Vicious Carousel (Suncoast Society #25)(13)

He handed her the washcloth to finish cleaning between her legs and washing her breasts. Helpful or not, he preferred to avoid those areas right now if she was capable of doing it. Not that he didn’t find her attractive, because he did, but he also wanted to try to keep a healthy boundary between them if possible.

After they rinsed the soap off her, Kenny draped a towel around her and gently patted her dry while she stood there. Her right side was turned toward him, and her swollen eye nearly made him sick to look at. The level of violence she’d endured was horrific.

After getting her out of the shower, Nolan draped his robe around her and they walked her back into the bedroom.

“I packed some stuff in that overnight bag of mine,” she said. “Just dig something out of there for now, please.”

“Okay.” Kenny found it and opened it, spreading clothes out on the bed. She pointed to a long jersey-knit skirt, a short-sleeved tunic, and a pair of underwear.

“I’m not even going to try for a bra,” she said. “I might be a masochist, but that’s pushing it, even for me.”

They helped her get dressed and then walked her out to the living room, where they eased her down onto the couch and handed her the remote control.

“Coffee?” Nolan asked.

“Please. I feel stupid asking this, but do you have a cup with a straw, and could you put a couple of ice cubes in it to cool it down? I don’t think I could handle it all the way hot right now, and cold wouldn’t be good, either.”

“Of course. Milk and sugar?”

“Lots of both, please.”

Kenny showed her how the remote worked while Nolan fixed her coffee. “We’ll call Ed, grab our showers, and then make you something to eat.”

“I’m not sure what I can eat,” she said.

“Scrambled eggs? Oatmeal?”

She slowly nodded. “Eggs sounds good,” she sadly said. “Thank you.”

“What’s wrong?” Kenny asked her. “I mean, besides the obvious.”

Her sad, lopsided smile twisted his heart. “Do you know the last time I had eggs for breakfast?”

He shook his head.

“Do you know what my required breakfast has been the past couple of months?”

“What?”

“A quarter cup of Cheerios, dry, an apple or a banana, and two cups of water.”

He frowned. “What?”

“I was trying to please him. At first, I thought okay, yeah, maybe I could stand to lose a couple of pounds.” She sadly shook her head. “It wasn’t just about that. I realized it was about control. His control of me. Down to the ounce.”

“How long had you been planning to leave?”

“Before the damn chain? Over a month. I decided to be the perfect slave, do everything he said, exactly as he said, no matter what. I was trying to make him think I was working my ass off—literally—to please him.”

Her left eye stared down at her lap. “I think that’s why he bought the chain. Because he was either suspecting I was up to something, or he was further testing me. That’s why I let him put it on me at first. I thought okay, if I fight this, he’ll know. So I acted like I was happy to obey. That was a mistake, and I didn’t realize how bad a mistake it was. The abuse ramped up from there.”

“I thought Ross said you were at the club a few weeks ago? That Loren slipped you phone numbers?”

“I was. Jack would beat me where the bruises wouldn’t show, or where they’d look like they belonged. There were also face slaps, things like that, but nothing to leave a mark, usually. But after that night at the club, it’s like he knew, and things went downhill fast. Part of me wonders if it was a test to see if I’d still be there when he got home later. If so, if he followed his normal pattern, he likely would have apologized, been all sweet and nice, treated me like a princess until I healed up.”

“And then he’d do it again.”

She reached up and touched her nose.

“Shit.”

“I’ve learned my lesson, don’t worry. And thank you for opening your home to me. I promise I’ll try to get out of your way as soon as I can, and I’ll pull my weight while I’m here.” She harshly laughed. “Well, once I can walk on my own. I’ll do chores and stuff until I can afford to pay rent. And even after, of course.”

He touched her shoulder. “You’re welcomed to stay here as long as you need, and stop worrying about money. Please don’t rush to get out of here on our account. You focus first on healing, then the rest will follow.”

“Thank you.”

Nolan brought her coffee with a straw, a glass of water with a straw, and three ibuprofen. She swallowed the ibuprofen first with the water, then sipped the coffee through the straw.

“It’s perfect, thanks.”

They left her sitting there and retreated to their bedroom to call Ed.





Chapter Five


The men quickly showered and dressed and made breakfast for themselves and Betsy. They were ready to go when Ed arrived. He drove, Nolan riding in the backseat with Betsy. Everything hurt, but she wanted this done, and as soon as possible.

At the building where the sheriff’s detective was stationed, a receptionist made them wait in the lobby until the detective came out to greet them. Ed took the lead, introducing everyone.