“I have to tell you something,” Nash finally said. He released me just enough so that I could see his face.
“Okay…”
“I had Holt do some digging into Adam.”
My grip on Nash tightened, but I didn’t let my words snap out. He’d already been honest with me about telling his brothers what was going on. Of course, Holt would use the resources he had to try and help.
I let out my breath slowly. “What did he find?”
Nash’s gaze bored into mine as if searching for something. But I had no idea what that might be. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the action. “There were three charges brought against him by past partners.”
I stiffened, a burn lighting the back of my throat. “I thought it was only me.”
Some part of me had thought something innate inside me called out for abuse. My father, then Adam. It had felt as though I’d somehow asked for it.
Nash cupped the side of my neck, ducking so we were eye-to-eye as if he could read every thought in my brain. “You did nothing to deserve this. And nothing you did brought this on. He’s a manipulator and an abuser.”
Pressure built behind my eyes, but I didn’t let the tears fall. “What happened with the charges?”
I couldn’t imagine that Adam would’ve had the luck he’d had fundraising if all of this were on record.
“The charges of stalking and harassment were dropped.”
My fingers dug deeper into Nash’s arms. Stalking. Harassment.
Nash kept going. “Another ex filed a civil suit for assault.”
I jerked in Nash’s arms. “Assault?”
He nodded slowly.
“What happened?”
Nash paused for a moment before speaking, as if this were the last thing he wanted to tell me. “Her statement says that he pushed her down the stairs.”
Memories battered at the walls of my mind—my father’s voice screaming at me.“You’re trash. Good for nothing. Take all my money. Ungrateful bitch.”He’d been so mad when I’d asked for that little bit of extra money to go to the movies. I’d tried to get away and escape our trailer. I’d run to the front door, even made it to the top of the cement steps that led to the driveway—a tall set since we were on the mountainside.
He’d kicked me from behind, sending me flying down those stairs. But he didn’t stop there. He kept kicking once I reached the bottom. I likely would’ve been killed if a neighbor hadn’t heard my screams. As it was, I almost had been.
“Mads,” Nash said softly. It wasn’t a question, yet that one syllable held every unspoken query.
“She’s okay?”
Nash didn’t let me go. “She was in the hospital for a week but made a full recovery. She settled with him out of court for damages, but those records are sealed.”
My teeth gnashed together so hard my jaw ached. “He got away with it. Just a bit of cash, and he went on his merry way.”
But I knew the woman he’d inflicted the harm on would live with that terror for the rest of her life. She’d never look at a set of stairs the same way again. She’d always look over her shoulder, wondering if he’d show up to hurt her.
“He’s not going to get you,” Nash vowed.
My eyes burned as if someone had poured acid into them. “But he could do it to someone else.”
* * *
“Areyou sure you’re up for this?” Nash asked as he sent me a worried look over his morning coffee.
“I need some normal. And I missed Grae and Wren. This will be good for me.” I’d slept so poorly I might not be able to string more than three words together, but at least I’d have a distraction.
