Page 11 of Double Take

“I got pregnant, and my parents kicked me out of the house.” She swallows hard. “I had nowhere to go, so I went to his house. His parents were livid and wanted me to get an abortion.” A tear slips down her cheek as her effort to downplay the situation vanishes.

“I’m sorry.” I cradle her face and wipe away the tear.

“Why are you so nice to me? Why are you and Oliver so nice to me? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Because people can be kind. It doesn’t take that much effort. I’m gathering that’s not your experience. But we take care of people we care about.”

“That’s so sweet.” She gnaws on her bottom lip and pulls back as I drop my hands to my sides. “Sage is a lucky girl to have the two of you in her corner.”

I chuckle. “Be sure to tell her that. She’s very appreciative.”

“I bet.” As I hoped, she smiled at my attempt at humor.

Moments later, darkness mars her facial expression as she’s pulled back into her past. “My parents called his parents and threatened to have him arrested for statutory rape if he didn’t man up and take me off their hands. He was 19, and I was 16.” She stares at the wall behind me. “Every day, I wish I would’ve skipped town and disappeared rather than thinking he and his parents would grow to love me and the baby.” Her laughter is derisive. “That didn’t happen. They hated me and resented Sunny.”

“I take it they weren’t good to you?” I lay my arm on the back of the sofa and rub her shoulder. The second I touch her, some of the tension eases from her body.

“Never.” She shakes her head. “If they weren’t ignoring me and pretending that I didn’t exist, they were insulting me or treating me like an unwanted visitor–all to protect the golden boy from going to prison. Then when one of their friends found out I was pregnant, they forced him to marry me and give Sunny his last name. It was the worst time in my life.”

She glances at me from under her lashes. Seeing her like this guts me. The need to find this asshole and break his face is overwhelming. How could a man treat this gorgeous, sweet, kind woman with such contempt? She was still a baby at the time, and he was the adult who was responsible for taking care of her–not treating her like trash.

“It was so bad that I blamed myself for how they treated me. I believed I was a slut and intentionally got pregnant to move to a higher social class. A couple of months after Sunny was born, my parents came around.”

“Yeah?” I don’t need to hear her words to know how this will end.

“It wasn’t good.” She shudders. “Unbeknownst to me, my parents took hair samples from Sunny and Mario and sent them off for DNA testing, and once they knew for sure she was his, they tried to extort his family by threatening again to go to the police. Apparently, it wasn’t enough that they got rid of me. Then, they wanted to be paid for their troubles. But I was married to him and blocked from testifying.”

Jesus. The whole group of them are assholes. Thank God she got away from them. “How did you end up here?”

“Mario sent me to work with this older man who he wasn’t jealous of. He couldn’t stand me, but he hated anyone paying attention to me. It made him look weak if he couldn’t keep me under control. But at the same time, he didn’t want me at the house. I’m assuming he was entertaining women and didn’t want me around.” She leans into the cushions. “But the joke is on him. Charles was an amazing man. He taught me how to run an office. But more importantly, he convinced me that I was worthy of something better than how Mario treated me and gave me money to relocate. I hope to file for divorce as soon as possible.”

“He must be a great guy.”

“He is.” Her eyes light up, sending a pang into my gut.

Is she in love with this guy? There’s a solid chance that neither my brother nor I will stand a chance with Rylee if she is.

“He’s 75, and his wife died about 10 years ago. They never had children, so he felt parental toward me. I’ll be forever grateful to him, and that’s why I’m living how I am. I don’t want to take advantage of his kindness, and plan to pay him back as soon as possible. He doesn’t have a lot, and I don’t want him to suffer over me.”

Lord. I was jealous of a 75-year-old man who deserves sainthood for caring about Rylee and giving her the self-esteem to get out. But as painful as it is for Rylee to focus on Mario, I need to know more about him so we can fight him. I clasp her upper arms and stroke her silky skin. “Did he ever hurt you?”

She avoids my gaze. “I’d rather not say.”

“Rylee.” I swallow over the lump of anger in my throat. “You’re safe here. I promise you he won’t ever touch you again. Oliver and I will protect you.”

“Where did you come from?” Her eyes fill with something akin to hero worship, but that’s only the beginning of what I want from her.

Right here, waiting for you. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I somehow manage to bite them back. There’s a lot to do before we broach that topic. “Did he hurt you?”

“Yes. He hit me and pushed me around. That’s it.”

That’s enough. I swallow hard over the lump in my throat. I’m afraid to hear the answer, but we need to know. “Sunny?”

“Once. That’s when I told him I wanted a divorce.”

Chapter Seven

Rylee

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