Chapter 23 JR
JR
I sucked in a breath when I saw her on my porch, with tear-stained cheeks and a bruised face.
“Alyssa,” I murmured, tugging her inside and holding her to me as I slammed the door.
A broken sob tore from her throat as she buried her face in my chest and released the pain I knew she was constantly keeping hidden. I wasn’t sure what happened this time, but it would inevitably be like all the rest.
She thought she found a winner this time.
She gave him everything, and he destroyed her.
And she loved him right up until he started using her as a punching bag.
“Hey, come on,” I whispered, walking her over to the couch.
Sinking down into the cushions, I held her to me and let her release every tear that was building up inside her, wondering who I would have to kill this time.
And I wasn’t fucking messing around.
Leaning back, I tipped her chin up, but she refused to look at me. Those beautiful green eyes were devastated, ashamed…broken. The bruise morphing around her right eye was at least two days old.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“You know why,” she whispered, wiping her nose on her sleeve.
“Who was it this time?”
She shook her head slightly. She wasn’t going to tell me. “Does it matter?”
“Yes, it fucking matters,” I snarled. “I need to know who he is so I can protect you.”
“You won’t have to,” she sniffled. “He’s probably still passed out from his latest hit.”
“Alyssa—”
“I know!” she cried out, shoving to her feet. “I don’t need a lecture from you. But he wasn’t like that when we met.”
“They never are.”
Narrowing her eyes at me, she steeled her spine, just like I knew she would. “That’s not fair. I can’t help it that they seem normal when I meet them.”
“And where did you meet Mr. Perfect this time?”
Ducking her head, she sighed. “A bar.”
“You can’t keep meeting men in bars. That’s not where you’re going to find Mr. Right. Jesus, it’s like you want to make yourself as miserable as possible.”
“Would you stop?” she snapped. “I get it. I screwed up. I always screw up!”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Really?” she argued. “I knew coming here was a bad idea.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Yeah, it really was. If I wanted to be berated, I could have found myself another asshole at a bar. I came to you because I trust you!” she shouted, turning from me.
I snagged her before she could run away. If she left this house, I’d never see her again. And after watching out for her for the past twenty years, I wasn’t about to let her stumble across the next asshole that would probably kill her this time.
Tugging her back into my arms, I soothed her as best I could, running my hand up and down her back. Alyssa was the only woman I’d ever been able to have any sort of connection with. She was the only woman I had ever cared about.
“We’ll figure this out,” I murmured. “You don’t have to go.”
Sniffling, she shook her head against me. “I swear, I don’t go looking for them.”
“I know.”
And I did. She was too willing to see the best in everyone.
Even after all these years, it was like there was something wrong with her asshole radar.
She just never saw it coming until it was too late.
And that always led her back to me, which didn’t bother me in the slightest. Alyssa was the only family I had, and I wasn’t about to turn my back on her for any reason.
“You need some sleep.”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I can find a motel or—”
I stopped her nervous chatter before she could say something really fucking stupid. “You’ll stay here.”
“I can’t. JR, after everything…”
“After everything, do you really think I wouldn’t give you a place to stay?”
Attempting to smile up at me, she winced as the bruise pulled at her face. “You’re too good to me.”
“No, I’m not. I’m just doing what family does.”
“Lucky you,” she huffed. “Stuck with a screw-up for a sister.”
“Well, you didn’t fare too much better in the brother department. I’m not exactly a standup guy.”
“You’re the best man I know.”
The sincerity in her voice always shook me. How she could look me in the eye, knowing what I did, and still find the good in me, I would never know. But when she looked at me like that, something in my chest tightened almost painfully.
It made me wish I could find a woman of my own who would still look at me like I walked on water, even after she found out what I did for a living.
But keeping anyone in my life was a bad idea, and not just because of how I chose to live my life, but because I didn’t really know how to care about anyone other than myself.
That was clear as I studied the bruise on Alyssa’s face. If I had been a better brother, none of this would have happened.
“Is this the worst of it?”
The shame on her face was all I needed to know that this was just what couldn’t be hidden.
“Where else?”
Slowly, she lifted her shirt, showing a massive purple and black mark that spanned the entire side of her body. Gently probing it, I cursed under my breath.
“How the hell are you walking around?”
“Painkillers. I snagged some before I got out of there,” she admitted.
“No more of that shit.” I was pissed, but I kept my voice low and even. “You don’t know what he cut those pills with. Where are they?”
She tugged a small plastic baggie out of her jeans and handed it over.
“This is all of it?”
“Yes. You know I don’t do drugs.”
She never had, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t started.
“Come on.” I held out my hand, helping her to her feet and guided her down the hall to my room. I would have to get the second bedroom set up for her, but for tonight, she could use my bed.
“I can’t take—”
“You can and you will,” I cut her off. “You can borrow one of my shirts to sleep in. Tomorrow, I’ll find some clothes for you.”
Again, the tears welled in her eyes, and this time, they didn’t stop. It wasn’t over. The bruises were the only damage I could see, but I had a feeling it was so much worse.
It always was.
“Did he rape you?”
She nodded slightly. “We were already together, but…”
Just like every other man she met, she fell hard and fast, and then the shitty side made itself known, and by then, it was too hard to get out. The violence started, the demands that she could never live up to…It was a never-ending cycle that I had to help her break.
I couldn’t stand seeing her like this, and if she kept going with this pattern, she was going to end up dead, either by some asshole’s hand or her own. There was only so much a person could take.
“Get some sleep.”
“Thanks, JR. I—” Her lips pressed together in a firm line, but the words wouldn’t come. Not when she was so broken.
I pressed a kiss to her cheek and pulled her in for another hug. “I’ll always be here. No matter what.”
After grabbing some things for her to wear to bed, I shut the door and dialed Archer. He was the only one I trusted with this.
The sounds of music from the bar hit me first, making it impossible to hear when he finally answered.
“Why aren’t you here?” he shouted. The music grew softer as he moved away. “I thought you’d be working tonight.”
“It’s my night off. Listen, Alyssa’s here.”
“Aw, shit. What happened this time?”
“Same thing as always. The asshole beat and raped her.”
“Damn. I’m sorry, man. What can I do?”
“Track him down for me. I’ll get a name in the morning, and when I do, I need you to find out everything you can about this asshole.”
“You want me to go with you?”
“Nah. I’ve got this one. Maybe you could stay with her and make sure she’s okay.”
“You know I will.”
“Where is she now?”
“Staying with me. Listen, I know after the last time—”
“Forget about it. Just tell me what you need.”
“Tomorrow morning. Meet me at my place.”
“What about the job?”
“I’ll talk to Liam. I can’t let this go for even a minute.”
“Do you have everything you need?”
Walking over to the window, I pushed the curtain aside just enough to see the street. Everything was silent, which meant the asshole hadn’t followed her. Not that it mattered. He would be dead by tomorrow night.
“Yeah, I’ve got everything.”
“Alright. See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” I answered, hanging up the phone. Taking a deep breath, my eyes flicked over to my neighbor’s house.
She had no idea who I really was.
I peered outside at the early morning light. Sleep didn’t come easily for me last night. As much as I tried to shut my brain off, every thought kept drifting to Alyssa and the first night I’d met her.
We were just kids then, barely able to take care of ourselves, but we were forced to survive on our own in the shitty house of the asshole that took us in.
I could still see the evil in his eyes, the way they followed Alyssa on her way down the hall as she went to her bedroom she shared with two other girls.
Those first months were the hardest for me as I tried to adjust to my new living arrangements. After staying with a nice, older couple, being placed in that three-bedroom house that smelled like smoke and filth was a tough thing to deal with.
But even worse was the chill that snaked down my spine every time I laid eyes on my foster father. The woman he was married to was a waste of space on the best of days, and the things she let him get away with would make the most disgusting person vomit.
They never should have been allowed to foster a single kid, but the area we lived in was short on people willing to open their homes, and the sight of government money was too tempting for the despicable grifters.
I had barely gotten out of there with Alyssa. Running away, we made a life for ourselves until each of us decided to part and go our own way. I couldn’t say I was exactly proud of the things I had done, but I wasn’t ashamed either.
Alyssa, however…
She was another story, and if I didn’t find a way to convince her to stay with me, I was afraid she wouldn’t survive another round with whatever asshole she found next.