“Fucker,” Hendrix whispered, half wishing her ex would try something just so he could annihilate him. When Joey started to shake, he held her tighter.
“There were times when Ryder cried and Ted wouldn’t let me go to him. He...those were the times he wanted sex.”
A man’s weapon against women. Hendrix braced himself.
“He forced me a few times.”
Everything in him raged, yet he kept his touch protective. “You mean he raped you?”
“He said a man can’t rape his wife.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.”
Without acknowledging the truth of that, she continued. “I was ashamed and scared after that first time. He talked like nothing had happened, just going about his day and expecting me to do the same. It was so strange that I doubted myself. I knew it was wrong when it happened again and Ted kept me inthe bed so I couldn’t go to Ryder. He’d heard Ted shouting and was scared and crying.”
Damned if Hendrix didn’t want to go to Ryder now, to hold him and tell him the same things he told Joey: that they were safe now and he’d never let anyone hurt them.
“Ted was enraged that I cared.” Clutching at him, she whispered, “God, I was so afraid that he’d turn on Ryder. I couldn’t allow that to happen, so I promised Ted that I’d be back in one minute. I...I made it sound like I was anxious to have sex with him again. I wanted to grab Ryder and just run, but I had nowhere to go.”
Hendrix lifted her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, surrounding her as much as he could. “I understand.”
“I begged him to sleep. I swore to him that everything was fine and told him he had to be very, very quiet for the rest of the night.” The words ended on a sob. “He was so...so scared.”
Knowing how that must have affected Joey put Hendrix in a killing rage. “Shh. I’m sorry, baby. Sorry you and Ryder went through that.” Her ex, who sounded like the lousiest father in the world, on top of being an abusive husband, had just landed himself at the top of Hendrix’s shit list.
During his time as a cop, he’d met some real losers, bad fathers, asshole husbands, and some men who lacked even a shadow of a conscience.
In a barely there voice, Joey said, “I knew I had to go, but I didn’t know how. At the time I wasn’t working. I didn’t have access to any money except what Ted gave to me.”
“From what you said, his parents weren’t any help?”
A gruff sound of disgust answered that question. “They never thought I was good enough for him.”
Tipping up her chin, Hendrix pressed a kiss between her brows. “They had it wrong. You were too good for him.”
This smile was sad, no dimples in sight. “I believe that now, because I know no one could ever love Ryder more than I do and that counts for a lot.”
“It counts for everything.”
“It was for him that I knew I had to make a change, so as soon as Ted left the apartment, I called my sister.” After brushing the dampness from her cheeks, she sat up – still on his lap, but no longer grasping him like a lifeline. “Carly was the only person who knew the whole story.”
“Until me?”
She nodded. “At the time she lived two hours away, but somehow two hours and fifteen minutes later she was at the door.”
“I already like your sister.” Using his thumb, he brushed her cheek, then dipped in for a very light kiss to her mouth.
“Carly is pretty awesome,” she said softly. “I knew Ted wouldn’t be gone long, but we rushed around, grabbing everything Ryder might need, along with some of my things. We didn’t really pack any of it, just tossed it in her hatchback, making it all fit. I was giddy with the idea of getting away, but also scared to death. Before long we pulled out of the driveway and then... I was free.”
He hugged her again because he couldn’t help himself. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Don’t be. It was all my sister. She took a week of emergency leave from her job, which was huge. It’s not like she’s rolling in money, either. I honestly don’t know how she did it, but in no time at all Ryder and I were set up at her apartment. A friend of hers brought over her husband to install extra locks and security cameras.”
“Did Ted ever bother you there?”
“He would have,” she said with conviction, “but he’d had no interest in Carly. He didn’t like her, so he’d never been to herapartment and didn’t even know where she worked. At least, not until we got to court.”
“You talked with a lawyer right away?” As a cop, he’d seen situations where one parent tried to use a kid to punish the other. When there was good reason to keep them apart, it had to be proven to the court.
