking killed him that night.”
I shrugged because it didn’t matter anymore. I had survived Tray that night, and plenty more after it.
“When I finally found my phone, there was a text message to my uncle with this picture and a price my uncle could pay Tray to get me back. Tray was never really interested in loving me or in marrying me. He saw an opportunity to go after what he wanted from my uncle, so he took it. Everything with Tray always revolved around money. He was never satisfied, no matter how much he had.”
“What did your uncle say?”
“He said that I wasn’t worth the price and that Tray could keep me.
” I stopped and swiped to the next photo, where I actually looked dead.
“Tray got mad and sent this one, telling my uncle I was dead. My uncle never responded and I didn’t hear from him again until I reached out for help a year later. ”
“I can’t believe I had no fucking clue. How did all of this get past me?”
“Tray was good at hiding stuff. Whenever he beat me, he’d make me hide inside the house until the bruises healed.
He didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing to me.
Most of the time, he would say that I was sick or that I was working on a project for him, but he isolated me from everyone, so I had no one to ask for help. ”
“I remember the night of his birthday party, I asked him where you were, and he said you had food poisoning from the place you took him to for lunch.” Dom shook his head as he spoke.
“Just like how you got food poisoning for my birthday and couldn’t make it that night either.
I should have figured it out sooner—I mean, how many times can someone get food poisoning from the same restaurant without learning their lesson?
” He shoved a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Tray was really good at showing people what he wanted them to see. I was married to him for over a year before he ever laid a hand on me, Dom. He built that trust in me so I would never question him, and then when he broke it, it was too late. By that point, I had put so much into our relationship that I didn’t bother to start or maintain any friendships.
I had no one to turn to, and he knew it.
He isolated me so he could manipulate me into what he wanted me to be. ”
“I still remember when you moved to Canyon Cove,” Dom said with a soft smile. “You were the new girl in town, and everyone wanted to know who you were and where you came from.”
“I was so lost back then, moving from town to town as I tried to figure out who I wanted to be. It never failed that wherever I went, my uncle would send someone to find me. After leaving when I was seventeen, he just couldn’t let go of the fact that I walked away from him.
I moved so many times, hoping to leave him and that life behind.
I wanted to get as far away from his organization as possible, then walked mindlessly into Tray’s without even realizing what I stepped into.
I still think that was why Tray pushed so hard for us to get married right away.
I don’t think he wanted me to see who he really was and knew that if I did, I wouldn’t be with him. ”
I laughed and shook my head, remembering how enamored I had been with the thought of moving to a small town and taking care of people without having to worry about my uncle. There was no way he would spend the time or money to look for me in a place like Canyon Cove.
“Tray wasn’t always like that,” Dom replied softly.
“When I first met him, he was a cool dude to hang out with. We had a few classes together in college and hung out on the weekends. But he was never into all of the bullshit he got into later. It wasn’t until after we graduated that he started to get bored.
One thing led to another, and soon he was a bookie for an underground gambling ring.
The power he thought he held went to his head, and he always craved more. ”
“I didn’t know about all of that until it was too late,” I admitted.
“I thought I was dating Tray, the sexy man who ran his own business and had his shit together because he had gone to school and gotten a degree like me. I swear, if I had seen the signs that he was going to turn into someone like my uncle, I would have run in the other direction.”
Dom nodded and let out a heavy breath as he studied my face.
“Tray never showed any interest in any of that until he found out who your uncle was. When you told us stories about what life had been like growing up with him, I saw the way Tray started changing. He was always obsessed with what people thought of him, and I think he assumed that if he became someone like your uncle, he would have the power and respect he thought he deserved.”
“You knew him longer than I did, so I’m sure you’re right. Sometimes, I wish I had never told him who my uncle was or where I came from. Maybe if I had left that life in the past, my life would have turned out differently.”
“Possibly.” He shrugged and then wrapped his arm around my shoulders and hugged me.
“But then I wouldn’t have met you. Living in a world where I don’t get to be with you—either as a friend or more—is a world I never want to be in.
I’m sorry that everything that led us here was so terrible, but I will never take it for granted that I get to be here with you, Jo. ”
“Well, I’m happy to be here with you, too, even if that time might be limited.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them. I felt Dom tense next to me, but it was pointless to ignore the fact that I was literally being hunted by people that my husband sent after me.
“You’ve survived so much already, Jo. You’ll survive this, too. I’ll make sure you do.”
“I had some help along the way,” I admitted. “I used my uncle to get out of my marriage to Tray.”
“I still don’t get how that worked,” Dom said quietly. “Why did your uncle agree to help you if he wasn’t willing to help when Tray sent him the message and asked him for money?”
“My uncle was a terrible man who only cared about what benefited him. When Tray reached out, my uncle didn’t have a need for me, so he didn’t care whether I lived or died.”
“What changed? Why did he step in when you asked for help getting a divorce?”
“Because he wanted me to marry someone in his organization. Some asshole had a lot of money tied up in an inheritance but needed to be married to claim it. My uncle agreed to help me get divorced, but I had to marry this other guy.”
“So you got divorced from Tray and then married some other guy?”
“Nope. I knew that as soon as we were married, and the inheritance was paid out, that my uncle would kill us both because he was only concerned with the money, so I killed the guy I was supposed to marry.”
“Wait,” Dom said, holding up his hand as his face paled. “You what?”
“I killed him and left a note for my uncle telling him he could go fuck himself. Then I ran and never looked back. I ended up in Nowhere, and I’ve been there ever since.”
“Wow.”
I looked up at him and frowned before pointing my finger and jabbing him in the chest.
“You don’t get to sit there and judge me when I know you have as much—if not more—blood on your hands than I do.”
He pressed his lips together and scrunched his face to the side.
“Trust me, I know all about what Tray was up to and how you helped him at first.”
“I was stupid back then,” he admitted as he lowered his head in shame.
“I didn’t know the depth of what Tray was involved in, and by the time I did, it was too late to just walk away.
I had a mark on my back because of my association with him.
I stayed for a while because it was safer to stay with the organization than it was to try to leave. ”
“We’ve both made some mistakes,” I said softly as I brushed my fingers against his jaw. “But there’s nothing we can do to erase what happened in the past. All we can do is look forward and hope for a better future.”
“As long as you’re in mine, I don’t need anything else.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead, making me forget about the danger that was still waiting for us, because in that moment, nothing else mattered.