Part 16 (1/2)

”Get out of here before I write you a ticket,” he teased and kissed me again.

I called Lauren and woke her from her afternoon nap. She woke me all the time, so I didn't care. She came over, and I wanted her to stick around. I didn't want to be alone with Dawson, although I knew that she would leave, and I would eventually be forced to talk to him. She stayed and ate the fried chicken that Dawson brought and then yawned around eight, saying she was going to bed and was tired after getting her belly full.

I cleaned up, and Dawson stared, waiting for me to start. I didn't start anything. I didn't even know what to say to him.

”Talk to me, Ry,” he finally said.

I gave him a warm smile and took a deep breath.

”Can I take a bath first?”

”Yes, but we are having this conversation,” he a.s.sured me.

I filled the tub with an extremely hot tub full of bubbles. I sunk down and closed my eyes, wondering what the h.e.l.l I was supposed to say to him. I opened my eyes when he dropped the lid on the toilet and joined me.

”You don't have to tell me anything that you're not comfortable talking about,” he began. ”I will ask the questions and all you have to do is answer, okay?” he asked.

Oh boy. Here we go...

I nodded.

”Who is Drew?” was the first question.

”My husband,” I answered.

”Your ex-husband?”

I shook my head.

”You're still married, Ry?” he asked, shocked.

”Yeah, I guess I am.”

He stood up and ran his hands through his short hair.

”Why didn't you tell me? You said you were divorced.”

”I would be if it were possible. Riley Murphy isn't married. Morgan is married,” I replied, omitting the last name.

”Ry, you can't just run away and change your name. That doesn't make you not married.”

I knew this was a crummy idea. I knew he wouldn't understand. I stood up and dried off, and he stepped out. We went to bed, and both sat up under the covers while our conversation continued.

”Why did you marry him, Ry?” Dawson continued with his investigation.

”I am not sure how much I should tell you, Dawson,” I admitted.

”Tell me everything,” he required.

I took a deep breath and he reached for my hand. I snuggled up in his arm. It was easier for me to talk to him without looking at him.

”I didn't want to marry him. I didn't even know him. He paid my father thirty thousand dollars for me. He came to our trailer on my eighteenth birthday to claim me.

He is a very rich, powerful man.”

Dawson abruptly moved from the bed and paced the bedroom floor. I only watched while he regained his composure.

”He bought you?” he asked in disbelief.

”Yes.”

”Ry, that is as illegal as you can get. I will have that b.a.s.t.a.r.d committed so fast his head will spin.”

”Dawson. No. You can't do that. Promise me you won't go anywhere near him let alone try anything at all.

You don't know what you are dealing with. He will come for me.”

”You can't hide, looking over your shoulder your entire life.”

Oh yes I can...

He sat back down and pulled me back to him, not wanting me to shut down and stop talking.

”Keep talking,” he said and kissed my fingertips.

”I can't. You keep asking the questions. It's easier that way.”

”I need to know what he did to you, Ry. Did he hit you?”

”Yes, often,” I admitted.

”Why?”

”Because he is crazy, I don't know why. I tried to be who he wanted me to be, but he always found something to punish me for. He got off on it.”

”He hit you to punish you?”

”No, he usually only did that when I mouthed off something that he didn't like.”

”How did he punish you?” Dawson asked, and I knew that he already knew the answer to his question and just needed to hear it from me.

”He used s.e.x to punish me or so he said. He did it because he is a sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d who got off on it.”

”What did he do, Ry?”

”Dawson, you really don't want the details. He did everything imaginable, unimaginable would be the better term,” I decided.