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She nodded. “I met a pair of angels.”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
“Pardon?”
“Angels.” Alex grinned at the stunned expression on Quinn’s face. “Not the halo-and-wings type. Lina Grable and Melissa Suarez. Two strangers who becamemyangels.”
His brow furrowed. With her talking in circles, it was no surprise he wasn’t following.
“My main job as Preston’s wife was to look good,” she said. “No one cared what I did or said as long as I presented a pretty package.”
At first, she hadn’t minded. She’d wanted to make Preston happy. But the constant disregard from everyone—particularly her husband—had eaten away at her spirit to the point where she’d stopped caring. Until her angels had forced her to see what was happening.
“For years, me and a couple other trophy wives would take the ferry into Boston for a spa day. Massages, facials, mani-pedis. The whole deal. At least once a week, sometimes twice. Our favorite was the Silver Angel Spa.”
“Hence, the angels,” Quinn murmured, a contemplative look on his face.
She nodded. “Lina was my regular masseuse. About a year and a half ago, while she was massaging me, she said, ‘Just because you’re in an abusive relationship, doesn’t mean your life is over. You can still have a happy, full life, but the only person who can move you toward that is you.’”
The fine hairs on Alex’s arms rose as the memory echoed in her mind. Her throat grew tight.
That day had changed her life.
“I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right. I was ready to bolt, but she kept talking quietly and massaging. She told me about her ex-husband. How he’d beaten her. How he’d convinced her that it had been all her fault. How, after he beat her, he’d get the ice pack and gently hold it to her face and tell her how much he loved her. She told me about how she’d cut off ties to her family and friends because she’d believed her ex-husband when he said that they were just jealous of her.”
Quinn’s hands stilled. Two heartbeats passed before she glanced up, catching his gaze.
He held out his arms. “Come here, sweetheart.”
The gentleness in those three little words had her leaning toward him. He pulled her close and positioned her back against his chest. With his arms wrapped around her in a comforting embrace, she relaxed. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been.
After a moment of silence, she said, “Hearing Lina’s words... Her former life was such a reflection of mine. It was devastating. I couldn’t hide from the truth of what my life had become anymore. This woman who I’d seen weekly for years but didn’t know anything about... she saw my life for what it really was. All I could do was lay there and cry. She didn’t judge me. She didn’t censure me or lecture me or tell me I was an idiot. She just shared her story with me.”
“She let you know that you weren’t alone,” he said, holding her tight as tears welled in her eyes.
She nodded. “It was the most amazing gift. I’msograteful for that day.”
He pressed his lips to the top of her head, and her tears began to fall.
“I went back later that week and we talked more,” she continued. “Lina convinced me to meet her good friend, Melissa, who was also the spa owner’s sister. Turned out, Melissa was a psychologist who worked at a domestic violence shelter. From that moment on, I met with them under the guise of massages, facials, and pampering. Twice, sometimes three times a week.
“Talking with Melissa and learning from Lina healed a part of my soul that I hadn’t realized had been pummeled. After a few months, I started to put together an escape plan. Because of who Preston was, I knew it had to be well thought-out. In the meantime, whenever he beat me, they documented the abuse and helped me recover as best as they could. The police were never an option because he’d made it clear that they werehisfriends. He said they’d never believe ‘a dumb piece of pussy.’”
Quinn tensed behind her, but he stayed quiet, letting her get it all out.
“It took almost a full year to finish my escape plan and squirrel away enough money. But everything flew out the window when I found out I was pregnant. It was a shock on so many levels.”
Hell, it wasstilla shock.
“We hadn’t... he and I didn’t...” They’d only had sex a handful of times, at most, in the last year. He’d berated her, constantly telling her how awful in bed she was. “I knew he’d been cheating on me for a while, but I was fine with it.” His taunts and comparisons to the other women had stung, but the less he’d touched her the better. “The last time we’d—” Her words caught, and bile surged up her throat. “After he hit me, he’d usually leave me alone. But that time...”
He had been so angry. She’d thought she would suffocate from his punishing grip on her throat when he’d bent her over the dining table and shoved her bruised and bloody face into the unforgiving wood. But she hadn’t. She’d been fully alert, praying he would just kill her already, when he’d slammed into her, tearing her flesh. The memories threatened to drown her.
Goosebumps tore across her skin, and a shiver racked her body.
Strong hands ran over her arms, soothing her, pulling her back to the present. She let out a shaky breath and pushed the memories away. When she inhaled, her senses flooded with a spicy, woodsy scent.
Quinn.
