Page 46 of No Longer Safe

“That and I didn’t think it was appropriate to dirty my hands while all the wedding festivities were happening. Carina doesn’t deserve that.”

“And Audrey doesn’t deserve justice?”

Ace’s eyes turned icy as he stared at me. “Since when do you care?”

For a second, I came out of my rage haze. Since when did she start to matter like this? Why should I care?

I didn’t have answers for any of these things, but I knew for certain that Audrey deserved so much more. But was that it? Was that the driving force behind all of this? I had so many questions now that I knew he put his hands on her.

“Does Audrey know Brian left?” I eyed the screens before my brother.

He shook his head. “I didn’t let him tell her. I packed his bag, hauled him out of bed, and kicked him right into the SUV to take him straight to the airport.”

“Did he say anything?” I wanted to know every last detail.

“He wanted to know how he was supposed to change his flight last-minute.”

“That’s it?”

Ace shrugged. “I told him if he ever lays another hand on Audrey in any way she doesn’t ask for, I’ll kill him. I’ll rip every fingernail off first and then I’ll make sure he suffers the worst death imaginable.” His eyes flashed with promise. “He pissed himself again. He’s gonna be pretty stinky for that flight home.”

“Pussy ass bitch.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Audrey

I didn’t knowwhat I was more shocked by. The fact that Brian put his hands on me the night before or the fact that he left without trying to say goodbye to me. The guilt was going to eat me alive for being thankful he was gone. It meant I didn’t have to worry about putting on a good face for him. It meant I had time before I could cut the whole fiasco off.

Carina sat on the corner of the bed and watched me try to cover the light bruising on my cheeks with makeup. “Why didn’t you do something? Please, don’t be upset with the question but how could you just let him do that to you?”

I stared at my swollen eyes in the mirror. “I think I was too stunned to do anything. He’s never even yelled at me before, Carina. I didn’t know what to do. I was also scared. He started talking about how his dad beat his mom and I just—I— I don’t know, I couldn’t do anything. It was like an out-of-body experience.”

“I’m glad he’s gone.” I watched her in the mirror fiddle with her engagement ring. “Are you going to marry him?”

I shook my head and decided it was the right time to remove the Godawful ring from my finger. I placed it on the vanity beside my brush. “The funny thing is, after speaking with mymom I decided I was going to break things off. He just happened to show me the biggest red flag of all before I could do so. It only solidified my decision.”

“Your mom gave you some good words of advice?”

“She gave me the biggest wake-up call.”

Carina threw herself back on the bed and rolled her eyes. “I’ve been trying to tell you for months.”

I buried my face in my hands. “It just seemed like the right thing to do. I don’t know, there was comfort and familiarity. But I guess I’ve been looking for my out for a while now. I just didn’t know how to say I was done.”

“Now you have the biggest reason to call it quits that there ever was.” Carina got off of the bed and took the makeup brush from my hands. “Here let me help you.”

My eyes watered with unshed tears as she tried to cover up the damage. “Maybe we should call in a professional?”

Carina waved her phone around as she continued to pat my cheeks with makeup. “Already on it. She won’t be here today but she will be here tomorrow before everyone else gets here. She’ll work her magic! But it isn’t too bad.”

If my cheeks weren’t too bad then my eyes were. They were still red-ringed and swollen. They almost resembled golf balls.

“Do you think this is all my fault?” The words slipped out and I tried to keep myself from crying again. I wasn’t even upset with what happened. I would never allow him, or anyone else to raise a hand to me again. The problem was that it could have all been prevented a long time ago.

Carina stopped dabbing the makeup on my face and took a step back. Her blue eyes searched my own. “Why on earth would it be your fault?” She didn’t look angry, but her lips turned down into a sad frown.

“If I’d broken things off before it got this bad, before all of this happened, I wouldn’t have had to go through that.” I leanedback in the chair and sighed. “I wouldn’t have needed to know who he really was.”

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