Chapter 5
Chapter Five
The way her jaw dropped, followed by her practically leaping out of his arms, told Hendrix it wouldn’t be easy.
“Why would you...why would we...you want us here?” She looked around the house as if she’d never seen it before. “With you?”
“Definitely with me.”
Joey blinked several times.
It amused him to see her so rattled by the idea. “Take a breath, babe.”
Audibly, she sucked in air.
“Now, let me state my case, okay?”
Her quick nods proved she was anxious to hear his reasoning. Maybe, deep down, she knew it was the right answer, too. If so, it’d make convincing her a little easier.
“Eating pancakes,” he said, just to get things started. “Sharing the hot tub. A walk on the beach. Hot dogs off the grill. Playing with Ryder.” He lowered his voice. “Seeing you in my house.” He loved seeing her in his house. “So many simple, routine things, but with you, it was perfect.”
Her gaze softened, and those magical dimples appeared. “It was perfect for me, too.”
They’d shared the entire day, and Hendrix knew it was the life he wanted. A life with Joey. With Ryder.
Thinking of Ryder, he went to check on him and wasn’t surprised that he was sound asleep. Joey stepped up beside him. “He adores you,” she whispered.
“The feeling is mutual.” Hendrix checked that the front door was bolted, then took her hand and led her to the back deck. Leaving the sliding doors slightly open so they’d hear Ryder if he woke up, he urged Joey to one of the chairs.
The setting sun had painted the shoreline a brilliant orange hue that faded into an endless dusky blue sky. Soon it would be completely dark. Night came early this time of year.
Hendrix sat out his phone and got right to the point. “If anyone comes into the park, I’ll hear an alert, but you and Ryder are nearer to the entrance than I am. If it was the middle of the night, if the intruder knows where you’re staying...”
Worry etched her features.
Taking her hands, Hendrix said, “You need to know that you and Ryder aren’t alone anymore. You have me and I plan to keep you safe.”
“But Ted could grab Ryder before you ever reached us.” Trembling, she looked out at the ocean.
His heart skipped a beat. “Is that something he’d do, Joey?”
“To punish me, he would do just about anything.”
Ice ran down Hendrix’s spine, and a second later fire burned through his blood. “He’s hurt you before?”
The harsh words brought her attention back to him. She freed one of her hands and put it to his jaw. “He’s been rough, and he’s threatened. I don’t want Ryder alone with him.”
“No, of course not.”
Joey whispered, “It’s hard for me. I’m so glad of the extra protection for Ryder, but the thought of you getting hurt scares me, too.”
Trying to ignore that insult, Hendrix pointed out, “I’m a hell of a lot better at defending myself than you or Ryder would be.”
“Not against a knife. Or a gun.”
He caught her shoulders. “Even against those. But so we’re clear here, why don’t you give me the nitty gritty on what your asshole ex did, and why you’re worried about weapons?”
After staring up at him for long seconds, Joey gave in. He felt it in how the resistant tension left her body, and how she leaned into his arms.
Keeping her face tucked against his neck, she said, “I was a virgin when I met Ted. He’s the only man I’ve been with. For him, that meant ownership. At least that’s what he’s often said. I’m his, and he’ll never let me go.”
Holding her closer, letting her know she was safe, Hendrix waited.
“He said he should always be my top priority, not Ryder.”
“Fucker,” Hendrix whispered, half wishing her ex would try something just so he could annihilate him. When Joey started to shake, he held her tighter.
“There were times when Ryder cried and Ted wouldn’t let me go to him. He...those were the times he wanted sex.”
A man’s weapon against women. Hendrix braced himself.
“He forced me a few times.”
Everything in him raged, yet he kept his touch protective. “You mean he raped you?”
“He said a man can’t rape his wife.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.”
Without acknowledging the truth of that, she continued.
“I was ashamed and scared after that first time. He talked like nothing had happened, just going about his day and expecting me to do the same. It was so strange that I doubted myself. I knew it was wrong when it happened again and Ted kept me in the bed so I couldn’t go to Ryder.
He’d heard Ted shouting and was scared and crying. ”
Damned if Hendrix didn’t want to go to Ryder now, to hold him and tell him the same things he told Joey: that they were safe now and he’d never let anyone hurt them.
“Ted was enraged that I cared.” Clutching at him, she whispered, “God, I was so afraid that he’d turn on Ryder.
I couldn’t allow that to happen, so I promised Ted that I’d be back in one minute.
I...I made it sound like I was anxious to have sex with him again.
I wanted to grab Ryder and just run, but I had nowhere to go. ”
Hendrix lifted her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, surrounding her as much as he could. “I understand.”
“I begged him to sleep. I swore to him that everything was fine and told him he had to be very, very quiet for the rest of the night.” The words ended on a sob. “He was so...so scared.”
Knowing how that must have affected Joey put Hendrix in a killing rage. “Shh. I’m sorry, baby. Sorry you and Ryder went through that.” Her ex, who sounded like the lousiest father in the world, on top of being an abusive husband, had just landed himself at the top of Hendrix’s shit list.
During his time as a cop, he’d met some real losers, bad fathers, asshole husbands, and some men who lacked even a shadow of a conscience.
In a barely there voice, Joey said, “I knew I had to go, but I didn’t know how. At the time I wasn’t working. I didn’t have access to any money except what Ted gave to me.”
“From what you said, his parents weren’t any help?”
A gruff sound of disgust answered that question. “They never thought I was good enough for him.”
Tipping up her chin, Hendrix pressed a kiss between her brows. “They had it wrong. You were too good for him.”
This smile was sad, no dimples in sight. “I believe that now, because I know no one could ever love Ryder more than I do and that counts for a lot.”
“It counts for everything.”
“It was for him that I knew I had to make a change, so as soon as Ted left the apartment, I called my sister.” After brushing the dampness from her cheeks, she sat up – still on his lap, but no longer grasping him like a lifeline. “Carly was the only person who knew the whole story.”
“Until me?”
She nodded. “At the time she lived two hours away, but somehow two hours and fifteen minutes later she was at the door.”
“I already like your sister.” Using his thumb, he brushed her cheek, then dipped in for a very light kiss to her mouth.
“Carly is pretty awesome,” she said softly.
“I knew Ted wouldn’t be gone long, but we rushed around, grabbing everything Ryder might need, along with some of my things.
We didn’t really pack any of it, just tossed it in her hatchback, making it all fit.
I was giddy with the idea of getting away, but also scared to death.
Before long we pulled out of the driveway and then. .. I was free.”
He hugged her again because he couldn’t help himself. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Don’t be. It was all my sister. She took a week of emergency leave from her job, which was huge.
It’s not like she’s rolling in money, either.
I honestly don’t know how she did it, but in no time at all Ryder and I were set up at her apartment.
A friend of hers brought over her husband to install extra locks and security cameras. ”
“Did Ted ever bother you there?”
“He would have,” she said with conviction, “but he’d had no interest in Carly. He didn’t like her, so he’d never been to her apartment and didn’t even know where she worked. At least, not until we got to court.”
“You talked with a lawyer right away?” As a cop, he’d seen situations where one parent tried to use a kid to punish the other. When there was good reason to keep them apart, it had to be proven to the court.
She nodded. “The lawyer got an emergency custody order. After that, it was a slow process, but Ted made it easier. He was so combative with everyone, and even in court. He’d call me horrible names, lose his temper, and when he showed up drunk, everything fell into place after that.
The thing is, I know he’s still bitter. He’s not a man who gives up, not when he thinks he’s been cheated.
He’s never given me a reason to think he really wants Ryder, but I know he wants me.
Not because he cares for me, but because in his mind, I’m his. ”
“In this case, he’s bound for disappointment.” Hendrix ran his hand up and down her spine, hoping to soothe her. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about the rape?”
As if she felt a headache coming on, she rubbed her temples. “It’s hard to explain, but at first I was confused about it. Then I was ashamed. By the time I decided I should have said something, too much time had passed and I knew it’d be impossible to prove.”
He could understand all of that. “Will you trust me?”
Her eyes, full of emotion, held his. “Hendrix,” she whispered on a sad note. “I’ve always trusted you.”
Nice, because he trusted her, too. “Then how about you and Ryder stay the night, and tomorrow we’ll move your things in here?”
Joey chewed her lip a moment. “That’s an amazingly generous offer, but there’s something you might not have considered.”
“Like what?” He knew he wanted her safe, and to that end he’d do anything.
“Well...” Wincing dramatically, she reminded him, “Christmas is just around the corner.”
And Ryder was all about Christmas. Shit. How did a grown-ass man completely forget about the most celebrated holiday in the country? Not that it mattered right now.