Thomas played defensive end for three years on his high school football team. The old skills came back as he dropped his shoulder and, with an enraged howl, charged Alex, driving him into the wall.
Tyler raced to Nevvie’s side. At first she shrank from him. Then, recognizing him, she sobbed with relief and threw her arms around his neck. He scooped her up and carried her to the living room.
“It’s all right, sweetheart, I’ve got you,” he soothed. “What do you need to take?”
She felt her chest. “My purse. By the door.”
“Anything else? Anything at all? You’re not coming back here—ever.” She looked horrible, at least one black eye, her lip split. “Pictures? Paperwork? Jewelry?” He heard Thomas’ enraged voice and assumed the caveman was getting a taste of his own medicine.
She shook her head and rested it on his shoulder, tightening her grip on him. He dipped to the side to grab her purse as he passed and exited the shattered door.
He turned, waiting for Thomas and murmuring soothing words to Nevvie. A moment later Thomas appeared in the doorway. Shaking and flexing his now bruised and scraped right hand, he took Nevvie’s purse from Tyler and walked ahead to unlock the truck. The men didn’t speak. Thomas helped Tyler ease her into the back seat. Tyler climbed in next to her—she refused to let go of him.
“Let’s get out of here,” Thomas growled, backing out.
“We should call the police,” Tyler said from the back. “Get her to hospital—”
“No,” she cried. “No police. Please, I want to get away. Before he follows us.”
The men exchanged looks in the rear view mirror. Tyler placed a calming hand on her cheek, trying to get her to look at him. “Nevvie, we have to report this, file charges, have a doctor check you out—”
She frantically shook her head. “No! Please, no…” She sobbed against him, hysterical.
“All right, sweetheart. It’s all right.” He protectively cradled her while Thomas drove them home.
She could barely walk. Thomas carried her into their bedroom where he carefully placed her on their bed. Her right eye had nearly swollen shut. They watched as she compulsively touched a spot on her chest through her shirt. At first Tyler thought she might have a bad bruise there until he spied the silver chain under her shirt collar.
The necklace.
Tyler sat on the bed next to her, pulled her into his lap, and let her sob against him.
“Tom,” he whispered, “I think I have some chamomile tea in the cupboard. Make her a mug, use lots of honey and a couple shots of bourbon, right? And a dishtowel and a bag of frozen peas for her eye.”
Thomas nodded and set to it.
“Nevvie, sweetheart, why won’t you let us call the police?” Tyler asked.
She shook her head, clutched him tighter, and trembled. “He didn’t follow us?”
“No, love. He most likely wasn’t conscious when we left, if I know our Thomas.”
“Good.”
Thomas returned with the makeshift ice pack. Tyler carefully placed it on her forehead, wishing he could take her pain away. The doctored hot tea soon had her calmed and she lay in his lap with a glazed, distant stare. She’d once mentioned that she didn’t drink because it hit her hard and fast.
Thank God.
Thomas sat on her other side, holding her hand. Eventually, she rolled over in sleep, facing him.
Tyler took the melting bag of veggies and carefully extricated himself so as not to wake her.
He walked around the bed to Thomas and kissed him. “I’ll make us breakfast,” he whispered in his ear.
“Thank you for listening to your instincts.”
Tyler looked heartsick. “I wish I’d listened sooner.”
* * * *
Nevvie slept past lunch. One or both men stayed with her. When she awoke she was so sore she could barely move and needed help sitting up to get out of bed. Thomas brought her some Tylenol and both men helped her into the bathroom, standing outside the door and waiting for her. She’d been wearing jeans, but before she went in Tyler handed her a pair of his lounging shorts and one of Thomas’ T-shirts.
“These should fit you, sweetheart, you’ll be more comfortable. I’ll take your other clothes and wash them and we’ll pick you up some other things later.”
She nodded. When she finished, they helped her back to bed and she curled on her side, her hand over her chest where Tyler suspected the necklace lay. Her thighs were black and blue, her arms covered with ugly bruises. Alex’s work boots had left horrible marks.
Tyler left Thomas with her and went to his office, closing the door. He called and made an appointment for the next day with their doctor, a woman. Like it or not, Nevvie was going. He wouldn’t force her to do it today, but she would go.
When he returned he sat on her other side and took her hand. “Sweetheart, you’re going to let us take care of you for now. You’re not going to work, you’re going to heal.”
She started to protest and Thomas laid a gentle finger on her chin. “Sugar, hear us out, please.”
Tyler continued. “We meant it when we said you’re part of our family. We take care of our family. Once you’re feeling better, then we’ll sit down and discuss exactly what you want to do in regards to our arrangement, how many days you want to work here, how many with Thomas, pay, all of that. For now, until you’re feeling better, you are going to let us take care of you and what you need. You are not going to feel guilty about it. Understand?”
She closed her eyes and nodded.
He carefully patted her shoulder. “That’s my good girl.” His eyes traveled her face then brimmed with tears. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry we weren’t there for you when you needed us.”
Nevvie squeezed his hand. “You saved me,” she said. “If you guys hadn’t got there…” She shuddered and looked at Thomas. “Did you hit him good?”
Thomas brushed hair out of her face. “Sugar, I have a wicked right hook.”
She laughed then groaned when it hurt her ribs. “Ow.” When she recovered she looked at them. “Any house rules I should know?”
Tyler smiled. “Flush after you go. My only unbreakable rule.”
“Yeah,” Thomas snarked, “ask me how I know that one. Forget to flush one time and you’d think I scalped a dog or something.”
“OW!” Nevvie laughed and moaned at the same time. Tyler shot Thomas a nasty look.
“Terrific. So not helpful, Thomas.”
* * * *
Tyler coaxed some soup into her and ran her a hot bath. After dinner, she joined them on the couch to watch TV. Before bed Tyler finally broached the subject.
“Sweetheart, where did you wish to sleep tonight?” She looked at him and he clarified. “Do you feel comfortable sleeping alone? You’re welcome to curl up with us if you’d feel safer. Or one of us could sit with you in your room.”
Her boys. Her fantasy come true and she was too damn sore to even think about taking them up on it. “Let me see how I do tonight. I’d like to reserve the option for company if I need it.”
“It’s up to you. We meant it—we’re taking care of you.”
She squeezed his hand. “Thank you.” She looked at Thomas. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”
Thomas kissed her forehead. “You don’t owe us a thing, sugar. Get to feeling better and put that nightmare behind you.”
They helped her to her room and Tyler fussed with the bedding until certain she was comfortable. Both men kissed her forehead.
“Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything,” Thomas said. “We’ll leave our door open.”
“Anything at all,” Tyler echoed.
In the hallway they hugged each other, standing there for a long, silent minute. Thomas finally stepped back. “Are you sure she’ll be okay alone?” he whispered.
“For tonight. She’s exhausted and needs to be alone. She’ll reach out when she needs us, I have no doubt. Let’s let her be. We
’ll hear her.”
The men left their door open and went to bed, too upset to do anything but fall asleep in each other’s arms, dreaming about the woman they loved one room away.
Chapter Five
The next morning, Thomas had to go to work. He knelt by Nevvie’s chair and took her hand. “How do you feel, sugar?”
Her face looked red and puffy in addition to being bruised and battered, the black eye horrible. They’d stood outside her bedroom in the middle of the night and listened to her crushing sobs. They’d wanted to go in and hold her and kiss her tears away, but she needed time to decompress. She would come to them if and when she needed them.
“I’ll be all right, Tom. Thanks.”
He kissed her hand, squeezed it, then stood and patted her shoulder. Tyler looked at him from where he prepared her breakfast, his normally playful blue eyes hard and cold, mirroring his own anger. Thomas leaned over the counter and kissed him goodbye.
“Call me later,” he whispered in Tyler’s ear. “Let me know how she is.”
“I will.”
When Thomas left, Tyler set her plate in front of her. “Nevvie, sweetheart, we need to talk.”
Her eyes flicked to his face, then down to her plate. She nodded slightly.
She flinched when he gently tucked a stray hair behind her ear. The black eye looked even worse today.
“I’ve made you an appointment to see our doctor this morning. She’s good.”
“Tyler, I can’t afford—”
“Stop.” He took her hand and waited until she finally met his eyes. “Nevvie, Thomas and I will take care of you. We’re paying for it. You need to get checked out, and she can do everything, including a full woman’s exam. After what he did to you it’s best you see her.”
“Will you please go in with me? I hate doctors,” she whispered.
He firmly gripped her hand as she trembled. “Of course I will, darling. I won’t leave you alone. Ever.”
* * * *
Nevvie could barely walk from the pain. Tyler kept his arm around her through the parking lot and lobby. She shook so badly he worried she’d faint. He’d called ahead and the receptionist waved them through to an exam room, not wanting Nevvie subjected to the stares of other patients.
She sat on the exam table, leaning against Tyler, his arm protectively around her while she filled out forms and signed releases.
Dr. Aston walked in and paused when she glimpsed Nevvie’s battered face.
“Miss Barton? I’m Dr. Aston.” Dr. Aston’s voice was kind and soft. In her fifties, she had a friendly, motherly face and demeanor.
Nevvie shivered under Tyler’s arm. “Hi,” she whispered. She tightly clutched Tyler’s hand.
The doctor noticed. “Would you like Tyler to stay?”
Nevvie frantically nodded. Dr. Aston patted her knee. “It’s all right. We don’t mind if you don’t. What happened?”
Nevvie shrugged, not meeting the doctor’s gaze. Finally she whispered, “Tyler and Thomas rescued me. My boyfriend went nuts and attacked me. He’d never done that before. Not like that. He saw the necklace they gave me for my birthday and accused me of cheating and went crazy. When I didn’t show up for work, and Ty and Tom couldn’t get me on the phone, they came looking for me.”
“Did he rape you?”
“No. The boys got there in time.”
“Did you press charges?”
“No. I want to forget about him and get on with my life.”
“I can help you talk with the police.”
Nevvie frantically shook her head.
“We wanted to call,” Tyler said. “She wouldn’t let us.”
Dr. Aston’s expression was unreadable. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to do the exam.” She called her nurse, who brought Nevvie a gown and started taking her vital signs. The nurse finished and then drew several blood samples.
He’d already told the doctor he wanted a full screening done, for normal health issues and full STD/HIV testing as well. God only knew what that stupid bastard had done to their poor girl.
The nurse handed her a plastic specimen cup. “We need a urine sample, too. The bathroom’s right across the hall. Leave the cup on the tray in there, then come back here and change into this paper gown. Here’s a sheet to cover yourself. We’ll return in a few minutes.”
Nevvie nodded. Once alone with Tyler, she tried to stand and couldn’t get off the table.
“Can you help me to the bathroom?” she whispered.
“Of course.” Tyler grabbed the specimen cup and helped her across the hall. He turned to leave when he felt her hand on his arm.
“Stay in case I need you, please?”
He locked them in, turning his back while she slowly did what she had to do. When she finished, he heard her groan as she tried to stand.
“Are you all right?”
“No. I need you. I’m sorry.”
He turned to help. “Sweetheart, don’t apologize, ever, for anything like this.” He braced her while she pulled her pants up, then helped her to the sink.
With his arm around her, they slowly returned to the exam room. Tyler steadied her while she undressed. He’d given her a pair of sweat pants to wear, knowing she’d be too sore to manage jeans. She leaned against him and winced as she lifted her arms to pull her shirt off. Unable to do it, she met his eyes, and he helped her remove it. In too much pain to manage it, she’d forgone her bra.
She displayed no modesty around him. Tyler wondered how much of that was due to her emotional trauma and how much was her comfort level with him.
While he’d spent many hours dreaming about holding her naked body, the sight of her bruised and battered flesh nearly drove him to his own tears of pain and fury. He loved her—he knew that with certainty—and wanted to kill Alex with his bare hands.
The damage they saw earlier paled in comparison to the wide swaths of black and blue over her chest and back. God only knew how many times the caveman had kicked her, but she was a mess. It was a wonder she could move at all.
He helped her put on the gown, then picked her up and gently set her on the table, pulling the sheet over her. She looked at him with eyes full of tears, and he held her while she cried.
When the doctor returned a few minutes later, she stopped the nurse and told her she’d call her. Then the doctor sat and waited, meeting Tyler’s gaze while Nevvie cried.
Tyler couldn’t control the emotion in his voice. “Nevvie, please sweetheart, tell us why you won’t file charges.”
She wouldn’t look at them. “A guy raped me when I was eighteen. I told them who did it, knew him from school. They took me to the hospital and did all the exams, never even arrested him after they questioned me for hours. Blamed me for it. My goddamned car broke down on the way home from work and he offered me a ride and fucking raped me. The stupid fucking cops said it was his word against mine because his dad had money and I had nothing.” She started sobbing again, and Tyler held her, not wanting to let go.
The doctor caught his eye and motioned that she’d be right back. He nodded, fighting his own tears. No wonder Nevvie was so scared, afraid to be dragged through that again.
The doctor returned a few minutes later with a bottle of water and a small paper cup. She handed them to Tyler. “Have her take that.” In the cup was a pill.
He raised his eyebrow and she mouthed, “Sedative.” He gently shuffled Nevvie around.
“Here, sweetheart. Take this to calm your nerves, right?”
She took the pill, downing it without question. Then he sat on the table next to her as she curled up, still sniffling, her head in his lap.
When the doctor and nurse returned twenty minutes later, Nevvie wasn’t unconscious, but she was a lot calmer. She closed her eyes and maintained a death grip on Tyler’s hand during the exam. He turned his back to the doctor, keeping his eyes on Nevvie’s face.
The doctor finished. “I want X-rays of your ribs. Let’s make sure he didn’t fr
acture them. Have you noticed any blood in your urine?”
Nevvie shook her head.
“You can put your underwear on, but leave your shirt and pants off.”
Nevvie nodded. The doctor took out her prescription pad and wrote two scripts, handed them to Tyler. Valium, a week’s supply, and Darvocet for pain. “Did you want a prescription for birth control pills?”
Nevvie shrugged, but Tyler spoke up. “She gets migraines some months. Let’s have one. If she decides she doesn’t want it, we won’t get it filled.”
Dr. Aston handed him the prescription. “You seem to know a lot about her, Tyler.” She’d known Tyler and Thomas for years and knew their relationship.
He tucked the scripts in his pocket. “We consider her part of our family. I wish I’d listened to my intuition sooner. Maybe we would have got there before he did this to her.”
“I’ll be waiting outside,” the nurse said. “The radiology room’s right down the hall.” The nurse handed him a long gown.
He waited until they left to help Nevvie sit. She was woozy, the sedative working its blessed magic on her system.
He dressed her in the hospital gown then steadied her as he carefully pulled her underwear into place. To think, two days ago he’d be rock hard doing this, and now it was all he could do not to cry.
He fastened her gown up the back and put his arm around her waist, supporting her, guiding her down the hall. They gave him a lead apron to wear while he stood watch over her during the X-rays, then he carried her to the exam room, gently laying her on the table. She was finally asleep. He managed to dress her without waking her.
Making sure Nevvie didn’t roll off the table, Tyler waited for the doctor to return with the results. She noted Nevvie’s state.
“We could admit her right now.”
“Is she injured that badly?”
“I’m thinking of her mental state.”
“We’ll take care of her, Doc. How is she otherwise?”