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“I’m fine.”
Tony felt a strange sense of pride over the strength in her voice. Jess was a fighter.
Kayden took in her bleeding lip and the darkening bruises on her face and around her neck. “Just in case, we’re going to take you to the hospital, get you checked out, and then I’ll—”
Jess cut him off. “I’m not going to the hospital.”
Tony frowned. “Jess. You’re going to the hospital.”
She shook her head, and the stubbornness he’d only caught brief glimpses of yesterday emerged full force. “No. I’m. Not,” she stressed.
Tony recalled that it was her lack of health insurance that had started her and Jasper on their downward spiral. If it was money she was worried about, he’d pay the damn bill. He put his hands on his hips, ignoring the pain in his knuckles, ready to set her straight and make the offer, but Rhys stepped in.
“I’ll examine her.”
Jess looked like she planned to argue that point as well, but Tony wasn’t budging on this.
“Rhys or the hospital. Those are your only two options. Pick.”
Jess narrowed her eyes. She probably would have thought him touched in the head if she realized how much that look relieved him. He loved the way she didn’t back down, the way she challenged him. Her fighting spirit was one of her best attributes, and he was thrilled to know the asshole on the floor hadn’t beaten it out of her.
“Rhys,” she said shortly.
“Good,” Tony said.
At the same time, Rhys reached out to her, saying, “Come with me.”
Rhys led her to the bathroom in the motel room and Tony followed, standing in the doorway, disgusted by the filth. The asshole had obviously been holed up here a few days, given the number of empty liquor bottles and cigarette butts littering the sink and floor. There was a used needle in the basin. Every towel was in a wet, soppy pile in the corner, and there was urine all over the toilet and the floor surrounding it.
Jess had to clean up shit like this every weekend?
Yeah. That was over as of right now.
“Tony,” Rhys said, drawing his attention. “Do you mind grabbing us a couple of clean towels from Jess’s cart outside?”
Tony did as asked, while Kayden and Seth read the asshole his rights and cuffed him. Seth took the guy out, and Kayden hung back and stepped next to Tony. “I need to get a statement from Jess.”
“Okay. Let Rhys check her out real quick and then we’ll see if she’s up for it.”
“I need one from you too. You did a fucking number on that guy. We’re going to have to take him to the hospital before processing. Broken nose, maybe a few cracked ribs, possible concussion.”
“He hit her, Kayden. Had her down on the floor, strangling her.”
Kayden held his hands in the air. “I’m not saying you were wrong, Tony. Guys like that should be fucking castrated, then locked up for life.”
Appeased, he nodded, aware his emotions were riding way too close to the surface. He needed to get a grip. “Let me get these to Rhys, then we can talk.” Tony returned to the bathroom, handing Rhys the towels. He wet the corner of one and used it to gently wipe away the blood on her lip.
“Don’t think you’re going to need stitches,” Rhys mused.
“How bad do I look?” Jess asked. “I don’t want Jasper to…” She paused for a moment, blinking back tears, taking a few steadying breaths. “I don’t want him to see this and get upset. Is he okay? I mean…I think this…” she started, needing more assurances about her son’s safety. “I keep hurting him.”
Tony hated hearing her beat herself up. “You didn’t hurt him, Jess.”
“I put us here, in a situation that wasn’t safe,” she fired back.
“You’re working to provide for him,” Rhys reassured her. “Put all the bad thoughts away for now, okay?”
“He’ll be fine.” Tony was going to make damn sure of that. It was going to take some time for Jess and Jasper to get over today. Fuck, the two of them needed time to get over the past few months, but he and Rhys were going to do whatever it took to make sure they got it.
