Friends & Lovers Trilogy (41 page)

Rich threw the towel in the corner with the
other clothes, then walked over to the bed and threw the comforter
up over the bed, trying to make it look more presentable, before
turning to her.

“
Sorry, the place is a
mess.”

“
That’s okay,” Roni
responded. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

“
Yeah,” Rich said,
gesturing for her to sit next to him on the bed. “I have to grab a
shower before I open the doors, but I have some time.”

Roni sat next to him on the bed, her hair
falling and covering her face, giving her a moment to compose
herself and think about how she wanted to begin.

“
Hey,” Rich said, pushing
her hair back over her shoulder so he could look at her. “It’s
okay. You can tell me anything.”

“
I don’t think we should
see each other anymore.”

Chapter Nineteen

Rich felt like he’d been punched in the gut.
He’d been so happy when he’d seen Roni standing in the gym talking
to Alex. His first instinct had been to go to her and take her in
his arms. He’d hoped her coming in early meant that she was ready
to talk to him.

He’d never imagined she’d come to end
it.

“
Why?”

“
This was always supposed
to be a fling,” Roni said in a tone that made him wonder if she was
trying to convince him or herself.

“
Well… it turned into more
than that,” Rich responded, hoping there was still a chance he
could convince her not to do this. That she hadn’t already made up
her mind.

“
Look, Rich,” Roni began,
“There are things you don’t know about me.”

“
Tell me,” he said
simply.

“
I’m pretty messed up,”
Roni said, pulling her hair back nervously and pulling it back into
a bun. She looked so vulnerable, it broke his heart.

“
Tell me,” he said
again.

“
I told you that I was
married, and that my divorce just came through, but… there’s more
to it than that.”

Rich didn’t say anything. He gave her a
moment to gather her thoughts. It was obvious that what she had to
say was tough on her, so he put his hand on her leg and squeezed
it, offering encouragement.

“
The first time Hank hit me
was the day after we got married,” Roni began. As her words
registered, Rich’s body tightened in response. He’d never imagined
she’d been abused. He guessed he should’ve, after her reaction the
other night, but he’d never been impacted by that type of behavior,
so it never even occurred to him. He tried to calm himself down so
he could hear her words clearly.

“
I’d been putting my things
away and he’d said something about making sure I put everything
away neatly. I made some smart ass comment, just like I always do,
without even realizing it. Hank came up behind me and pulled my
hair, then smashed my face against the dresser, causing a cut right
above my eye. I’d been so shocked I didn’t know what to do. He’d
apologized profusely and said he’d never damage my face again. It
didn’t register at the time, he didn’t want to hurt my face, but he
didn’t say he’d never hurt me again.”

Roni turned to him and took the hand he
offered in hers, bringing it briefly to her cheek before letting it
go.

“
I guess I should tell you
first about my parents, so you understand where I come from. I
doubt Kent ever has,” Roni looked off, unshed tears glistening in
her eyes. “Our dad is an alcoholic, who routinely abuses out
mother. I say abuses, because she refuses to leave him and he
refuses to change. When I was little, Kent sheltered me from them
as much as he could. I didn’t really even realize what was going on
until I was much older. I knew we struggled, and that my mom cried
a lot, but I thought it was normal.”

Roni paused to take a deep breath and Rich
thought about how different her childhood had been from his. His
parents had always been amazing. His mother was the heart of their
house and his father the rock. He’d never realized how lucky he’d
been.

“
I found out later that
Kent was taking beatings for both of us, and that when he was old
enough to stand up for himself, all of Dad’s anger was focused on
our mom,” Roni turned to look him in the eyes. “We tried to get her
to leave him, but she won’t. I think she was happy when Hank
started hitting me, because it meant that I was no better than she
was.”

Rich couldn’t even comprehend parents like
the ones she was describing.

“
Anyway, Kent went off to
school and I couldn’t go with him. My plans were to go to New York
and dance professionally, but when I fell in love with Hank, I
thought I could have both. It didn’t take long for him to take
dancing away, along with anything I tried to do outside of our home
that didn’t include him. Anytime I hung out with my friends, or
spent a day at the studio, I ended up getting punished that night.
I stopped doing anything, hoping I could make him happy and he
would stop hitting me.”

Roni looked at him, his hands were clenched
and he felt like his blood as boiling.

“
Don’t feel sorry for me,”
she said sadly.

“
Okay,” he replied,
exhaling a long breath and relaxing his hands. He wanted to hear
what she had to say, even though it felt like his heart was ripping
with each word she spoke.

“
Hank cheated whenever he
could, but by the end, I was happy when he did. It meant that he
was leaving me alone. He’d go on these benders where he stayed gone
for days at a time,” Roni smiled sadly as she spoke. “Those were
the best days of my marriage. I would read and escape into a book,
pretending I was someone else, until he returned and brought me
back to reality. It was after one of his benders that he beat me
with a baseball bat.”

Rich sprung from the bed at that, pacing as
he tried to hold on to his anger. What kind of a coward used a bat
against a woman, he wondered as he paced, and how was such a man
allowed to live?

Roni watched him pace as the tears were
finally freed and ran down her cheeks.

“
I ended up in the hospital
and the doctors told me that I may never be able to have children,”
Roni explained as she cried softly. “My mom came to see me, but she
didn’t try to help me, she just smiled. I never spoke to her
again.”

Rich stopped in front of
her, his anger spilling over and asked incredulously, “She
smiled?
What the fuck
kind of parent does that? Why didn’t she get you away from that
bastard?”

Roni just shrugged helplessly. She’d asked
herself the same question a million times.

“
When I was released from
the hospital and we went home, Hank swore he would never touch me
again. He was sorry that it had gone so far and I’d been
hospitalized. I didn’t really believe him, but at that point I felt
numb. I didn’t see a way out; I thought my life was doomed to be
like that forever.”

Rich crouched in front of
her and took her hands in his, “What about Kent? I
know
he would’ve killed
the bastard if he’d known. Did you ever reach out to him for
help?”

Roni held his hands tightly as she spoke, “I
hadn’t at that point. I’d been too ashamed. I thought I was
marrying a man as good as my brother, and I was embarrassed at how
very wrong I’d been. The final straw came a couple weeks later.
Hank had held true to his word and hadn’t touched me since I’d been
in the hospital. We went out to the bar to have a couple drinks,
and I ended up dancing. I was in a good mood, feeling the effects
of the liquor and the music spoke to me. I should have known
better.”

Rich’s whole body twitched at that. He hated
to hear her talk like anything she’d said or done warranted
anything that animal had done.

“
It was bad that night, and
I told him I was going to leave him. I called Kent and asked him to
come get me; he hopped on the next plane and flew out.
Unfortunately, Hank didn’t want me to leave, and he beat me again
before Kent got there. Kent arrived while he was kicking me in the
kitchen, and he pulled Hank off me. He nearly beat Hank to
death.”

“
Good,” Rich spat
viciously. He only wished he’d been there to help his
friend.

Roni smiled at him through her tears. She
was amazing. He couldn’t believe she had it in her to smile as she
told him of the horror she’d had to endure at the hand of the man
who was supposed to love and honor her.

Her earlier words forgotten, he leaned in
and kissed her on the lips. Her tears salty on his lips.

“
I’m so sorry you had to go
through that,” Rich said softly against her lips. “You’re an
amazing woman, and I’d kill that asshole if I could.”

Roni pulled away and nodded, “Kent brought
me here and I’ve slowly been building myself back into the woman I
should have been all along. I’m grateful to be dancing again, and I
can’t thank you enough for your part in making that a reality for
me.”

Rich let his hands dropped and stood, before
taking his seat back next to her on the bed again.

“
But…” he
prompted.

“
But, I never meant for us
to get serious,” she began. “I was using you to help me gain my
confidence back, and lord knows I’ve always found you attractive,
even if I tried to pretend otherwise.”

Rich nodded slowly, the empty feeling
entering his stomach again.

“
You’re amazing,” she said.
“More so than I ever imagined. You’re strong, sexy, and smart.
You’ve started this amazing business, and your family is
phenomenal.”

She looked down at her hands as she picked
at her cuticle.

“
You know, I got so mad at
Kent when he thought Nicole was too good for him, but I can see now
where he was coming from.” She put her finger to his lips before he
could protest. “You deserve someone who isn’t broken. A girl who
won’t fall to the ground if you raise your voice. Someone who can
give you babies…”

Her voice broke at that statement, causing
his heart to bleed for her, but he let her continue. To get out
everything that she needed to say.

“
I need this job. I need to
be able to rent the studio from you and dance,” Roni said. “I can’t
take the chance that something will go wrong, or that some other
hot girl will come along, and that dance studio will be in
jeopardy.”

That pissed him off. He was with her until
that point, ready to be understanding and supportive, but he took
offense to her final statement.

“
Don’t do that,” Rich said
dangerously. “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not some man-whore
who would cheat on you at the first opportunity. I’ve already
explained that to you, and I thought you understood. I’d also never
do anything to jeopardize your place here at the center. I’m enough
of a man to separate business from my personal life. I think you’re
just looking for a reason to end this, and you’re grasping at
straws.”

Roni nodded and rose from the bed.

“
Maybe you’re right, but
that doesn’t change the fact that I think we need to stop seeing
each other. You deserve better.”

Rich stood abruptly, grabbing her arms and
pulling her to him. He kissed her swiftly and desperately, putting
his heart into the kiss. He knew she wouldn’t be swayed in this
moment, but he wanted to give her something to think about.

“
Don’t tell me what I
deserve,” he said against her lips, before going in for another
kiss. “Maybe you’re the best thing that ever happened to
me.”

Roni looked up into his eyes, hers flashing
with confusion. “I’ve got to go.”

“
Okay,” Rich said, dropping
his hands and letting her go. “But know this before you do, I’m
falling in love with you, and I’m not giving up that
easily.”

Rich went into his bathroom and shut the
door, leaving Roni in the middle of the room with her jaw
dropped.

Fuck, he thought, he hoped he could get her
to see that they were perfect for each other.

Chapter Twenty

“
I don’t know what I should
do,” Roni cried to her brother and Nicole. They were sitting in
Kent’s living room. Roni was still laying down on the couch with a
cover over her and a nights worth of used tissues lying next to her
on the floor. She’d come there after leaving her dance studio
yesterday.

She hadn’t wanted to go back to her
apartment alone. Not with Rich’s words replaying in her mind.

Roni had told them everything last night.
Nicole was shocked, she hadn’t been aware of the details of Roni’s
marriage or how horrible it had been. Some of the stories Roni
retold, Kent had never heard before.

It had been a rough night, hence the
tissues.

Roni had hoped a good night’s sleep would
bring clarity, but she felt just as confused as she had when she’d
finally fallen asleep.

“
What do you want to do?”
Kent asked.

“
I thought that the right
thing was to end it now, before it got more complicated,” Roni
explained. “I’m renting the space from him, so we’ll see each other
every day. I don’t want to mess up our working relationship, or our
friendship.”

“
Why do you think you will
mess it up?” Nicole prompted.

“
Because
he deserves better than me,” Roni said throwing her hands up. “I’m
a freakin’ mess. Look at the way I freaked out the other day. His
mom mentioned that Rich was “marriage material” and I wigged out.
That information, coupled with the storm had me totally on edge.
When Rich got that phone call about the pipes and raised his voice,
I lost it. I was pulled back to all of those times when Hank got
angry, and what the result was. Even though I
knew
that Rich is not Hank, I
couldn’t control my reaction.”