I answered even as I was shaking my head in a negative. "Tyler came home. I think someone in the building tipped him off. He was–" I searched for the right word, something that would convey my concern, but was still low-key. Griffen had enough going on. He didn't need to worry about Tyler. I cleared my throat. "He was upset."
Griffen wasn't buying it. "What did he say?"
I should have known that wouldn't be enough for Griffen. "That he wasn't going to let me go."
"Did he threaten you?" Griffen asked, as if his question was nothing more than casual curiosity. I knew better. Griffen might have been away for years, but he was home now and he was determined to keep his family close.
Someone out there had murdered our father. Our brother Ford was in prison for the crime, but no one believed he'd done it. After Prentice died and Ford was in jail, someone had come after both Griffen and our brother Royal and had killed Ford's ex-wife, Vanessa.
Logic said it all had to be connected. We all thought Vanessa's killer was the same person who'd assassinated my father, but we didn't have any proof. We didn't know why. We didn't know anything, really, except that our father and Vanessa were dead, and any of us might be next.
Griffen wasn't taking any chances. Whoever had killed our father and Vanessa wasn't done with the Sawyer family, and Griffen had no intention of letting another Sawyer get hurt. He was on high alert for anything that could be a threat.
Tyler absolutely fit that category.
Every instinct I had told me to hide everything; The failure of my marriage. What an asshole my husband was. That he'd hit me and promised to make me pay for trying to leave him. My instincts told me to hide it all and pretend everything was perfect.
That's what I'd been doing my entire life. Pretending to be perfect.
I couldn't do it anymore. Not just because I was wasting my life hiding behind that shell of perfection. I was shriveling inside, dying a little more every time I gave a polite smile and pretended that what I wanted didn't matter.
This wasn't about me. It was about the family. Griffen couldn't keep us safe if we hid threats from him and my soon-to-be ex-husband was a threat, as much as I didn't want to admit it.
Setting my teacup on the tray, I folded my fingers together and rested them on my knees. "He didn't make a specific threat, but he was clearly angry about the divorce."
"What did he say? Exactly," Griffen asked slowly.
"I don't remember word for word. Nash, my brother-in-law, came with me. I was worried Tyler might be there. Nash recorded everything Tyler said. He's going to send the recording to Angie."
Griffen raised an eyebrow at my dithering. I'd gotten out of the habit of being upfront. Life with Tyler was easier if I was indirect. He didn't respond well to confrontation. But I wasn't living with Tyler anymore, and Griffen wasn't going to yell at me if I was blunt.
Bracing myself, I laid it out, "He said he'd make me pay for trying to leave him, and that he wasn't going to let me go. That if I wanted a divorce, I'd have to fight him for it."
His voice so neutral, it sent a chill down my spine, Griffen asked, "Did he touch you?"
"No," I breathed in a rush of air and sound. "No."
Griffen didn't say anything. His green eyes weighty on mine, he read every nuance of my expression. After a long moment, he nodded. "And before? How many times?"
I'd never told Griffen that Tyler had hit me. I'd never told anyone except Angelica. I could barely absorb it myself. Nash knew, only because he'd been there the last time when I'd caught Tyler in bed with that woman and told him I was leaving him. By the time I'd made it home, my cheek had sported a nice purpling bruise.
I'd tried to hide it with makeup, but it had been Griffen's job to see through such things. I should have known he'd figured it out. "Only three times," I said.
"And the last was in June?" Griffen clarified.
I gave a short nod. "Twice while we were together. And then the last time when I went to tell him I wanted a divorce."
"He won't touch you again," Griffen promised.
I picked up my teacup with a steady hand and took a long sip, letting the hot liquid warm me, and waited for relief to come. Griffen and his security staff would protect me from Tyler. I knew they would. And yet, something in me couldn't relax.
I'd never seen that expression in Tyler's eyes before. Hate and the clear intent to hurt me. He wasn't going to let me go. He wasn't going to give up. I knew it to the marrow of my bones. Despite the heat of the tea, a shiver ran down my spine. Once, I would have said Tyler was too lazy and self-absorbed to cause me any real harm. After that scene at the penthouse, I wasn't sure.
"I called your lawyer," Griffen said, changing the subject.
My eyebrows shot up my forehead and my spine went straight. "You called Angelica? She's not your lawyer."
Griffen's mouth quirked on one side. "I know, but I'm your big brother and a nosy bastard. She wouldn't tell me anything, just so you know."
