Page 108 of Bet On Me, Daddy

She could still hear his voice, echoing in her ears. The pure venom that had dripped from every word. “We fought, and when I mentioned leaving again, he blindfolded me and drove me out to the middle of nowhere and left me there. No phone, no money, nothing. Just left me to figure out how to get back home on my own. Thankfully, a very kind couple picked me up and drove me back to my apartment. Which was locked. I had to get on my knees and beg him to let me in.

I missed one of my best friend’s weddings because I was so scared of him. Of what he could do to me. Of all the shit he put me through, I think that’s the thing I can never actually forgive.”

“And still, after all that, you found the courage to leave. I’m in awe of how fucking brave you are.”

“Not that brave,” Ruby said with a snort. “It took finding out he had a wife and a whole-ass family for me to finally get up the nerve to leave. I waited for one of his business trips, when I knew he’d be gone for a few weeks and I packed my shit and left. I only took what belonged to me. Nothing he’d ever bought me, and I left behind all of the cash and credit cards he’d given me. He’d told me once that if I took those, he’d have me arrested for theft and I believed him. So I left, broke and homeless. No education because he’d said I didn't need to go to school. That he would always be there to take care of me. No job skills for the same reason. I spent a year at a halfway house just trying to find steady work and save up enough money to get a car and anapartment. That was a little over three years ago, and I’m still fighting to get my life back on track.”

“Oh, honey.” Setting her half-melted ice cream aside, Silver leaned over, gripping Ruby’s wrist as tears slipped down Ruby’s cheeks. “I’m so fucking sorry. You didn’t deserve that. Any of that. And I can see now why dating a man like Beckett might be a little… difficult for you.”

“I can’t give him what he wants, Silver. I just can’t. And it’s breaking my fucking heart because I’m pretty sure I fell in love with him somewhere along the way and I don’t even know when it happened.”

“What is it you think he wants that you can’t give him?”

“Control. If he had it his way, I’d spend all day in that huge house of his, just waiting for him to get home and fuck me. I’d be right back where I was with Preston, dependent on a man who could ruin me without a second thought. I can’t be that girl again, Silver, not even for him.”

“Preston?” The corners of Silver’s mouth turned down. “Preston Kingsley?”

“Yes.” Realization dawned, and horror filled Ruby’s chest. “Oh, shit. You aren’t like, friends with him, are you?”

“No, no. His name has come up in conversations recently, so I just need to have a word with some people. But that can wait. We’re talking about you and Beckett, now. Have you told Beckett about any of this?”

“Not really. We were supposed to be keeping things?—”

“Casual, yes I know,” Silver said with a sigh. “But… well, do you really think it’s fair to assume he wants all these things that scare you when youhaven’ttalked to him about your concerns?”

“He already shown me that’s what he wants.”

“Ah. The fight?”

“Yeah.”

“Will you tell me about it?”

And so she did. From Beckett trying to make her leave her shift at the club early, to him showing up unannounced after dinner and spending the night, to him forcing her to go to the doctor and then making her call Braden and Jay to let them know she wouldn’t be in for at least a week.

“Then this morning I’m getting ready to go to my new job, one that actually paysreallywell, and he’s all ‘Well that’s going to be difficult because you don’t have a job’ and then he tells me he got me fired! Fired, Silver!”

“How the hell did he manage that?”

“I don’t know.” Rubbing at the ache brewing between her eyes, Ruby groaned. “Something about how they said if I didn’t come in yesterday, I didn’t need to come back at all and he told them that was fine.”

“Do you think you were up to working yesterday?”

“No, but that’s not thepoint. The point is, he came in and took over and he’s trying to isolate me. Control me. I’ve been through this before, I know what it looks like.”

“Right…” Silver trailed off, clearly weighing her words. “Let me ask you something.”

Opening one eye, Ruby glared at her. “Why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like what you’re about to ask me?”

“Because you probably aren’t,” Silver admitted with a grin. “But I’m being serious now. Before you got sick, did Beckett ever say anything about wanting you to quit that job?”

“Not that job, no. But he’s made it clear from the start he thinks I work too much.”

“Honey, you work close to full time at the coffee shop. Several nights a month at the club. Plus I think I heard something about one of those food delivery services?”

“Yeah, but I dropped that when I got the office job.”

“Okay, well, speaking of the office job, didn’t you get that job because you sacrificed your one day a month off to do a friend a favor?”

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