Page 6 of Lonely Heart

“I was… I was going to a woodcarving class,” she confessed, her body still quaking. “I was downtown, walking from my car to the class, when this guy showed up out of nowhere and dragged me down a side street.”

It was a real effort not to react the way everything inside me was screaming to. My eyes took in the cuts and blood on her face, the bruising around her throat, and the state of her clothing once more.

My chest tightened painfully. If this woman had been violated, I was going to lose my mind. “What did he do to you?”

She swallowed hard. “At first, I thought he just wanted my purse. I gave it to him. I just didn’t want him to hurt me. But then he… then he…” Her lips trembled again. “He groped me, and he wasn’t gentle about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if my breasts are bruised for how hard he squeezed me.”

Jesus. She’d not only been robbed, but she’d been physically assaulted. Sexually assaulted. “I’m so sorry, Ivy. Did he… did he…” I trailed off, unable to get the words out. “What else did he do?”

She closed her eyes, her body shaking uncontrollably again. Ivy seemed to be in a state of shock, and I wasn’t quite sure it was safe for her to still be standing. So, I lifted her in my arms and carried her deeper into the suite toward the living area. I sat down, settling her body right beside mine, and I took her hand in mine, hoping it’d offer her some comfort.

Following several moments of heartbreaking silence, Ivy shared, “I shoved my knee into his groin, and it was enough for me to get away. But he caught up to me and threw me to the ground. I landed on piles of trash bags on the street. And that’s when he brought his body over mine, choked me with one hand, and unbuttoned my jeans with the other.”

I couldn’t imagine the sheer terror Ivy must have felt when this was happening to her. Anger was bubbling up inside me with each word she spoke, and my thumb began stroking over the skin on the back of her hand somewhere in the middle of her relaying the story. I wondered if that move was meant to be something to comfort her or me.

“I thought I was going to die, Marco,” she rasped, tears spilling down her cheeks. “I thought I was going to die, naked and alone on the sidewalk in a pile of trash.”

Ivy was teetering on the edge of another breakdown, and I couldn’t bear to see her go through that again. So, I lifted both of my hands to either side of her face. Gently, I urged her to look at me, and when I had her gaze focused on my face, I said, “You didn’t. You didn’t die, Ivy. You’re here, and you’re going to be okay. I’m going to make sure you’re okay. Do you trust me?”

Sadness and hurt and devastation marred her expression, but none of that stopped Ivy from giving me a nod. “Yes.”

“Tell me what happened next,” I urged her, bringing one hand back to hold hers as the fingers on my opposite hand drifted back into her hair, brushing it away from the sides of her face.

Ivy went on to tell me how, believing she was on the verge of passing out from a lack of oxygen, she succeeded in getting her attacker off her. How she got herself free, slammed her foot into his groin, and got away.

Just over a year ago, my own sister had been robbed, and that had been traumatizing enough. It had taken her some time to get through it, so I could only imagine how Ivy being physically assaulted the way she had been was going to impact her. I hated it for her.

Even still, regardless of the time it took her to move past this, I would have been lying if I said I wasn’t proud of her for doingwhat she had to do to protect herself, to get away from the guy who’d attacked her.

“Can I take you to the hospital to get checked out?” I asked her.

Ivy shook her head. “No. No, Marco. I’m going to be okay.”

“I know you are, but I still think it might be wise to get yourself looked at,” I returned.

“I’d rather not. Please,” she begged.

“What about the police? Can I take you to the police station, so you can report what happened? I can call them and have them come here.”

She was silent a long time before she replied, “I know I need to report this, but can it wait until the morning? I don’t want to leave now, and if we call them to come here, everyone is going to know what happened.”

I wasn’t sure it was the wisest idea to wait, but I refused to force Ivy to do anything before she was ready. “Okay. How can I help you tonight? Do you want me to call your mom or your sister?”

“If that guy followed me, they wouldn’t be safe,” she reasoned. “I understand if you need to go, though. Maybe I can call Liam to come stay with me. It’s not like he isn’t already here in the hotel, anyway.”

Liam was her younger brother. I didn’t doubt he would be here in a heartbeat if he knew what had happened to his sister. But I worried that Ivy believed I needed someone else to come here because I didn’t want to be here. That simply wasn’t the case.

“Ivy, I don’t have to go anywhere,” I assured her. “I can stay with you for as long as you like. I just want you to be comfortable, to feel safe. If me staying here with you will accomplish that, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Are you sure?”

I dipped my chin. “Absolutely.”

She closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh of relief. “Thank you, Marco.”

“Whatever you need, I’ve got you covered. Okay?” Standing, I reached my hand out to her. Ivy hesitated for just a moment before she placed her hand in mine and allowed me to lead her away from the living area and toward the bathroom.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

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