“What if he follows us?”
“Then he will get to meet some justice. He’s not going to terrorize you and get away with it. I won’t do anything to him, but I will make sure the police do something.”
She glanced around, then nodded. “Okay, but he is very dangerous.”
“I know, and that’s why I want you to come to my place tonight. We can talk to the detective tomorrow and see what they can do about him following you around.”
Her shoulders dropped, and the strain on her face seemed to loosen as she relaxed. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He probably shouldn’t have her come to his house, but he wanted her to feel safe. If she was alone all night waiting for Robert to attack her, she wouldn’t be able to get any sleep.
He’d been trained to sleep and rest in shitty situations. He could trust himself to get a good enough night of sleep because he would wake if anyone even tried the door.
If this Robert creep kept after Willa, something would have to be done. He sure as hell wouldn’t let the guy keep terrorizing her. Robert needed to learn a lesson. Cy just had to be careful how he delivered that lesson to the jerk.
18
She shouldn’t be following Cy to his house. He was a stranger, and she knew enough not to trust strangers. But so far, people she knew had been the most harmful toward her. She wasn’t stupid and was fairly well informed, but Cy seemed like her best hope for escaping Robert’s cycle of pain and humiliation.
Before he pulled out of the lot, Cy texted her his address just in case she lost him on the road, but she wasn’t going to lose him. She would rather run a light than lose track of his car.
Not once had she received this level of help from anyone while dealing with Robert. She’d asked for assistance more than once, but even the police blamed her. Maybe she was to blame for being with a man like Robert.
When they’d first gotten together, she hadn’t known how bad he was. He’d showered her with gifts and love, telling her lie after lie. At the time, she hadn’t known they were lies. Now she knew beyond a doubt the man had been lying to her from the moment she’d met him.
But how could she have known that everything Robert had said to her had been a part of a plan to manipulate her? By thetime he used his fists to control her, she’d already moved in and felt trapped.
That was the hardest part of it all. She’d known she was trapped, and every time she’d tried to escape, he’d dragged her back in. He’d used everything he could think of to manipulate her.
When their relationship had been new, they’d had a cat. He’d pretended to love the cat, but then any time she’d gone against him, he’d hurt the cat. If she disagreed with him, the cat ended up being abused. When he threatened to kill the cat, she took the risk and left home with the animal, finding a place that would take the cat in. She’d made sure the pet she’d loved would be safe. She should have run at the time, but too much of her life had been tied up with Robert. At least her cat would have a safe home, even if she never saw it again.
He’d wanted her to have kids, and couldn’t figure out why his attempts at getting her pregnant hadn’t worked. He’d beaten her more than once for being infertile. What he hadn’t known was that she’d gone to the doctor in secret and had an IUD put in.
Now that she was free, she knew she should have left Robert much earlier. She should have walked out the first time she had doubts about him.
Cy turned, taking them down a street with cars in driveways and small patches of grass with trees and bushes. Some of the houses had flowers in pots. She liked the area. It was a lot better than where she’d lived with Robert. She half wondered if Robert moved them to shitty locations so she would be afraid to leave the house without him. Had it just been another way to control her?
She parked in the driveway behind Cy, amazed at how secure she felt that this was the right move. It didn’t hurt that he was very good-looking. But that wasn’t why she was here with him. She needed safety, and he seemed very capable of delivering it.
“Is it okay to park behind you?” Willa asked after she stepped from the car.
“For now, sure. I’m not headed into work in the morning, so it’s fine.”
“What time do you usually head to work?”
A chuckle escaped his lips. “Way too early.”
“Thank you for letting me stay here tonight. I swear I won’t make this a habit.”
“Let’s see how it goes. Robert may back off.”
She shrugged. “I doubt it. He’s going to keep causing problems.”
Cy’s lips turned down. “I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this.”
“Maybe I brought it on myself.”
“No, the guy is a jerk. He’s doing this because he can.”
