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She flinched again, and I realised she was shaking. When she answered me, I had to work hard to hear her. “A while.”
“I’m taking that to mean this has been going on for as long as you’ve been together. And from what I know of you after reading the notes I have on your family, that means he’s been abusing you for ten fucking years.” The motherfucking cunt.
Straightening, she attempted to get herself under control. My anger appeared to trigger her defensiveness. When she spoke again, she was more like the woman I’d met. “It’s really none of your business, but no this hasn’t been going on for ten years. He wasn’t like this in the beginning. He went through some personal stuff five years ago, and that’s when it started. We’re working through it.”
I wasn’t one to judge. My anger was directed squarely at her husband, but it frustrated me that a sma
rt woman like her couldn’t hear the shit coming out of her mouth. “Isabel, I would imagine if you took a long hard look at the beginning of your relationship, you would find signs of this side of him.” I glanced down at a photo of their daughter. This was where my frustration with women like Isabel came into play. Children needed to be protected at all costs. “Does he hit your child?”
When I looked back up at her, I didn’t need to hear her answer; I already knew it. “Fucking hell,” I muttered.
“I’m leaving him,” she blurted out.
“Are you?” I demanded. “Do you have a fucking plan in place or are you just fucking thinking about it until the next time he hits you?” When she started crying, I raked my fingers through my hair and muttered, “Fuck.”
She dropped down onto the couch and buried her face in her hands, sobbing. “He has power I don’t have. You don’t understand. He will find me wherever I go.”
She was right; he did have power. The asshole had an international business spread across three continents. He wouldn’t struggle to find her if she ran.
“You want him out of your life?”
Her head snapped up, and she looked at me, wide-eyed. She knew what I was asking. And with only one moment of hesitation, she silently gave me her answer with a quick nod.
I left without another word spoken between us. I’d gone there to take care of business for Storm. Instead, I hadn’t fucking taken care of business; I’d taken on another job. But the life it would save was more than worth the sacrifice. Isabel Stark’s daughter needed a mother more than I needed her dead. I would find another way to take care of club business.
As I left her house, Ivy called. “King, I really need your help. Brian’s not here, and I have to go see a guy who just called me about a possible job. Are you able to come pick me up and take me? Please?”
I would have preferred not to get involved in this. I wanted to help her get back on her feet, but I didn’t want to encourage her to rely on me all the time. “There’s a bus stop down the road, Ivy. Catch the bus. I’m in the middle of shit.”
Silence, and then—“Yeah, I know, but I was hoping we could go over some stuff together afterwards.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Just some plans I have that I’d really like your opinion on.”
Fuck. “Okay, I’m on my way, but I don’t have all fucking day for this.”
“God, no need to bite my head off. I’m just feeling a bit lost here, and you know me better than anyone, so I kinda feel like you’re the best person to ask.”
“I’ll be there.”
I shoved the phone into my pocket and exhaled sharply. I’d do this for her today, but if she kept calling, I’d have to put a stop to it. She needed to move on with her life. Without calling on me all the time.
24
Lily
“Jamie’s coming over tonight. I hope that’s okay, Lil,” Brynn said to me late Friday afternoon while we sat on my couch inhaling wine. Well, I was inhaling wine, because it had been a long day in the pits of hell dealing with shitty patients and an even shittier boss. Jackson really needed to take that holiday he’d been putting off. Brynn was on Coke because of her medication, but I was pretty sure she wished it was wine.
I frowned at her. “Why wouldn’t it be okay? I love him.”
“I already feel like I’m in your way. I don’t want to subject you to him any more than you can handle.”
I chugged some more wine. “Look, it’s been a long day, and I’m tired, and so I’m just gonna say this however the fuck it comes out of my mouth. You’re my sister. I love you a lot more than I even know what to do with. I would do anything for you. And like I said, I love him.” I raised my glass at her as I added, “Oh, and you got me my favourite cake. No one ever buys me cake. Keep that shit up. You can do whatever the fuck you want if you buy me cake.”
She laughed. “I’m pretty sure you’ve been spending too much time with King lately. Look at all those fucks falling out of your mouth.”
I grinned. I had been spending a lot of time with my man. He’d had dinner here and stayed over every night for the last week, and he was coming over again tonight. “Do you like him, Brynny?”
