Part 17 (1/2)

”They'll deal.”

”What about the speeches? I thought you wanted to stick around for those?” she asked.

”It's fine. I'm well represented.”

”Okay,” she said quietly, giving in, which told him she knew he wasn't just upset but that he had good reason to be.

He didn't speak again until they were settled in the back seat of the limousine, the privacy part.i.tion raised. ”You had a problem, and you went to Alex,” he said through a clenched jaw.

She blinked at him. ”What? No. It wasn't like that. He called me after...wait. I need to start at the beginning.” She pushed away from him, curling into herself close to the car door.

He gave her the s.p.a.ce she needed. For now.

You already know it's about my father,” she said, not wasting time.

”The father you never speak of.”

She inclined her head, looking down, as if ashamed.

He couldn't have that. Didn't want her unable to meet his gaze when she confided in him.

”Riley, look at me.”

She raised her head, tears in her beautiful blue eyes.

s.h.i.+t. He slid closer and cupped her chin in his hand. ”Tell me.”

She swallowed hard.

He waited until she nodded to release her but didn't give her any s.p.a.ce between them.

”What Alex said? About you not touching me in anger? It was...it is a sensitive subject for me. For us.” She hesitated, and Ian gave her the time she needed to gather her thoughts. ”You see, my father was and still is an abusive son of a b.i.t.c.h.”

Ian froze, his entire body stilling. He hadn't seen this coming.

Not at all. ”He hit you?”

Her shoulders sagged slightly. ”When I was younger, my mother took the brunt of it. She made sure he directed his fury at her. Then, when Mom died, I stayed out of his way, and he seemed to calm down a little.”

He recalled her telling him she'd been sixteen then. He swallowed back the bile rising in his throat.

”Not long after that, he had his gall bladder removed. My stepmom was his hospital nurse. He was on his best behavior while he was wining and dining her and never showed his real self until after they were married.” She fiddled with her hands then drew a deep, shuddering breath. ”Melissa, my stepmom, she's one tough lady, and he quickly realized he'd chosen the wrong kind of woman this time.”

Ian inclined his head. ”You've mentioned her. You said she and Alex were your only family.”

She nodded. ”I adore her. She was the role model my mother should have been. Don't get me wrong, I loved my mom, and I miss her every day. And I know she protected me, but she didn't stand up for herself. If not for Melissa, would I have learned to value myself? To not put stock in the belittling words I grew up around? I'm not so sure.”

His stomach churning, Ian reached for her shaking hands, covering them with his own. ”You're strong, Riley. I saw that in you from the first day we met.”

She smiled at that. ”I like to think so.”

”Did he ever hit Melissa?” Ian asked.

She shook her head. ”They fought often and loudly but...he just seemed to keep himself in check somehow. I think he knew Melissa would go to the cops.”

”Your mom never did?” he asked, but he already knew the answer.

”I begged her, but...no. She wouldn't.”

”So what happened?” Because something had tipped the precarious balance. That much was obvious.

”Alcohol happened,” Riley said in a disgusted voice. ”He was always a heavy drinker, but living with Melissa, suppressing his rage, it got worse. And one night, Melissa was working the late s.h.i.+ft. He expected me to have his dinner on the table. Not only didn't I do it, but I talked back and...he slapped me. Hard across the face.”

A building fury like he'd never felt before filled Ian, making him want to lash out. But his more rational self understood that anger was the last thing Riley needed to see, and he clamped down on his simmering emotions.

”Whenever you're ready,” he said in a gentle voice he barely recognized.

She nodded. ”I tried, but I couldn't hide the red mark on my face. The next day, Alex saw, and he went berserk. Part of me was surprised he took it so badly. I mean, in my mind, a slap was nothing compared to what he'd done to my mother, though I hid that from Alex as much as I could. Looking back, I thought I was getting off lightly, but Alex was furious.”

”Good for him,” Ian muttered.

”He cornered my father. He had his hand around his throat, literally cutting off his air supply. He told my father that if he ever touched me again, he was a dead man.”

Ian closed his eyes, grateful to the half sibling he'd never bothered to get to know. The man he was irrationally jealous of.

Riley's harsh laugh recaptured Ian's attention. ”My father threatened to go to the cops. Can you imagine the irony? Alex told him to go right ahead. Then he followed up his words with a knee to my father's groin and warned him that was just a preview. He said I was off-limits, and he dragged me out of there.”

She shook her head, obviously lost in the memory. ”I know my father believed his threats, because at seventeen, Alex was ma.s.sively huge from working out for football.”

”What happened next?” Ian asked.

”I called Melissa at work; she came home immediately. She refused to stay with him after that. Alex stood watch while we packed. Melissa told my father I'd be living with her until I was eighteen and if he had a problem with it, to take her to court. With Alex looming over him, he backed off. That was the last night I saw him or heard from him until I got back from Arizona.”

Ian narrowed his gaze. ”Which brings us to now.”

She nodded. ”There have been hang-ups on my home answering machine. I never thought it was my father. Then I returned to work to find out he'd left a message while I was away. He said I owed him. And then Friday night, after I got home from shopping, the phone rang, and the person was breathing into my ear. I hung up, and the phone rang again. I answered it yelling, and it was Alex. He wanted to know what was going on. I said it was nothing. He didn't believe me...so I told him.”

”Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you trust me enough to let me in before now?”

He forced himself to remain calm, not to yell or show her just how frustrated and angry he really was. Not now, when he finally realized that if he flipped out in any way, he could very likely lose her for good.

”It wasn't a question of whether or not I trusted you, it was humiliating, admitting I grew up that way. Besides, I'd put him so firmly in my past, I never thought about him, talked about him, or wanted to revisit those days.” She glanced away.

Once again, he gently redirected her with a touch of his hand. He wanted them communicating, not shutting each other out.

”Do you think I want to deal with my family history? But it's between us, thanks to Alex. I'm trying with him. Because of you.”