Page 73 of Break

Frowning at that, I open my mouth to speak, but Max beats me to it. “What does she mean about leaving for good reason? She thought you should have stayed there?” He sounds pissed, but Mina’s gentle smile seems to calm him down quickly enough.

“It’s just a standard procedural thing. She said it’s more like I have to have all my ducks in a row and provide supporting documentation to show that I had to leave when I did.” She doesn’t seem too worried about this, so I relax a touch at her confidence and urge her to continue.

“What else?” I ask and enjoy when her eyes land on me, running her gaze over my face.

Taking a deep breath, she continues. “She also went over the charges for Danny. She said that it will help me in the long run if we can push for as many charges as possible. Not that it may financially work out for me, but more along the lines of protecting me for safety reasons.”

I’m sure Vincent knows the charges, but we hadn’t talked about them yet, just the status of where heisn’t. “What are the charges?” I ask, preparing myself to go down to the station myself if they aren’t good enough.

“There are a lot, so I’m sorry if I don’t get them all correct.” She looks at Vincent who nods his head at her.

“I’ll fill in if you miss one,” he promises.

Biting her lip, she tugs at her hair, a bit nervous about discussing this topic. “So, assault…” She pauses, then gathers her courage. “Domestic assault, stalking and harassment, communicating threats…” She trails off again and looks to Vincent for help.

His voice is quiet when he adds, “Domestic criminal trespassing.”

“Yes, that one. She had to explain to me that it’s for coming here without consent to provoke a breach of peace.” She hesitates as she says this, but not because she’s nervous this time, more like she’s thinking it over. “I guess because he came here and was violent and violated the restraining order.”

That’s four different charges, not including how many times he’s charged with each one for the number of incidents that it occurred. He’s probably looking at multiple counts for some of these, which is fucking relieving.

The room is quiet for a few moments while Max and I run through the information in our head, and Mina plays with the bottom of her shirt, not looking at any of us anymore.

Vincent clears his throat. “There’s one more, sweetheart.”

I glare at him when her shoulders instantly lift to her ears, obviously uncomfortable with whatever he’s implying. It’s not enough to stop Max from asking, though.

“What’s the last one?” His eyes are darting between Mina and Vincent with concern.

Her voice is small and shaky when she whispers, “Rape and sexual offense.”

It’s a fucking gut punch to hear it and know, from her lips, that she had to endure that from her husband. I want to rage for her but know that she needs us to be a support to her right now. Reaching over, I take her hand and squeeze it gently.

She lands her watery eyes on me and gives me a wobbly smile, then laces her fingers with mine, holding tightly.

I turn to Vincent. “What’s the plan now?”

He sighs and rubs his forehead, looking frustrated but not without hope. “We wait for the trial. Harrow said that once they find Danny, they’ll be able to hold him in custody this time since he’s obviously a flight risk. That’s the biggest hurdle right now. Mina, you’ll have to go in again to answer more questions, but this time around shouldn’t be as involved as the first time you were there. They’ll just want to finalize details and ensure they aren’t missing anything.”

I can tell Mina is shaken up, her hand trembling slightly in mine. I give it another squeeze, then pull her toward me slightly. She immediately surrenders to the pull and curls up against my side. Releasing her hand, I wrap an arm over her shoulders and take in the scent of her hair. Whispering, I reassure her. “We’ll make sure you’re safe while you’re here. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Thank you,” she whispers back, then settles her head against my chest.

“Mina, I know it’s probably not good timing, but since we’re already down the path of fucked up shit, can I ask you a personal question?” Max tries to sweeten his tone, but I can hear the tightness in it as he attempts to control his anger over the entire situation.

“Umm… sure? What do you want to know?” she asks, leaving her head lying on my chest.

Max scoots forward in his seat and clasps his hands together. “Tell us what happened in your home. Before you married Danny. What did your parents do to you?”

I freeze, not expecting him to ask her right now. She must feel the tension in my body because she starts to pull away from me.

Holding firm, I mutter, “Stay.”

There’s a small pause, but then she returns to my side. Taking a slow, deep breath, she locks eyes on Max and completely destroys the three of us with her story.

Chapter 33

Same, Mina

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