by A. K. Evans
“Em, I’m sorry,” Charley said.
Why was she apologizing?
Tears spilled down Emme’s cheeks and I fought to not go to her and wrap my arms around her. What the fuck was going on?
The girls went back and forth and I realized that Emme just learned, at the same time as Dana, that Wes asked Charley to move in with him. Charley kept trying to explain that she was scared to tell Emme because she didn’t want to abandon her. Emme was hurt that Charley didn’t trust her enough to know that she’d be happy for her. Charley tried to get her to realize that she was just worried about her.
Then, Emme said, “I get that, but Charley, come on. Don’t you think it would be finally fucking freeing for me to know that my life isn’t continuing to ruin yours? I’m the reason Taj is no longer here. You think I wouldn’t want this for you?”
I’ve talked to Charley before about Emme. I never got the impression that she thought Emme was a burden.
“You haven’t ruined my life, Emme. And Taj’s murder is not your fault. I don’t know how to make you see that.”
“Are you kidding me? It was my psycho ex-boyfriend who decided to pull the trigger.”
Shit. Emme’s ex-boyfriend murdered Taj. Why?
“Exactly. He’s the one responsible. Not you.”
“I called Taj. I should have never called Taj that day. If I hadn’t called him he’d still be here,” she said, shaking her head back and forth as the tears streamed down her face.
“And it’s very likely you wouldn’t be. You barely survived as it is, Em.”
She barely survived? Barely survived what?
I saw red.
“What the fuck?” I all but roared.
Emme’s eyes searched the table we were all sitting at before she said, “That’s right, everyone. It was almost a year ago when Taj was murdered and I nearly died right next to him. My ex-boyfriend, Seth, beat the shit out of me for months, years actually. And that wasn’t even the worst of it. I decided to call Taj one night because it had gotten so bad I knew I wouldn’t make it out alive if I didn’t get to the hospital. He was able to get me out of there to safety, but he was ultimately shot and killed. So, you see, the problem is that Taj succeeded in saving me, but lost his own life in the process.”
And then my girl, sad and broken, walked out.
Chapter 16
Zane
“Motherfucker!”
I pushed my chair back from the table and stood. I needed a place to put the rage I was feeling in that moment.
“Dude, chill out,” Stone said with his hand on my shoulder.
“Chill out? Did you just fucking hear the same thing I did? Emme was beaten by some asshole to the point she was hospitalized and nearly died. Not sure how the fuck I’m supposed to calm down right now.”
“Just as fucking pissed about that shit as you are, but you need to calm down because the last thing that girl needs right now is someone with a short fuse around her. Chill the fuck out and go find her or I will,” Luke demanded.
Nobody else was going to take care of her; that was my job. I took off to find her. By the time I got outside I saw Emme making her way down the stairs of the balcony to the parking lot. No fucking way was she driving in her current mental state. I ran down the steps after her and as I got closer I heard her giving her location to someone on the phone. She wasn’t fucking taking a cab either.
“Emme,” I called out.
She jerked her head in my direction and there was fear all over her face. She said something quietly into the phone and pulled it away from her ear.
I stayed put about five feet away from her. I wasn’t going to make her uncomfortable. This needed to be done on her terms. She stood there staring at me and said, “Now you know the truth, Zane. I’m damaged goods.”
Like hell she was.
“Sweetheart, you’re so fucking far from damaged goods.”
She looked away from me. Instinct pushed me and I started to walk toward her. Her head snapped back up and I could tell she was scared. I stopped immediately.
“Emme…fuck, sweetheart, you don’t have to be fearful of me. I would never hurt you,” I said, hating the fact that I even had to say it to her. She should never have to fear for her safety.
She nodded slowly at me.
I held out my hand to her and said, “Come to me, Em.”
She looked down at my hand and back up at my eyes. I nodded to her. And then she was in my arms, shaking uncontrollably, crying her eyes out.
I brought my head down to hers and with my mouth at her ear I asked, “Can I take you home?”
She nodded, but her crying and shaking didn’t cease. I shrugged off my jacket and put it around her before I picked her up and carried her to my truck. Thank fuck I drove myself tonight. I put her in the truck, put the seatbelt on her, and walked around to the other side. I started up the truck, put it in drive, and pulled out of the lot. She was hysterically crying and all I could think about was the fact that I wanted ten minutes in a room with the asshole who did this to her. I reached over and wrapped my hand around hers. I’m not sure she realized it, but she squeezed my hand so tightly for the remainder of the ride back to her place as she cried her eyes out. I wanted to stop and pull over just so I could hold her and make this better, but I knew she needed to be in her home. We made it back to her condo and as soon as I parked my phone rang. I pulled it out and saw Wes was calling. I hopped out of the truck and rounded it toward Emme’s side.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“You with her?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just pulled into the parking lot at her condo.”
“Was going to take Charley to my place, but she’s worried about Emme.”
“She’s not doing well, but I’ve got her. Take Charley to your place and let me help Emme right now.”
“Right. Keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
“Ok, man. Later.”
I disconnected the call and opened Emme’s door. After unbuckling her seatbelt, I helped her out of the truck. She took a few steps, but was struggling so I bent down, picked her up, and carried her to the door. She wrapped her arms around my neck and nuzzled her face into my chest, just like she did our last night in Aspen. When we got to the door, I set her down only long enough to get her key out and open the door. Then I carried her into her bedroom and set her down on the bed. I sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped my hand around one of her ankles while the other hand slipped the shoe off her foot. I then removed the second one. I walked into her bathroom, turned on the tap, and located a washcloth. After the water had warmed up enough I wet the cloth, rang it out, and made my way back to Emme. I wiped the makeup from her face as the tears continued to well up in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. After I’d cleaned her face of the makeup I said, “Let’s get you comfortable. You want any special clothes?”
She shook her head and said, “You are so good to me and I don’t deserve it.”
“You deserve the fucking world, Emme.”
She shook her head and looked down at her hands in her lap.
I walked over to her dresser, found a t-shirt, and came back to the bed. Her eyes found mine again and I could tell she was nervous about something.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She looked away while she murmured, “I need panties, too.”
Fuck me.
I put my hand to her jaw, turned her face to mine, and said, “Then I’ll get you a pair. Don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed of anything in front of me, Emme. Ever.”
I turned back to the dresser and found the drawer that had all the good stuff. Stay fucking focused, Cunningham. I managed to pull out just one pair and walked back to her. I sat back down on the edge of the bed and moved to pull my jacket from her shoulders. She freed her arms and sat there nervously looking at me. I held my hand out to her and after a bit of hesitation she put her hand in mine. I helped her up off the bed so she was standing in front of me facing me.
I gave her a warm smile before I put my hands to her hips and turned her around. After unzipping her dress, I put my hands back to her hips and helped guide her back around so she was facing me. When I put my hands to her shoulders to pull the straps down she went solid.
“Relax, sweetheart. I’ve already seen it all before and it’s beautiful, but that’s not what this is about right now.”
Her breathing quickened and I knew something wasn’t right.
“You’ve got to talk to me, Em. What’s happening right now?”
“You haven’t seen it all yet, Zane.”
What? Of course I had. It was the best fucking night of my life.
I took in a deep breath. “Ok, so show me now then,” I encouraged as gently as possible.
As the tears continued to stream down her cheeks she nodded.
I gently pulled the straps down her arms. As I reached her elbows the dress fell to the floor and pooled at her feet. And that’s when I saw what I hadn’t seen before. A scar.
Motherfucker.
To distract myself from the anger I was feeling and so she didn’t feel so exposed, I grabbed her panties off the bed and pulled them up her legs. Then I moved my hand from her hip up her side to rest my fingertips on the scar. I swiped my thumb back and forth over it and leaned forward to press a kiss to it.
That’s when she lost it again. Her knees buckled and she was in a fit of tears again.
Christ, how do I make this better for her?
I pulled her into my lap and she immediately curled her body up into a protective ball. I looked to the foot of the bed and saw she had a blanket folded up at the end. I snatched it up and wrapped it around her, trying to do anything I could to make her feel safe and protected. As she cried I whispered in her ear, doing whatever I thought might work to calm her down.
“That scar doesn’t change who you are,” I began. “You are still the most beautiful person I know, inside and out. I realize it’s a reminder of a horrible time in your life, but look at where you are now. You’re here and you’re safe. And, sweetheart, I will do whatever is necessary to make sure you don’t go a single day of your life from this point forward not feeling safe, protected, and loved.”
She froze in my arms.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling slightly panicked.
She shook her head and just curled her body deeper into mine. I kicked off my boots, pulled back the blankets on her bed, stood while I was still holding her, and shifted my body back into the bed so I could lie down next to her and hold her close. It took a good long while before she finally settled down. She was still wound tight; I could feel the tension coursing through her body.
“I need you to do one thing for me, Em,” I said.
She pulled her head away from my chest and looked up at me. Without a shred of doubt in her voice she said, “Anything, Zane.”
I closed my eyes, amazed at the strength in this woman. She didn’t even know what I wanted and immediately agreed to it.
“Give me your burden, sweetheart. I know now only just a shred of what has happened to you; I want you to give me the rest. I don’t need all of it tonight, but please give me some of it. Tell me what happened so I can fight this battle with you.”
She stayed silent a while. Finally, she spoke.
“It was my birthday. Actually, it was a week before my birthday. The girls wanted to take me out to celebrate, but he would never allow it. He went away for business and I made plans to go out with the girls that Friday. He told me he had a meeting first thing the following Monday morning, and would return Monday night. I figured this was my opportunity to spend time with Charley, Nikki, and Monroe.”
She paused a moment before continuing, “When they brought me back home I found him waiting for me in the bedroom. He never had a meeting scheduled for Monday. He told me that just to set me up. He was so angry. He insisted that I was out looking for someone else. I apologized profusely and tried to explain that I’d just gone out with the girls for my birthday, but he didn’t care. According to him, I was out dressed like a whore so I could find someone else and leave him. It didn’t matter how much I said I was sorry or even if I would have promised to never do it again, the punishment was still the same.”
She took another break and I waited patiently for her. I knew this couldn’t be easy for her. I was also taking that time to brace myself because I knew I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear.
“I’m surprised at the fact that I remember every single detail of the beating he gave me that night. He first punched me in the jaw and I heard it crack. I’ll never forget that sound…or the pain. When my body flew back, I pulled my hands to my face to try to prevent any further damage so he punched me in the stomach. Of course, that made me drop my hands away from my face. It was a bad decision because then he hit me in my right eye. When I tried to protect my face again I wasn’t quick enough and he split my lip open. Then, he grabbed my hair and threw me to the ground. And then…actually, this is where it gets bad, Zane. Are you sure you want me to continue?”
This is where it gets bad? What the fuck did she think everything she just told me was — a walk in the fucking park? Jesus Christ.
“You had to endure it physically; I’m going to hear it all,” I answered, trying to keep the tone of my voice neutral.
“He began kicking me in the stomach repeatedly. I curled up into a ball trying to protect myself. He moved behind my back and started kicking my ribs. I’d never felt such pain before ever in my life. I remember I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t have a concept of time, but at some point, he just stopped. He walked away and went into the bathroom to shower. I should have run, but I could barely crawl the few feet to my purse so I could get my phone. Charley’s brother, Taj, lived two minutes away from where I lived. I called him thinking he could come get me and take me to the hospital before Seth got out of the shower. Taj got there and carried me to the car. He told me to call the police. Then he turned to walk back into the house. I begged him not to go, telling him it wasn’t worth it, but he wouldn’t listen. He said there was no way that he was going to let Seth get away with what he had done to me. After I called the police I sat there waiting for Taj to come out and that…that’s when I heard the gunshots. Taj never walked back out so I got out of the car and walked back into the house. I saw Taj lying in a pool of blood on the floor. He was still alive and I yelled at him to stay with me, but as I laid there next to him I felt the life leave his body. All I could think was that I was responsible for Taj’s death and that Charley would never forgive me.”
I pulled Emme tighter to my body hoping she’d get whatever comfort she needed from that. Then I said, “Tell me about the scar.”
“The police arrived and that’s when I went into shock. I don’t remember anything after that. The next thing I do remember is waking up in a hospital bed. I spent weeks there recuperating from two black eyes, a busted lip, a jaw that needed to be reset, several broken ribs, and a punctured lung. Of course, I had bruises covering most of my body, but the worst of the injuries was to my kidneys. Both kidneys suffered severe trauma and required surgery, but the doctors couldn’t save one of them and it had to be removed. In exchange for my kidney I got that lovely scar.”
My girl. To think that her beautiful body endured such physical abuse was gut-wrenching. I looked down at her and kissed the top of her head.
“You endured all of that, Emme, and you’re still here. No doubt you are the strongest woman I’ve ever met, but sweetheart, you don’t deal with this on your own anymore. You feel scared, you come to me. You feel unsafe, you come to me. You need to cry, you come to me. You just need to be held, you come to me. If I know you need me, I will get to you. Always. If I can’t get to you in five minutes or less, you call Luke, Stone, Wes, Levi, or Cruz. You tell them where you are and they will be there no questions asked and they will stay with you until I get there. But, Emme, you need to understand you don’t do this alone anymore. Five minutes or
less, Em. You got me?”
She stayed quiet a while, but eventually murmured, “I’m so sorry, Zane. The way I treated you in Aspen was unacceptable.”
“Don’t worry about Aspen. We’re well beyond that now. Please tell me you got me, Emme. Five minutes or less, yeah?”
Her voice was just a hair over a whisper when she repeated, “Five minutes or less, Zane.”
I held her in silence a while before I called, “Em?”
She pulled her head back from my chest and looked up at me.
“Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell me before?”
She closed her eyes a moment and let out a sigh. When she looked back up at me, she answered, “Lots of reasons, I guess. Mostly, though, everything with you has always been beautiful. I didn’t want to ruin that with this. Of course, I destroyed what we had a couple weeks ago so I guess it doesn’t really much matter.”
“You didn’t ruin anything, Em. I understand it might not be easy for you, but you can trust me when I say that.”
“I’ve always trusted you, Zane.”
Fuck, that felt good.
I squeezed her a little tighter and she snuggled in a bit closer to me. Ten minutes later, I felt the tension completely leave her body and her breathing evened out. She was finally asleep. When I glanced to the clock I could see it was nearly six in the morning. I held Emme for a long while, but I couldn’t sleep. I stayed there holding her to give her the comfort she needed and I had to admit, it was the only thing stopping me from losing my shit.
I got up to use the bathroom about two hours later and as I made my way back to the bed I heard a chime come from my phone. I fished the phone out of the pocket of my pants and saw Wes had texted.
Checking in. Wanted to see how she’s doing.
I took the phone and walked out of Emme’s bedroom. As I walked down the hall toward the kitchen I called Wes.