We walked to Leah’s classroom and dropped off her lunch, pausing by her teacher’s desk to check on her progress. The kids were at morning recess. They would be going to lunch in another hour. R.J. arrived in time to save the day.
Once we were back in my office, he shut the door and flipped the Be Back Soon sign around so no one would disturb us. I had to admit the man was almost annoyingly persistent when he wanted something.
“It’s another time.”
“You’re not going to let it go, are you?”
He shook his head.
Sighing, I leaned against my desk and faced him, swallowing loudly as I summoned the courage to speak the words aloud. Even my sister didn’t know as much detail as I was about to give R.J. I wasn’t sure why I trusted him as much as I did but I felt safe with him. That meant a lot to me, more than I could express.
“Max likes to be rough,” I began, keeping my eyes level with R.J.’s no matter how much I wanted to look away. “He’s controlling and manipulative. Whenever he’s around, he has his hand on my back and it feels like I’m stuck in a prison I can’t escape. I feel like I’m suffocating, and I can’t get air every single time. Lately, it’s gotten worse.” I bit my lip, trying not to cry. “Max shoves me into the walls, yanks my hair, grabs my upper arms.” I sighed, looking down briefly. “You get the picture. He’s always pushing me around and forcing me to do what he wants. I can’t . . . I won’t,” I blubbered, cut off when my voice broke.
R.J. moved slowly forward, picking up both my hands gently and squeezing lightly. “I won’t lie to you. I’m so pissed off right now if he stood in front of me, I’d kick his ass and I probably wouldn’t stop there.”
Despite his angry words, R.J. wasn’t rough at all.
“You’re able to control yourself though and that’s more than Max has ever been able to do.” I thought back to when we were younger and in high school. Max was always controlling. He made all the decisions in our relationship. How did I never see that before now?
“You’re not to blame.”
“I am though, partially. I let him treat me that way.”
“You made a mistake. No one is perfect.”
That wasn’t good enough. Saying it was a mistake didn’t begin to describe what I’d been through.
“It’s more than a mistake, R.J. He’s been abusing me both mentally and physically and I’ve been too stupid to realize it until the last couple of weeks. I’m weak,” I announced bitterly. “No wonder he’s been able to get away with treating me so horribly.”
“Hey,” he growled, and I almost jumped. “That’s not true at all. You’re brave, Cara. You’ve survived a monster. Maxwell Forman is nothing but a bully. He’s bigger and he’s a man so he can get away with pushing you around, at least in the past but that shit isn’t gonna happen anymore.” R.J. tugged me into his embrace, slipping his arms around me until I was completely surrounded by his protective strength. “I don’t want you to see
him anymore. Cut off all contact. It’s not safe and I don’t want him to hurt you again.”
“R.J.”
“Please,” he begged, crooking a finger underneath my chin and lifting it. “Stay away from Max.”
“I have to go to the gala,” I reminded him.
“Only to break off the engagement. Fuck, sweetheart,” he swore. “I’ll mail his ring back for you or I can toss it in his smug face when I tell him to fuck off.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Maxwell won’t ever leave me alone unless he can see I’m serious face to face.”
“Then I’m going to the gala too.”
“That’s a really bad idea. He’ll lose his shit if he thinks you’re there because of me.”
“Don’t care.”
“What about your club? Isn’t that risky?”
R.J. shrugged. “My brothers have my back. We’re family.”
Searching for any hint he was going to back off, I found none. “Fine. You’re going to need a tux.”