Page 103 of Lie With Me

Jackson sends me a warning look, but I ignore it. Just like my mother said, it’s not my story to tell, but Valentina isn’t going to tell Ginny anything that may upset her, and Ginny needs a little light shed on the situation. “Ginny, this isn’t going to be easy for you to hear. So I need you to tell me right now, are you really as delicate as everyone keeps treating you? Or can you handle hearing a hard truth?”

“Tripp—”

“Jackson, quiet. I can speak for myself. He’s right. Everyone’s treating me like glass, but women are tough.” She looks at him, reaches for his hand, and threads their fingers together. “YouknowI’m tough.”

I don’t wait for him to reply before I tell them, “Valentina’s mother sold her for drugs when she was a child. She was abusive, and still, Lenni took care of her. She’s been paying for different treatment facilities for years, trying to get her mom help.”

Ginny’s already pale skin grows translucent, while Jackson looks like he may very well be sick. “What? I didn’t know. She…she never said anything,” Ginny whispers. Jackson looks at her as her eyes well up with tears, pulling her to his side.

“Get it out now, Ginny. Because when she gets here, she’s going to need a shoulder to lean on. She needs to know she has support and doesn’t have to keep taking everything on herself.” My knee starts to bounce again. The digital clock on the microwave reads five fifty-eight. They should be here by now.

“Margo said she was okay, Tripp. Maybe try not to treat her like she’s so delicate, either.” Jacksonmeans to be helpful, but I glare at my best friend and let out a long sigh, choosing not to respond. I’m not exactly sure what went on last year when Ginny’s foster brother shot his uncle. But I do know that she was in the hospital because he’d beaten her before Scott showed up.

Neither Ginny nor Valentina have had easy lives. All Jackson and I want to do is make sure they never have any hardships ever again. I understand the frustration of watching his wife break down and realizing there’s nothing you can do exceptbethere.

Shuffling comes from the front door, and my heart falls into my stomach as I whip my head around and spring to my feet.

Mom was supposed to call when they were downstairs.

I’m there in just a few strides, holding the door as my mother helps my fiancée walk in. Valentina’s head is down, her hair hiding her face, but it’s obvious there’s something wrong by the way she’s moving so gingerly.

“Baby, what happened?” I reach for her to take over for Mom but freeze, swallowing thickly when she lifts her face.

One of her eyes is swollen shut, while the other is barely open. There are bruises all over her face, giant and raspberry-colored, and her cheek and lip are both split open with dried blood caking the skin around the wounds.

“Jesus Christ,” Jackson whispers as Ginny rushes from his arms.

“Oh my god, Lenni.” She almost makes it to Valentina when Mom holds out her hand.

“Be careful, Ginny. There are wounds on her back. Go get her bed ready, dear. And something loose for her to change into. Jackson, be a dear and make some ice packs. Tripp, there’s a doctor on his way. Help me get her comfortable,” Mom orders.

Ginny and Jackson snap into action, but Valentina and I stay frozen, our gazes locked. Even though I told Ginny to get herself together before they arrived, I can feel myself falling apart. Stepping into her, I raise my hands to smooth her hair out of her face gently. “Baby, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

She shakes her head, a shuddered breath leaving her lips as tears fill her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.Thisisn’t okay.” My eyes trail over her face again. People always talk about feeling butterflies in their stomach, but there’s a hornet’s nest in mine, and the fuckers are stinging my insides to the point where I feel like I might throw up.

Valentina lets go of my mom, grasping my forearms for support as she leans her forehead against mine, closing the one eye that’s still partially open. “It’s over, Tripp. It’s all over.” Her voice is small. Tired and weak. It spikes my anger again as I think about the men who did this to her.

“Come now, let’s get you into bed.” Mom gently pulls her out of my arms and takes her down the hall to our bedroom.

I don’t follow them. But I don’t realize I’ve brokendown until my knees hit the ground and Jackson’s arm is around me. “It’s all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Tripp. Don’t do that to yourself. She wouldn’t want that. You told Ginny to be strong for her. Valentina needsyouto do the same. So take a few minutes to let it all out, and then go be her pillar of strength.”

Valentina doesn’t have a concussion, but the doctor suggests stitches for her busted lip. When he finishes suturing her up, Mother asks him to look at her backside. I watch helplessly as Valentina turns over slowly, wincing with every move as she pulls the oversized shirt she’s wearing up to reveal the cause of why she’s moving the way she is.

Ginny cries silently by her side, gripping Jackson’s hand tightly, even though his back is turned to give Lenni her privacy. I have to work hard at keeping the contents of my stomach down, clenching my teeth so tightly that I fear they may crack as I watch the doctor work.

So much for keeping my shit together.

Red, angry welts cut across her skin from the middle of her back, down to mid-thigh. She whimpers when the doctor touches them, lightly applying some type of salve before instructing Mother to keep icing them.

“The marks are severe, but she’ll heal within afew days. Whoever did this to her wasn’t trying to disfigure her,” he explains as I walk him to the front door. “If you have any questions, your mother knows how to reach me. Besides that, she needs lots of rest, and it may be a good idea to look for a therapist to talk to. Being attacked like that can be extremely traumatic for a person.”

“Thank you.”

As he leaves, Jackson and Ginny come up behind me. “I’ll come back tomorrow to help watch over her,” Ginny offers.

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