“I love the idea, but, Stacey, you can do anything you want to with or without me. You remember that.”
She swallowed her medication and set the glass on the counter. “Are you planning on going somewhere, Hatch?”
“Only with you.”
“Good.”
Phillip poked his head in the kitchen. “Hey, what’s taking so long?” His gaze flicked between them and he grinned. “You have anything to eat? I’m starved.”
A quarter of an hour later, Stacey was stretched out on the couch. Mason had her feet across his lap and her three brothers were sprawled in chairs around them, two demolished bags of chips and a plate emptied of sandwiches sitting in the middle of the table. Phillip sat forward, cleared a space and opened his briefcase. He pulled out a small digital recorder and glanced at her with an arch of his brow. Stacey nodded, watching as he turned it on.
“This is the statement of Stacey Barlow-Barrett Winchester with regard to the sexual assault on her which took place on the morning of…” She took a deep breath as he continued with the opening, giving the date of the assault, the current date and who the witnesses were present to hear her statement. When he finished, he looked at her. “Are you ready?”
She nodded. She began with Brandon’s wedding because for her that was when she had first noticed something off. As she recounted the overtures by Justin, the situation around the hot tub, the feeling she had of not being quite in control and the subsequent drinking she’d done, she saw her brothers shift. The clenching and unclenching of hands, the clunk of bottles as they were set down, all told her what they were feeling. Mason she had even more awareness of. When she hit a rough spot or hesitated, she would feel a comforting squeeze as he massaged her feet. When she mentioned the bruises on her hips and thighs, he went as rigid as though he had turned to stone.
“Could we take a break for a minute?” she asked softly. They had only reached the day she caught Justin and Jason together, so the worst was yet to come. “I need to collect myself.”
After swinging her feet to the floor, she stood and walked along the hallway to the bathroom, leaving silence behind her. She knew they would talk while she was gone. That was okay. After splashing water on her face, she patted it dry and stared at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look different. The same face had stared back at her last year, last month, last week and still stared back at her right now. But there was something different. Jason and Justin had manipulated her, thinking she was weak. Mason had nursed and nurtured her, knowing something else lay deep inside. She took a deep breath. It was time to get it on Phillip’s tape recorder. Then they would decide where to go from there.
Mason was right. She could do this with or without him, but she was extremely glad it was with him.
* * * *
Stacey sat next to him again on the couch, but this time, all she did was reach over with her hand. Mason didn’t hesitate. He took her fine-boned fingers in his, holding them with enough pressure to let her know he was there for her. Her brothers listened silently for the most part. Phillip interrupted every now and then with a question, either to have her clarify something or because he needed more information.
“Did you tell Jace you were going to your boat?”
“No, but that probably wouldn’t take him much time to figure out. It’s my getaway place, not his. Jace only ever came aboard reluctantly.”
Phillip nodded and jotted a note on his legal pad. “So, you left Jace and Justin at the house Friday afternoon, but it was just before dawn Saturday when Jace arrived at the marina.”
“That’s right.”
Phillip’s glance swiveled to Mason. “What time was it when you left Stacey?”
He shrugged. “Midnight or after. I waited until she’d fallen asleep.”
Phillip tapped his pen on the pad and pressed his lips together before he finally spoke. “Look, I’m sorry I have to ask this, but did anything sexual happen between the two of you?”
Stacey’s hand trembled. Mason squeezed reassuringly. “No. She was upset and she’d been drinking.”
She squeezed back. “He’s being kind. I was plastered, Phillip. I tried, but he refused.” Phillip made a couple of notes. “Is that a problem?”
“No. Just be prepared for his attorney to turn your presence on the boat into something, but if there’s no physical evidence to back it…”
“There’s not.” Mason couldn’t help the snarl that came through, but the thought someone would try to twist this in any way to make it seem like it was Stacey’s fault crawled all over him.
“It’s all right, Mason,” Stacey murmured. “I’m ready for that.”
He brought her hand to his lips and held it there for a minute. Jesus. He wasn’t sure he could be as strong as she was.
Phillip set his pen on the table. “We can take a break for a few minutes…”
“Unless you need one,” Stacey said, stopping him, “I’d prefer to get this finished.”
Mason held her hand against his thigh, keeping an eye on her as she continued with waking to find Winchester in the cabin with her. She trembled as she recounted the details. Brandon stood restlessly and paced across the room to stare out at the dinghy bobbing in the water. When Mason turned his gaze on Seth, the only clue to his emotions was in the rhythmic tic in his jaw, as if the guy was clenching and unclenching his teeth. Even Phillip’s grip on his pen had become white-knuckled. When he finally clicked the stop button on the recorder, Brandon spun.
“Fuck the legalities. Can’t we pay the bastard a visit?”
Seth raked his hand through his thick hair. “I’m right there with you, Bran, but this isn’t our call.” He turned to Stacey. “What do you want to do?”
Stacey sighed heavily. “How strong do you think my case would be, Phillip?”
“You have plenty of physical evidence, but I have to tell you, without anyone else to place him at the scene…”
Mason jumped up. “For Christ’s sake! He hurt her. The hospital took a rape kit on her. Even if he didn’t actually do the deed, he tried. What more do they need?”
Phillip’s eyes blazed. “I’m not the enemy here, all right? I’m just pointing out a good defense attorney could twist this into directions you really don’t want to go.”
“Like what?”
“Like the…evidence…was the result of consensual sex. Then you showed up. The two of you do have a history. It could be twisted so you become the attacker, not Winchester. People have seen the animosity between you.”
“Fuck you!” Mason was nearly speechless with rage. As he took a step forward, Seth was suddenly in front of him with Stacey pushing her way in.
“Stop it!” she pleaded. “All of you. Please. Everybody, take a deep breath.”
Mason took one look at her pale face and the fight drained right out of him. “I’m sorry, honey.”
When he opened his arms, she stepped into his embrace. Mason’s throat tightened, his vision going blurry before he blinked. God, the last thing he wanted to do was start boo-hooing in front of her or her ginormous brothers. Stacey cupped her hand around the back of his neck and rested her cheek against his shoulder. Mason took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax.
“What do you want to do, Stacey?” Seth asked. “We can get the police involved, but I don’t think that’s our only option. It depends on what you want.”
She turned in Mason’s arms and leaned against him. He kept his arms around her, his hands crossing over her stomach, her hands covering them. “I want my marriage to him to go away as quickly as possible.”
“Divorce?” As soon as Phillip said it, Mason saw all of the Barlow-Barretts cringe. “The Church…”
“I want an annulment.”
To Mason’s surprise, Phillip actually smiled. “It’s much easier to get a divorce. However, I think we can prove pretty easily you meet one, maybe even two, of the three standards for an annulment… Winchester’s failure to disclose his sterility as well as hi
s ongoing sexual relationship outside the marriage constitute both fraud and willful withholding of information.”
“Can we prove it?” Brandon asked, returning from the window.
Phillip laughed. “The sterility without a doubt, and I suspect the mere threat of exposing the other will have him volunteering the information in closed court.”
Seth leveled his golden gaze on his sister. “Is that all you want? Because I have to tell you, Stacey, if you don’t go after him on criminal charges, you’ll be running into him socially every time you turn around.”
She stiffened in Mason’s arms. “I want those pictures he took, and I want signed statements from him and Justin admitting what they did.”
“Jesus,” Phillip muttered. “And exactly what am I supposed to use for leverage?”
“Jason will do almost anything to avoid a scandal,” Stacey said. “Just the threat of criminal charges would probably be enough, but if not, there’s always the digital video from the security system that could go public.”
Mason watched as Seth slowly grinned. “Jesus, Stacey. That’s cold, but doesn’t he know how the system is designed?”
“No. He’s always assumed we had the run-of-the-mill alarm system. I never told him the rest of it. There will for sure be video of him and Justin in the study, and if the two of them decided to do anything in any other public areas of the house… Well, that will have been recorded too. There are cameras everywhere but the bedrooms and the bathrooms.”
Mason laughed. He couldn’t help it. Just the image of Winchester’s face when he realized he wasn’t the only one with damning pictures made him feel so much better. “Why did you go to such lengths with security?” he asked as he slipped around where he could see her expression.
“I was alone a lot while Jace traveled. In addition to my own valuables, I often had clients’ belongings there on a temporary basis. So, when I brought the security guy in, I had him install the standard alarm, and also a digital video surveillance system. The cameras are sound- and motion-activated.”
“It has audio?” Seth wanted to know.
She nodded. “Ambient sound, not directional, but unless there’s a lot of background noise, it will pick up conversations too.”
“Is it someplace he can access?” Phillip asked.
Stacey shook her head. “It’s on a secure server. Since it was designed to assist with my business, I never told him the details.” She bit her lip, her eyes sad. “I never expected…I would have to use it against him.”
Mason squeezed her shoulder. “Do you have to access it from the house?” The last thing he wanted was for her to have to return to the brownstone.
“No. I–God–I could do it from here. It’s internet-based.”
“I have an office down the hall on the left. You can use my computer.”
Stacey started to shake. “I-I don’t want…”
“There’s no need for you to see it,” Seth said. “Give me the information. Brandon, Phillip and I will take a look to see if there’s anything we can use. Is it configured so we can make a hard copy backup?”
Stacey nodded.
After she wrote down the information and her brothers had left the room, she leaned against Mason.
“Are you sure you don’t want to have him charged?”
“Yes. It will be better this way.”
He tightened his arms around her. “I don’t like the idea he could approach you. Stacey…”
“Please, Mason. If he’ll agree to the annulment and my other demands, it’s enough.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. “All right. But I want you living with me or your brothers for your own safety. I don’t trust him and I don’t trust Worthington.”
Chapter 10
Live with Mason or her brothers. That didn’t sound much like a romantic relationship. Stacey felt her chest tighten with pain. Sure, she’d told him she needed to play the whole lover or friend idea by ear for a while, but suggesting she live with him or her brothers? Had she mistaken his interest? It had seemed pretty plain at the time. Now she wasn’t so sure.
“What do you want, Mason?”
He paced away from her, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand before he turned back to her. “I want you here, with me.”
Her heart beat heavily. “Just for my safety?”
“No, damn it. I want you with me…in my house, in my bed. If you can’t feel safe with me, then you need to be with one of your brothers. I can’t do this anymore. I’ll take you however you’ll have me. If that makes me sound pathetic, then too bad. I’m not risking having you anywhere I don’t think you’ll be safe.”
Tears blurred her vision. She wiped them away. There’d been enough crying. She tried to smile, but her mouth trembled. For once in her life, she wanted to be able to stand up for what she wanted without feeling half sick because she was causing a scene. Fists clenched on either side of her, she took a deep breath.
“I want it like it was before Jace. I want you like I’ve never wanted any other man, but I can’t do that right now. I can’t…”
“Stacey…”
“No! Let me say it. I can’t be with you right now, and I don’t know when I will. I want to…but I just can’t… And if you can’t…”
He took her hands, sliding his fingers in and loosening her clenched grip. “I’ll take you however you’ll have me, Stacey. If that means just holding you, hell, if it means separate bedrooms…I can do that. I want you with me, yes, but I want you safe.”
He pulled her toward him, wrapped her in his arms and simply held her. Stacey felt her tension, her fear, leave. “Will you come with me to get my things?”
“Him and the rest of us.” They both turned to see Seth framed in the doorway. His eyes glittered in a face pale with fury. “Stacey, I want you to reconsider. I want you to think about pressing charges.”
She shook her head, sticking her chin up. Phillip and Brandon now flanked Seth, their faces equally grim. “Please understand when I say this,” Stacey said. “It’s not because of what’s been drummed into me for so long. I want to accomplish the specific things I’ve mentioned because I’ve seen what happens when the media gets hold of any of our family. I don’t want a scene, not because I’m interested in avoiding a scandal, but because I want to put this behind me. I want my life back. Can you understand that?”
Brandon walked over to them. Mason backed away so her brother could take her face in his hands. “Baby, the scene in the study is on there, like you suspected, but it’s not all.”
Stacey’s body went stiff. It had to be bad.
“There’s video of you. Winchester left the door open. The three of you are visible in the background.”
“I want to see.”
Mason and Brandon both protested. “Baby, it’s not just the video. The audio… Stacey, you just don’t need to hear that.”
She looked to Phillip and Seth. “I want to see and hear. You can’t ask me to reconsider pressing charges without seeing…”
Seth was shaking his head, and Phillip had averted his gaze to stare out a window, but his mouth was tight and his jaw slowly clenching. She looked back to Brandon. He would understand. He’d always understood better than the others. Their eyes locked and finally he looked at his brothers.
“Move. Let me take them both back and show them.”
“Fuck!” Seth swept past them, out the back door and down the steps.
Stacey was grateful for Mason’s arm around her waist. They sat in front of the monitor as Brandon called the video back up. He didn’t bother with the scene from the study. She’d seen and heard it in person. When he clicked on another camera, it was to replay digital recordings from the hallway outside her bedroom.
The images weren’t the best, but the audio made it plain who the players were. It was like watching someone else. Stacey had to view it that way because to admit it was her would have driven her mad. From the tension radiating from Mason, she knew he
couldn’t be quite as objective. In fact, he stood in the middle of it and left the room. When Brandon stopped it, Stacey stared at the screen, numb.
“It’s so obvious now when I watch it who the couple is and who the unwelcome third is. I never truly had a marriage.”
“Oh, baby…”
“Until now, I might have been able to fool myself into thinking Jace at least liked me even if it was Justin he was in love with. But this?” She shook her head.
“Listen to me, Stacey.” All the laughter was gone from Brandon’s earnest hazel gaze. “This kind of stuff will screw with your head. Lucy has a friend…”
“I’ll talk to her. You’re right.”
“And pressing charges?”
She closed her eyes. “I want to kill him–them–both of them, but I still just want this all behind me.”
Phillip burst into the room. “You may have to get in line for the killing part. Mason just left.”
* * * *
He would kill him. The idea kept repeating over and over in his brain as he aimed the Porsche back toward Georgetown. Stacey would be safe with her brothers. Mason had vowed to take care of her, and he would. Now, having seen the images on the security video, he was no longer content to simply discredit Jason Winchester and Justin Worthington. Allowing the two to fade from the scene was no longer enough. They needed to pay.
It hadn’t been enough to get her drunk, to attack her. The two had humiliated her, carrying on so openly in her own home. Mason growled, saw the speedometer and forced himself to back off the accelerator. His pummeling Winchester and Worthington wouldn’t preclude what Stacey wanted to accomplish, but it would give him a small measure of satisfaction. He didn’t belittle what Stacey wanted to do, but inaction had never been part of Mason’s make-up.
His cell phone rang. Mason glanced over, saw it was Stacey. He wanted to ignore it, so he could keep his single-minded concentration on the task of making Jace and Justin pay, but he couldn’t do that to her. She’d been ignored enough. As the phone rang, some tiny bit of reason tunneled through his anger.
Broken Heart Page 14