Page 111 of Let Me Love You (Excess All Areas 5)

“I’ll be okay,” she said, wincing as she tried to move.

“What happened?” Ben asked.

“I was mad at him. I have an early shift tomorrow. Need to be in at seven. He came home drunk from the pub and brought Steve and Charlie with him to keep boozing. I just asked if he’d keep the noise down a bit because I had work. Steve and Charlie apologised. The next thing I knew, I was being punched awake. Saying I’d embarrassed him in front of his mates, made him feel small in his own home that he paid for and could do whatever he liked in.”

“Jesus Christ,” Ben cursed.

“You know none of that is true, right, Mum?” Alex asked.

“I could have used earplugs,” she said quietly.

Ben shook his head. “No, Mum. Enough. You’ve made excuses for Dad our entire lives. This—” he pointed to her face “—isn’t normal. You don’t deserve any of this. You need to call the police and—”

“No,” his mum said, with more force than her injuries should have allowed. “We need to let him cool down. He’ll be sorry in the morning. It’s the first time he’s ever gone this far.”

“Because it’s escalating, Mum.”

“You know how the police are over domestics. They just…please… I just want to sleep.”

Alex sighed. “Let us move you to bed and get you comfortable. We can decide in the morning what to do.”

“Okay,” she said, gingerly sipping her tea. “But promise me, you won’t call the police.”

Suddenly, the police were the last people he planned to speak with.

“I won’t call the police if you agree it’s time for him to leave. It’s killing me watching him suck the life out of you, Mum.”

Alex nodded. “It took leaving home and finding Zoe to finally feel comfortable in my own skin. He’s done a number on all of us. Ben’s right. You need to leave him. And I’m going to go as far as to say that if you don’t, I think Iwillgo to the police on your behalf.”

Chaya and Zoe arrived, and Ben caught the first look on both their faces.

“I’ll get the first aid kit,” Chaya said as Zoe let Alex, still on his knees, pull her close.

“I’ll help you pull everything together,” he said, getting to his feet. Once in the kitchen, he pulled Chaya into his arms and squeezed her tightly.

“I’m so sorry, Ben,” she whispered.

“Dad hit her. She won’t let me call the police.”

Chaya rubbed his back. “Let’s persuade her to at least take some photographs before we clean her up, then. Just as proof.”

It took about twenty minutes to do just that, and watching Chaya reminded him just how compassionate and caring of a doctor she was. With photographs taken, and pain relief dispensed, his mum lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes, refusing to try to get upstairs.

Ben waited until he was certain his mum was snoring softly, then headed for the door. Chaya stopped him. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“You and Zoe and Alex need to stay with Mum. I need to go see him.”

Chaya gripped his hand. “Don’t do that. Please.”

“You know I have to, Chay.”

“Where are you going?” Alex asked, his arm over Zoe’s shoulder.

“You and Chaya and Zoe stay with Mum,” Ben instructed.

Alex shook his head. “If you’re going to see Dad, I’m coming with you.”

“No. You stay here.”

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