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“I’m Detective Rodriguez, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too. This is my boyfriend, Phoenix West.” I gesture to Nix beside me. “And my brothers, Tucker Harrington and Trey Davis.”

“Like I said, what can we do for you?”

I square my shoulders and look directly at Detective Nelson when I say, “I need to file a report against my ex-fiancé, Ryan Wheeler.”

Detective Rodriguez nods and sits down in the chair opposite me, pulling a notepad out of his suit pocket. I keep my eyes focused on Nelson as he stares back at me, contempt clear on his face. Finally, he sits in the other chair and clears his throat.

“Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

From behind me, Tucker growls at the sarcastic tone he’s using, and Nix’s knee bounces like crazy under the table. I lay my hand over it and his gaze flicks over to me for just a moment before focusing on the slimy detective again.

“One question first, is Ryan watching this through that mirror there?” I point to the two-way mirror behind the detectives and Nelson laughs.

“That’s just a mirror.”

I glare at him. “Let’s get one thing straight here, I’m not stupid so stop treating me like I am.” Fire is flowing through my veins as I take them on. I don’t know where it came from but I love it. Nix places his hand on my leg, just above my knee, and squeezes. I glance over at him and he nods with a small smile playing on his lips.

“Get Wheeler out of here,” Detective Rodriguez calls over his shoulder and I roll my eyes. Of course he was here.

“Any more games?” I direct my question at Detective Rodriguez. He may seem more sincere than Nelson but I’m still not sure that I can trust anyone here.

“No, Ma’am.” I study him for a moment before nodding. “Please tell us what happened.”

“I started dating Ryan Wheeler a little over two years ago. We moved in together after dating for a few months and shortly after that, he began getting violent with me. He would grab me or hold me down, squeezing hard enough to leave bruises behind. Things were getting worse and when I caught him cheating on me, I tried to leave. He grabbed me, tossed me into our spare bedroom, and locked me inside. He left me there for twenty-four hours with no food and no water.”

“Isn’t that like kidnapping?” Tucker snaps from behind me.

Detective Nelson smashes his lips into a thin line. “Technically, yes.”

I resist the urge to snort in disbelief. Technically. No, it was kidnapping.

“Go on, please,” Detective Rodriguez says, shooting a look in Nelson’s direction.

I take a deep breath. “He also raped me several times. The last time is when I was finally able to get away from him. I went and saw my doctor the next morning. I have her report here.” I rummage around in my bag and pull out the folder of all our evidence before sliding the report to them across the table. I see Nix’s raised brow out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t tell him about the report. I didn’t tell anyone. I never wanted anyone to know any of this.

“How long ago did this happen?” Detective Nelson’s voice drags me out of my thought and I look up at him.

“Over a year ago.”

“Why are you just coming forward now?”

“Because he’s been stalking me and making threats.”

“Why didn’t you come in sooner? Like when this originally happened.”

“Actually, I did make a report. Right, Detective Nelson? What ever happened to that?” That has Detective Rodriguez’s attention instantly and he whips his head in Nelson’s direction.

“I’m sorry. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I knew it. He probably never even filed that report. God, how stupid can I be? I should have never trusted anyone here.

“Ma’am, do you have any evidence?” Detective Rodriguez asks and I direct my gaze back to him. I slide the rest of the folder across the table and pull the jewelry out of my bag.

“All right, we’re going to need to go over every detail of the attack described in this doctor’s report,” Nelson says. The sick satisfaction in his voice only serves to piss me off more. If he thinks this will break me, he is sorely mistaken. I take a deep breath and Nix rubs my back in support.

“We had broken up but he asked me to come over so we could talk. As soon as he realized that I wasn’t going to take him back, he grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hallway toward the bedroom.”

“Is this what caused the bruises on your arm and the dislocated shoulder?” Rodriguez asks as he reads the report from my doctor.