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“It was neither! He scared me, and then he proved to me that I had every reason to be afraid of him. Don’t you find it odd how far I fell? That I woke up terrified? Why did you never even consider that maybe I was telling the truth? Because you never believed me. Not even for one goddamn second. Why, Mom? Why?”
She sputters. I roll my eyes, catching three figures standing in my peripheral vision. When I turn to them, my stomach drops at the concerned looks on their faces.
“I was yelling, wasn’t I?” I ask softly, watching as Elliot approaches.
“Yes,” my mom snaps in my ear, “you were. And it wasquiterude of—”
“Oh, shut up, Patricia.” I end the call before stuffing my phone in my back pocket.
Elliot’s touch is gentle as he cups my cheek. “He hurt you.”
I nod.
Oliver and Rhett draw closer and stand on either side of us. Oliver looks like he wants to wrap me up in a hug, whereas Rhett looks ready to find my stepfather and beat the shit out of him. Probably more than that, honestly.
“I’m okay,” I say.
“How often?” Rhett asks. His voice is low. Dangerous.
“What?”
“How often did he hurt you, princess?” Oliver takes my hand, frowning when his thumb brushes against the indents my nails made in my palm.
“Once. It was just really bad.” My gaze falls to the floor. “Him and my mom were helping me move into my apartment. The elevator was crowded, so we were taking the stairs. Thomas and I went down to get more stuff from his car while my mom stayed in the apartment to organize stuff.
“We were fighting—I don’t even remember about what. But Thomas tried to corner me on a landing. He was always trying to intimidate me into doing what he wanted. That time . . . I don’t know, it felt different. I got scared, so I pushed him. And he pushed back. Really hard.”
Elliot’s eyes slide closed, and his chest rises as he takes a deep breath. “Then what?”
“I, um. I tripped. And then I . . . fell. Down a flight of stairs.”
“He pushed you down a flight of stairs?” Rhett growls, and when I look at him, his expression is murderous.
I nod silently.
A concerned sound leaves Oliver’s throat, and he squeezes my hand. “Your mom didn’t believe you.”
“Not even for a second,” I whisper. “Or maybe she did, but she decided it wasn’t worth it to fight with Thomas. She loved him. Still does. And he’s also the only reason we were able to have any stability, so I understand why she wouldn’t want to leave him. He was her financial security.”
“She still should’ve believed you.” Oliver wraps me up in his arms. “I’m so sorry, princess. That sounds awful.”
“The worst of it was being stuck in the hospital. I was so afraid that Thomas would do something else, especially when he refused to admit to what he’d done. But I couldn’t make him leave. He was my financial security, too. If I kicked him out . . .” I choke on the rest of the words. Sometimes it still feels like it happened yesterday.
“If you kicked him out and made Thomas too angry, he could’ve left you in a pile of medical debt,” Oliver finishes for me.
I blink back tears. “He played the part of the concerned stepfather—the only time he ever did—so of course he paid for everything.Notpaying would only make him look like an asshole. But I was afraid to push him too far, and he wouldn’t leave the hospital room. I was stuck.”
“Never again,” Rhett says firmly. He steps closer so I’m basically surrounded by the three of them. “You never have to see him again.”
“That was my plan, but then he was at that dinner.”
“And that’sneverhappening again,” Elliot says. “I’ll kill him before I let him lay his eyes on you one more time.”
My heart melts at the sincerity in his tone. “You don’t have to say that.”
“He means it,” Oliver says softly. “We’d all do it.”
I kiss each of them with the hopes that it’ll convey the words that I can’t seem to get out right now. Rhett was worried the other day that I’d be scared of him, but I’ve never felt safer.
