“Did you notice the bruises on her face? It looked as if someone had slapped her hard on the face.”
Jayden gasped loudly. “Bruises?”
“Yes, bruises… and her forearm had finger marks, when I met her at a small diner, not far from your place. I could tell she had spent the night there,” Jonathan continued, and for a moment, I considered walking out of the bathroom and shut him up.
The man was cannier than I expected.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Jayden said, sounding lost.
“How did you meet her?” Jonathan asked, sounding more and more curious.
“She was trying to spend the night at my building’s parking lot. She claimed she had no place to go,” Jayden murmured, lost in his mind.
“And you didn’t wonder why?” Jonathan asked in an astounded tone.
Jayden rubbed his face. “I had other things on my mind…” he confessed.
“Perhaps, you should look into that so-called husband of hers…” Jonathan suggested. “Meanwhile, you can leave her stuff here. I’ll make sure she gets them back.”
Jonathan’s last words seemed to snap Jayden out of a stupor, and he agreed.
“Thank you,” he grunted, depositing something on the table.
“I’ll tell her you came looking for her,” Jonathan added, in a mischievous tone.
“There’s no need for that,” Jayden rejected the idea so fast my heart hurt a little more.
Nothing had changed, and I hadn't really expected them to change… but my heart didn’t always see eye to eye with my mind.
“Whatever you say, man.”
The door slammed behind Jayden, and Jonathan told me to come out.
“That belongs to you,” he said, pointing at a cardboard box over the table.
“Thank you…”
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked me in a soft tone.
“Not really…” I confessed.
“You’re hiding from your husband, aren’t you?” he concluded.
“Let’s not go there, please…” I asked, not ready to discuss Daniel with Jonathan.
“As you wish. Just know that you can stay here for as long as you need it. Don’t expose yourself, unless it's necessary,” he asked me.
“I won’t. Daniel will leave town soon, and when he does, I will too, when you no longer need me,” I explained.
22
“Why didn’t you tell Jayden the truth?”
I shrugged. “He wasn’t interested in hearing it… I know I should have told him before, but I really don’t like talking about my past. Daniel has ruined my life quite enough.”
“He’s responsible for your bruising, isn’t he?” he asked, with a dark frown.
I let out a burst of bitter laughter. “Yeah… he’s only happy when he’s hurting me.”
