“You’ve always had your family, and friends, and a support system to lean on,” I tell him. “All I’ve ever had is my father dictating every aspect of my life, and a stepmother who takes his side. With the exception of college, even my friends were selected for me.” My words release in chokes. I’m not sure if Curran understands me, but I keep going. Now that I’ve started, I can’t seem to stop.
“I tried talking with an attorney a few years ago. Do you know what he said to me?” He stills and waits for me to respond. “That no one in his right mind would go against my father. ‘Suck it up,’ he said. ‘There are worse problems and real abuse in life.’?”
Curran mumbles another curse, yet as furious as he is, he manages to brush a gentle kiss against my head. “I want you to get away from him. This shit ends tonight.”
“And where would I go?”
“What do you mean?” he asks me, frowning. “You’ll go with me.”
“And substitute one man for another?”
“I’m not him! Do you really think my intent is to take the place of your piece-of-filth father?”
God, he’s so angry. “That’s not what I’m saying. But Curran, I have to stand on my own. If I can get through these next few months, I can walk away and finally be free.”
“What if he stops you?”
“He can’t,” I try to insist, despite my shaky voice. “Once I pass the boards, I’ll finally have a way to make my own money.”
“Tess, this is a sick man who has gotten off on hurting you, scaring you, and forcing you to do things against your will. Do you think that’s going to end with your graduation? If you don’t think he has another ace up his sleeve, you have another thing coming.”
His eyes sweep over my body, while his hands travel the length of my arms. “Do you see yourself?” he asks me. “Do you have any idea what you look like right now? He’s killing you, baby. This man is destroying everything you are, and everything I love about you.”
He hauls me to him when I sob into my hands, his words and their truth dismantling me. “I don’t want to be like this,” I admit.
“Then don’t. Let me get you out of here. I make a good living. I have money put away. I can carry us through until you can stand on your own. Will you let me?”
I clutch the front of his shirt, knowing what I have to say, and wishing I didn’t have to. “I can’t.”
Curran’s muscles tense beneath my hold. He doesn’t move or speak, not for a long time. But when he does, his words crush me more than an avalanche of falling stones. “If that’s the case, you’re more broken than I thought, and I can’t fix you.”
He wrenches himself away from me and grabs his jacket, then marches toward the hall. Without another glance back, he throws the door open.
I call to him, but he leaves anyway, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter 24
Curran
I drive around for two hours. The cop in me is gone. The Philly boy raring for a fight? He’s front and center, looking for a way to find fucking Newart. Bastard piece of shit. I swear I could choke him with my bare hands.
He damaged my girl, spent years reducing her to nothing, and I’m not sure there’s a way to get all of her back.
What pisses me off, though, is that Tess is right. Me storming in there, pretending to save the day, won’t save her in the end. She needs to walk away from him. I can’t make her do it. No. I owe her more than that.
I make it back to my apartment after hours of senseless driving, but can’t even put the key in the lock. She’s a mess, and I left her like that. I glare at my door for about ten seconds before I hotfoot down the back stairs and head back to her place.
It’s almost one in the morning when I reach her building. I rush out of my car, pausing only to nod toward her guard sitting in his vehicle. I knock on her door moments later. She opens it slowly, her eyes red and swollen.
Shit. I was hoping I’d wake her. It would mean she’d slept, and not stayed awake crying like she obviously had.
“Hi,” I say like a dumbass.
Tears leak from her eyes. Damn. For as much as I think her father is a supreme dick, being the one to cause those tears, I’m no better. “I’m sorry I left.” She doesn’t answer, choosing instead to wipe her cheeks. “And I’m sorry for what I said. It won’t happen again.”