Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

Blythe

I t had been three weeks since the dinner with Rhodes’s family, and the only way I knew to describe how it had been was bliss.

Pure and simple bliss.

I was letting go of the past and keeping my eyes on the future, and I was happier than I could remember being in a very long time. My kids were living their best lives, work was good, I was reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, and I was mending the bonds with my own family after being away for too long. Life was good.

There was just one dark cloud hanging over top of it. And that dark cloud came in the form of a beautiful dark-haired woman with sad eyes who did everything she could to hide herself away from the world while still being forced to exist in it.

Seeing her shrink into herself more and more as the days turned into weeks broke my heart. I would have given anything to be able to help her, but I didn’t know how to get her to open up to me, to ask for help. I’d done everything I could think of, but I was all out of ideas.

The woman in question stood from her chair at the station beside mine and headed out of our little nook. I couldn’t help but notice she was moving gingerly, her motions slower and more careful than usual.

I turned in my chair, my gaze tracking her as she disappeared from sight.

“Keep trying.” Gretchen’s voice broke through the cloud of worry in my head, and I twisted around to look at her. She tilted her chin in the direction Merritt had just disappeared. “We’ve seen you trying to break through. If there’s anyone here who can, it’s you.”

“Do you know what’s going on with her?”

She shook her head. “None of us ever got close enough to find out. At first we thought she was shy, but now we’re not so sure.”

I didn’t feel I had either, but I’d been paying closer attention than most might have. “I think it’s him,” I said quietly.

Gretchen’s eyes widened and she lowered her voice, glancing around to make sure no one could overhear. “Him, as in her husband?” I nodded.

“What do you think is going on?”

It wasn’t so much me thinking any longer; I’d seen enough signs to be confident now. “He’s beating her. I’d bet my life on it.” As I said those words, the anger in my belly built to a boil, and I wanted nothing more than to track him down and give him the same treatment he’d given to his wife who was so much smaller than he was.

“Damn it,” Gretchen hissed, slapping her hand against her thigh. “I should have known. That son of a bitch was too damn charming, should have seen that as a sign.”

“They’re master manipulators for a reason, Gretch. Don’t beat yourself up. Most people wouldn’t have put it together. That’s how they’re able to get away with it for so long.”

“Yeah, but you did.”

I pushed to my feet. “Unfortunately, I learned from the manipulator I was married to. I just didn’t realize the truth until he was gone.”

With that, I moved out of the office area in search of Merritt. She wasn’t in the break room, so I continued down the hall to the ladies room at the very end. I heard it as soon as I pushed the door open. The quiet sniffle and the muted sob she was struggling to hold in. The sound of her crying killed me, and I decided then and there I was done waiting for her to reach out on her own.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, mindful to keep my voice gentle. “So there’s no use trying to hide from me in there.”

I waited patiently as silence filled the bathroom; finally, a full minute later, the lock on the stall door clicked and it swung open. Merritt stepped out, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

“Oh, honey,” I breathed, my eyes beginning to burn as I stepped closer. “How can I help?”

She pulled in a broken breath. “I—I need help wrapping my ribs. I can’t get the bandage myself, and it’s getting harder to breathe.”

I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. I blinked rapidly and had to bite the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood to fight back the tears as she lifted the top of her scrubs, revealing the ugly, mottled blue and purple bruises that covered her entire left side. If she was asking for help with something like this, I couldn’t imagine the kind of pain she’d been suffering all morning.

I held out my hand, taking the wrap from her, unable to stop the one tear that broke free and slipped down my cheek.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, honestly,” she attempted to assure me. “Sometimes I’m too clumsy for my own good.” She attempted to laugh but cut it off with a wince when the movement jostled her battered ribs. I knew this wasn’t something she’d done to herself. As I wrapped the bandage around her, there was no mistaking the bruise was shaped like the sole of a shoe down near her hip.

“You shouldn’t have come in today, honey. You need to be in bed resting.”

“Best way to deal with pain is to work through it.” Her eyes were hollow as she stared straight ahead, and I knew those words weren’t her own. That piece of shit had beaten her to the point she struggled to breathe, then he’d forced her to come to work while she still wore the proof of his temper all over her body.

“Merritt.” My voice came out in a croak as I moved to stand in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders. “Please, let me help you. Please .”

“There’s nothing to help with. I told you, I was clumsy, and I slipped at the top of the stairs.”

I shook my head, silently communicating that I wasn’t going to accept her lie as truth. “You don’t deserve this.”

Her chin began to tremble as she bit down on her bottom lip. “Maybe I do,” she whispered.

“No,” I argued vehemently. “No, you don’t. That’s him making you think that. He’s trying to convince you that everything he’s done is a lesson you need to learn, that you’re defective and don’t deserve better. He’s the defective one, and he knows it. That’s why he’s doing this. He’s trying to beat you down and make you believe you’re lucky to have him because he knows you could do so much better. But more, he knows that he can’t. You’re the prize, Merritt. You .”

“You—you don’t understand.”

“Then help me to,” I pleaded, hopelessness making my chest heavy.

“He won’t let me go,” she confessed, her voice breaking. “I’ve tried to leave, but he won’t let me go.”

I was going to kill this asshole if I ever got my hands on him. But first, I was going to help Merritt get out from under his thumb.

“I know people who can help,” I insisted. “My brother, he’s a detective with the Hope Valley PD.”

Her eyes went wide, filling with panic as she shook her head frantically. “No, you can’t do that. You don’t understand. He’s powerful. He has connections. The police can’t do anything.”

I had a feeling Tristan wouldn’t be too happy to hear that his hands were tied in any situation of wrong-doing. He’d become a cop because of what we went through as kids. It had cultivated a deep-seated need to help other people inside him. To his core, he was a protector, and he wouldn’t stand for anyone, powerful or not, hurting someone else.

But that was a conversation for another time.

For now, there was somebody who could help. Someone who didn’t have the same red tape to cut through or rules to follow.

“Okay. No police,” I assured her. “But there are still options. Have you heard of Alpha Omega?”

I knew she had by the look that flashed over her face. “I can’t afford?—”

I cut her off by shaking my head. “Don’t even think about that. Something you might not know about those men; money doesn’t matter to them when a wrong is being done. And I know this for a fact, because the man I love is one of them, and he would bend over backward and work himself to the bone to help someone who truly needed it. All without ever taking a single penny. It’s why I love him.”

“That man who came in here a couple months back?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Him. He can help you, Merritt. And he’ll gladly do it because he cares and it’s important to him. But what’s more, he knows you’re important to me.”

A sob broke past her lips as her knees gave out, and I moved in quickly, catching her before she hit the ground while trying to make sure I didn’t hurt her worse than she already was.

“Shh,” I soothed, rubbing a hand over her hair. “You’re going to be okay. I give you my word.”

“I-I’ve never been important to anybody.”

I wasn’t sure my heart could take much more, but I’d do my best to deal, for her, because Lord knew she’d already suffered more than I could ever comprehend. “You do now. And something you need to know about me... when someone is important to me, there isn’t anything I won’t do for them.” I waited until she was stable on her feet before pulling back so she could see my face. “You take care of what you need to in here, and I’m going to go start my car. Then I’m taking you to see the people who can help.”

I began to turn, but Merritt stopped me by grabbing my hand. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for this.”

I shook my head and caressed her cheek. “That’s another thing, Merritt, friends don’t pay friends back for caring. Don’t start a running tally, because I’ll never cash it in.” I swiped her tear away and smiled. “See you out there.”

She nodded and I left the bathroom, swinging by to grab my purse and ask Gretchen if she could cover the front for a couple hours, then I headed out back to my car.

I fished around in my purse for my keys, finally finding them at the bottom of my bag. Pushing the button on the key fob, I beeped the locks and opened the driver’s side door as an angry voice spoke behind me.

“Fuckin’ bitch. It’s time someone teaches you your place, and I’m looking forward to doing it.” I barely made it halfway around when something slammed into my temple so hard spots formed before my eyes as my legs crumpled beneath me. Then all I saw was darkness.