Page 23 of Silent Betrayal

“Do youwant us to leave? Because we will if that’s what you want,” Tucker asks gently.

But I shake my head.“You might not want to hear it, but you can stay, if you want to.”I can’t decide if I want them to stay or not. This is a part of me that I didn’t plan on sharing with anyone, but if the police have to know, I want the guys to know, too. The more they understand about me and don’t leave, the more I think I could truly trust them.

“I’d like to stay,” Ben says quietly. The others quickly agree, so I take a deep breath and recite what I can remember.

“It’s happened several times. Sometimes he surprised me when I came out of the bathroom. A couple times he came to me in the middle of the night.”I hit speak so I can see how the guys react to it. I can see their faces pulled tight with a mixture of worry, fear, and frustration.

“He liked to touch me, in places he shouldn’t.”

Speaking out loud, I start to ask, “how much detail…” I trail off, hoping she understands my question.

“That is fine for now. That’s enough to charge him with the sexual assault. Did he hurt you physically as well?”

I type my response.“Yes, he helped my mother do this.”I point to my arm.“He’s pushed me a few times and hit me twice.”

There’s relief in not having to actually say the words out loud, but hearing them spoken by the robotic voice on Ben’s phone still causes tears to form in my eyes.

“Is that enough? Can you charge him with physical assault, too?” Gideon asks, clenching his jaw.

“Yes, that’s more than enough to charge him and keep him in custody until a trial can be held,” the officer tells us, and I sigh in relief at knowing that at least one of my abusers was off thestreet.

She leaves and each of my guys silently comes over and hugs me, kissing the top of my head with pained looks on their faces.

When they finally finish hugging me, Dom is the first to break the silence. “Alright, Kitten, why don’t we get you dressed so we can get out of here?”

“Do you look at me differently now?” I whisper as I look up at him. He immediately drops to the bed beside me, grabbing my hands.

“What? No! Of course not, that thought shouldn’t even cross your mind. No matter what you've been through, it won’t change the way we look at you.”

“But you all look so… upset.”

“Of course we’re upset!” Gideon says loudly, making me flinch. “Knowing you’ve been through all of that, and that you’ve been dealing with it on your own all this time… I… I need some air,” he says, not making eye contact with me as he storms out the room.

“I’ll go with him,” Jasper says, jogging through the door after him.

“Kitten?” I look back at Dom and realize I’m gripping his forearms tightly. I loosen my grip as he speaks. “You know he’s not upsetatyou, right? He’s upset about what happenedtoyou.” I nod. I think I understand that, but seeing him so angry is upsetting.

A nurse comes in and detaches me from all the machines and gives Ben some paperwork to sign for my release.

“Alright, now let’s get you changed so we can finally take you home,” Dom says, helping me sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed as Tucker brings a bag over to us. I watch as he pulls out a pair of dark green fleece sweatpants, a matching hoodie, a pair of pink fuzzy socks and the prettiest pair of pink underwear I’ve ever seen.

Dom takes the socks and kneels in front of me, taking great care with my feet as he puts them on. I can’t help but smile as I watch this gorgeous man, on his knees before me, being so gentle with me. He sees me smiling at him and winks at me, making me blush. He chuckles as he reaches for my hips and helps me to stand.

He doesn’t say anything as he reaches for the underwear and helps me step into them. Slowly, he starts to slide them up my legs and as I reach to take over, to pull them the rest of the way up, he looks at me sharply, then raises an eyebrow at me, like he’s daring me to take them from him.

I’m not sure if he wants me to or not, but I pull my hands away and swallow the lump that has suddenly appeared in my throat. He doesn’t break eye contact with me as he pulls them the rest of the way up, sliding his hands under my hospital gown.

He takes his time, running his fingers around the waist band, making sure they’re sitting smoothly. Unable to keep staring into his serious pale blue eyes, I glance around the room at the others. They all quickly avert their eyes, looking at the wall, ceiling or floor, anywhere but at me, like they don’t want me to know that they were watching me. But something about them watching him do that to me sends a shiver down my spine.

“Step in,” Dom says, making my head turn back to him. He’s holding the sweatpants on the floor, so I place my right hand on his shoulder for balance as I slowly step into the pants, one foot at a time. He pulls them up, a bit faster this time.

He stands up and Tucker gently pushes him aside as he pulls the sweatshirt down over my head in one smooth motion. I start to push my arms through the sleeves, but he stops me. “No, Sugar, pull your arms out the hospital gown first, so we can takethat off you.”

I try to do as he asks, but the gown isn’t giving me enough space to do it. “Too tight,” I rasp. Dom turns me around and lifts up the back of the sweatshirt. The gown loosens, and Dom’s hands slide over my shoulder blade and up to my shoulder as he helps me pull my arm out. He repeats the motion on the other side, then reaches around my stomach to grab the hospital gown. He pulls the sweatshirt back down as I push my arms through the sleeves.

Dom readjusts my clothes from behind me while Tucker does the same from my front. I lick my lips nervously, wondering why I’m breathing so heavily right now. Something about them taking care of me is making me feel ridiculously emotional.

“I think she’s good, guys,” Ben says with amusement. It works to break the trance the three of us are in as they both step back from me.

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