He knew, from both the way she talked and her actions, this wasn’t the first time Caleb had hurt her. His gut churned just thinking about it.
Charlie had always been strong-willed, but Jesus. To live with a man like that for eleven years and survive? That took a special kind of toughness.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she spoke softly, her focus still locked on the window.
“Yeah?” He looked back at the road in front of them. “And what is that?”
“Same thing I am. You’re wondering how I became so pathetic. Why I’d stay with a man like Caleb for all these years.”
His hands gripped the steering wheel like a vise. With a carefully controlled voice, he said, “Actually, I was just thinkin’ how strong you’ve had to be to put up with a guy like him for so long.”
Charlie snorted, then muttered, “Yeah, right.”
Derek gave his rearview mirror a passing glance before turning the car sharply and sliding to a stop on the gravel shoulder. Shoving the gear into park, he unbuckled his belt and turned in his seat to face her.
The look of fear in her eyes gutted him, but he’d be damned if she spent one more second thinking his opinion of her had changed.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I haveneverthought of you as pathetic, and I’m not about to let you think that, either.”
“Kind of hard not to.” She looked away from him again. “I mean, I chose to stay with him. What else would you call that?”
“Surviving.”
Confusion clouded Charlie’s eyes when she glanced back at him again. Taking a chance, Derek slowly reached over and covered her balled up hands with his.
“I don’t know everything you’ve been through. That’s a conversation for another day.”
She blinked against the shame he knew she felt, but when Charlie started to break eye contact again, Derek gently lifted her chin back up with his fingers.
“Look at me.” He waited for her eyes to meet his before saying, “It’s been a long damn time since we’ve seen each other, but I know you, darlin’. You stayed with that bastard because you didn’t think you had any other choice. You did what you felt you had to do, and there’s no shame in that.”
Tears welled in her eyes before spilling over onto her cheeks. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered softly.
“Damn, Charlie.” Derek fought against his own tears as he used his thumb to wipe away the moisture from her skin. “I’ve missed you, too.”
He leaned over and drew her in for a hug. It was a bit awkward, given that she was still wearing her seatbelt, but she clamped on to the back of his shirt and hugged him back as tightly as she could.
After a few more seconds, Derek pulled away and smiled. “Glad we got that settled. Just remember, you’ve been warned. I won’t stand here and let you put yourself down anymore. Got it?”
Giving him a tiny smirk of her own, Charlie sniffed and said, “Well, you’re not really standing, so...”
He huffed out a laugh. “Smartass.” His comment made her smile a little wider.
Knowing she still had a sense of humor, even now, eased the pain in his heart a little.Fucker didn’t completely break her.
No, she wasn’t broken. The old Charlie was still in there, somewhere. He just needed to figure out how to get her to see that.
After buckling himself back in, Derek pulled onto the road and continued the drive to his place. A few minutes later, she spoke again.
“So, these friends of yours...the ones coming over. You’re sure they can be trusted?”
He looked over at her, then back to the road. “I’ve trusted Jake to keep my ass alive more times than I can count.”
“Who’s Jake?”
“My boss. He owns R.I.S.C. and leads the security team I’m on. Olivia, his wife, is the nurse I was tellin’ you about. She’s the best at what she does. She’s also a total sweetheart.” He gave her a wink. “We’re here.”
She looked at the front of his house through the windshield. It was small but had everything he needed. Plus, when he was home, Derek spent most of his time out back anyway.
