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She smiled at his analogy, but in all seriousness she said, “I’ve known ugly bruises before, Trent, and those on my thighs aren’t anything remotely close.”
Trent stilled visibly. Every muscle went rigid and hard. “What are you talking about, Crystal?” He had horrible visions of her being beaten. Who, though? Her father? Her ex? They’d pay dearly, no matter who it was.
Crystal wedged herself out of Trent’s crushing embrace and said, “Well, remember when you said you thought there was more to the divorce than what I told you?” As she spoke she got dressed. She watched Trent as she did, and he nodded his head. “You were right, there was more to it.”
“Go on.”
“Richard was very sweet in the beginning of the marriage really, but as time went on, he began drinking, began getting increasingly more jealous and possessive of me. Anytime I was late coming home from work, he’d be upset and toss things around, cursing and accusing me of messing around on him.”
Crystal walked to the couch and sat, and Trent did the same, sitting next to her. She continued, “One night I came home from work and he was especially drunk, worse than I’d ever seen him before. He shouted and was in a mad fit. His face frightened me, Trent. The way it turned so red, like he could simply explode at any given time. I knew this time was different. He’d had enough time to work himself up to an aggressive rage. So I stayed silent, listening to him rant, but then he started slinging accusations at me. Telling me that he knew I was ‘whoring around.’ I got angry myself then. I’d always been faithful to Richard. So I spoke up and told him I wasn’t messing around, there was only ever him.”
Crystal took a breath before finishing the rest, but she did need to finish, as much for herself as for Trent. “That seemed to be the final straw. Having me talking back was too much for his ego, I suppose. His fist came out of nowhere. It knocked me out cold. You’ve seen Richard—he’s not a huge guy—but still, his punch was enough to put me out for about an hour or so. When I came to, he was crying over me, and so sorry. I remember he kept saying he was sorry, over and over again.”
Oddly enough, she actually felt better, getting it out, telling someone the whole story. She felt immediate relief. Trent was so quiet, though, just staring at the floor, not saying a word. Finally Crystal couldn’t stand the silence so she broke it and said, “Trent?”
Trent looked up at Crystal, stared for a few more seconds, and then said, “I’ll kill him for this.”
There was something in Trent’s set expression, the look in his eyes that told her he meant every word he said. She pleaded with him, “Trent, please don’t take that attitude. Don’t make me regret I told you this. Richard is no longer a part of my life. The past is the past.”
“Were there other times that he hit you, Crystal? Other times when you were knocked unconscious?”
She thought about lying to him for a second, but decided she’d come this far. “Yes. Times when he pushed me down or grabbed at me really hard. Bruises and scrapes.”
“I should have killed him when he was here. I could see that it bothered you having him near. It wasn’t normal the way you seemed wary of him. Irritation over an ex, yes, but not fear. If I ever see him again, I’ll—”
Trent stopped in mid-sentence and got up to pace around the room. He seemed to be waging a private battle with himself. At last he grumbled, “Crystal, I can’t promise that I won’t put my fist in his face if I ever see him again, but I won’t go looking for him. For you, I’ll leave him be.”
She knew how much it cost him to give her this. She rose off the couch and slung her arms around him. “Thank you. Richard is history, and that’s the way I want him to stay.” Then she kissed him. He held her, kissing and touching her face, as if the bruises were still there, gently soothing away the long-forgotten pain. “You’d better go get ready for our shopping trip, baby. Because if we keep this up, I’m liable to skip the whole damn thing and take you again.”
Crystal did as she was told, leaving Trent alone while she got ready. Something in her gut was telling her that he needed a few moments to himself to work through his feelings about Richard and calm himself down. She reached her bedroom and went to her closet. The sleeveless yellow dress with the low-dipping back caught her eye. It was a gorgeous silk material, and when she’d tried it on at the store she’d loved the way it had molded perfectly to her curves. She hadn’t gotten a chance to wear it until now.
She unzipped the dress and stepped into it. She put on a pair of strappy sandals and made quick work of her hair and makeup. She bunched and brushed her tangle of curls and squeezed them into a quick bun. When she was through, she stepped back and stared at herself in the mirror above the dresser. Well, it wasn’t movie-star quality, but it would do.
As ready as she would ever be, Crystal left the room and made her way back to the living room where Trent waited. When his eyes caught sight of her, he groaned. “Damn, you look good.”
The dress showed off her amazing figure to perfection. Damn. He didn’t need that picture in his head right now. If he was going to walk around a shopping mall filled with people, he would need a clear head and not a freaking boner. That wasn’t about to happen if he kept watching her ass twitch back and forth in the sunshine-yellow dress.
Great, now he was hard as iron and it would be hours before he would get a chance to have her again.
“Trent?”
His voice was hoarse when he answered, “Yeah?”
“I feel like I’ve revealed all my skeletons, but you’ve barely shared your life with me.”
Oh boy, now it was his turn to be questioned. It was only fair, after all, but he hated the trip down memory lane. It wasn’t exactly the good old days. “Her name was Jill, and we were married for a year and a half.”
Crystal was quiet for a moment, then she said, “What does she look like?”
Trent went to the couch and sat down. Crystal sat down next to him, then quietly waited for him to continue.
He sighed and gave in to the inevitable. “When I first saw her, I thought there could never be anyone more beautiful. Long pale-blond hair, eyes as blue as the sky, and a body that was just made for sex. God, I was so wrong. I only saw what I wanted to see, her surface beauty. Inside was a selfish and spoiled little girl.” He paused before saying, “Right after she got the shiny ring on her finger, she cut her hair and slept in a separate room. She was determined to have a baby, so if she was ovulating I was welcome in her bed. I finally realized that was the only reason she’d married me. That and my family’s money.”
“She sounds very materialistic.”
He nodded. “She was only nice when it benefited her future plans. She had wanted to be Mrs. Dailey, the socialite. She was so different, so cold and callous. And I was a blind idiot.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice soft and full of kindness.
