Truly Madly Deeply Boxed Set (15 page)

Though she felt the heat of his gaze, Chelsie refused to look at Griff. He knew when they’d become partners he’d be taking on cases like these, and she’d promised her expertise from the beginning. But that had been before she’d revealed her own personal history. His request had been based on her experience with battered women. Now that he knew she fell into the category of the abused, Chelsie couldn’t cope with his pity.

She forced herself to focus on Amanda, to look at the bruises, so similar to the ones Chelsie’s own husband had left on her upper arms.

“It takes courage for you to be here, Amanda. Where’s your son now?” Griff asked.

“With a friend.”

“Okay. What do you want from us?” Chelsie asked. The words, the decision had to come from the woman herself. No one could force her to press charges or file for divorce or any of her other options unless she wanted to. Chelsie had learned that from personal experience as well.

“I left three days ago, when I first called you. I’m staying with a friend, but I can’t put her in such a compromising position much longer. Every time the phone rings, I jump. Each time someone hangs up or breathes heavily, I think it’s him.”

“You have options,” Chelsie assured her. “The first is to continue to stay with friends or relatives, but I tend to agree with you, and I don’t recommend that for now.”

The other woman nodded.

“The second is a much more difficult decision, but wiser in the long run. There’s a women’s shelter. I volunteer there, so I know it well. You’d be safe and your friends wouldn’t be in any danger. Once we decide how to proceed, depending upon the course of action we take, you could always return home or to a friend or family member.”

Amanda’s face went pale at the mention of the shelter. Chelsie had been right. The concept drove reality home. Sometimes, facing the truth, realizing you had to rebuild a life alone, was more difficult than an actual physical beating.

“Do you have any money?” Chelsie asked. Despite the woman’s expensive clothing, whether she’d managed to leave with any personal belongings or cash was anybody’s guess.

“Not much. I still have my credit cards, though.”

“No. No paper trails.” Chelsie took the woman’s hand. “Do you trust me?” she asked.

“Implicitly.” Amanda spoke without hesitation.

“Good. Then we have to do things my way. Not only for your safety and your son’s, but also for the courts. Agreed?”

Amanda nodded. Griff rose and seated himself behind his desk, pulling out a legal pad and pen.

“We’ll need some information,” he said, refocusing on work.

After drawing a deep breath, Amanda nodded. “Okay.”

“I need your full name.”

The other woman looked towards Chelsie, who nodded in encouragement. “Amanda Davis...” She hesitated before continuing. “Amanda Davis Sutton.”

Chelsie’s vision blurred and she sucked in a deep breath. Coincidence, she told herself. A brief glance told her Griff was jotting down pertinent information.

“Your husband’s name?” Griff asked.

“Jeffrey Sutton.”

Chelsie glanced at Amanda, hoping she was wrong. The other woman met her gaze and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Jeff Sutton. Nausea roiled in Chelsie’s stomach. The one slice of dried toast she’d managed to choke down for breakfast threatened to come back up. She swallowed over the lump in her throat and asked, “How long have you been married?”

“Four and a half years.”

Griff continued to take notes. He hadn’t yet appeared to notice anything amiss.

“Your husband’s occupation?” Chelsie asked. She forced the question from somewhere deep inside her.

Amanda choked on a laugh. “Attorney.”

“For what firm?” But she already knew. This was no coincidence. And judging by the woman’s penetrating stare, Amanda knew that, as well.

“Stevens and McLaughlin, downtown Boston.”

Chelsie stood. Her gaze darted from the bruises on Amanda’s arm to the rest of her well-dressed but well-covered body. The nausea threatened again. “Excuse me,” she murmured. “I’ll be right back.”

* * *

Her fault
. And this time, a flesh-and-blood child’s welfare was at stake.
Her fault
. The litany in her brain refused to subside.

Chelsie ran, barely making it to the bathroom in time. Afterwards, she washed her face and drank a glass of water, but she couldn’t stop shaking or control the erratic beat of her heart. The cold sweat that had begun earlier now left her chilled.

With no choice, she dried her eyes and walked back into Griff’s office, ignoring his concerned expression.

“I’m sorry.” She glanced at Griff. “Have you gotten the rest of the information?”

He nodded.

“Good. Amanda,” Chelsie said gently, “have you given any thought to what comes next?”

“I’d like to look at the shelter, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I’m free from now through lunch, if that’s okay.”

“Fine.”

Griff cleared his throat, but Chelsie refused to acknowledge their change in plans.

“Okay. Aside from where you’ll be staying, what are you willing to do?” Chelsie asked.

“Anything necessary to protect myself and my child.”

“A restraining order would be a start. Documentation of the history of abuse and pictures of any current bruises would also help. Friends’ affidavits, things that would support your case in court—if you’re willing to press charges.”

The other woman dropped her head in her hands, but when she looked up, Chelsie saw a determination she herself hadn’t had when faced with similar questions. Maybe if she’d come to her senses sooner, if she’d left Jeffrey after the first time or immediately after realizing she was pregnant, she never would have lost her baby.

Or her future, she thought, glancing at Griff.

“Whatever is necessary,” Amanda reiterated.

“Good.” Grasping her purse, Chelsie gestured towards the door. Amanda stood.

Griff rose from his seat, but Chelsie refused to even glance in his direction. She couldn’t deal with his questioning looks. Not now. He walked over and placed his arm around Amanda’s shoulders, leading her into the waiting room. “I’d like to speak with my partner. Will you be all right?” he asked.

“Fine.”

He nodded. “Help yourself to coffee.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. We’ll be right with you.”

Griff turned to Chelsie. Before she could make an excuse to avoid any discussion, his hand firmly grasped her wrist. “Inside,” he whispered.

Anxiety caused her to plant her feet firmly in the doorway.

“Now, please.”

Faced with the choice of upsetting Amanda with a scene or dealing with Griff, Chelsie turned and walked back into his office.

“I
can’t help if you won’t talk to me.”

Chelsie stood with her back to Griff and stared out the window. A slight breeze blew the branches on the trees and she wished she were outside enjoying the end of summer, instead of being inside, subjected to an early frost.

“What happened back there?” he demanded in a no-nonsense tone.

She shrugged. “Something I ate didn’t agree with me. I’m okay now.”

He cleared his throat and she heard him restlessly pacing the carpet behind her. Though her half-answers might frustrate him, she had no choice but to stall. With a client waiting outside, she couldn’t get into personal matters, but with personal intruding on business, she realized she couldn’t put off the inevitable much longer.

“Are you sure it didn’t have something more to do with the subject matter?” he asked, his voice softening.

“Two days ago, you wouldn’t have asked me that question.”

“Two days ago, you hadn’t confided in me. Two days ago, we hadn’t made love.”

Her body heated with the memory and his genuine concern tugged at her heart. She could no longer avoid him, but she couldn’t bear a pitying look in his eyes, either. She whirled around, finally facing him, only to discover deep emotion lingered in the hazel depths. Pity was nowhere to be found.

“Tell me something, Griff. Does having sex give you the right to grill me?”

She regretted the words the minute they left her mouth. The entire situation had her rattled, which was no excuse to take her rampaging emotions out on the man she loved.

To his credit, he merely shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed it over a chair. She recognized the delay as a means to bide time and calm his anger. She gave him his due. How a man could be just as devastating fully dressed as he had been unclothed baffled her. But it was the man inside the clothes that had drawn her out and made her fall in love.

When he met her stare, his expression darkened, along with his eyes. He took two steps forward, but she stopped him mid-stride with as much honesty as she could muster.

“I’m sorry, please forget I said that.” She lifted her hand and worked the sore muscles in the back of her neck. “Yes, the subject matter is upsetting,” she said, lowering herself into the nearest chair. She owed Griff as much of the truth as she felt he could handle hearing—as much as she could handle revealing—for now.

His hand touched her cheek. “I don’t like seeing you hurt. Do you react like this after every client interview?”

She shook her head, unwittingly freeing some strands of hair. Without much thought, she tucked them behind her ear. “Some hit me harder than others.”

“No wonder this one’s difficult. She looks so much like you. The dark hair, the eyes...”

“I hadn’t noticed.” And she hadn’t. Now that he’d pointed out their similarities, Chelsie realized Griff was right—another factor that must have unconsciously upset her. “I really must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me, or else I’m catching a new version of the virus you and Alix had.” Which wasn’t a lie, since her throat had been raw all morning. “I’ll be all right.”

“Want me to accompany you to the shelter?” he asked.

Her lips curved upward in a faint smile. “No, thanks. No men allowed, anyway.”

Griff knelt down beside her. He enclosed her hand in his. “We do have unfinished business.”

“I know.” She shut her eyes and leaned her head back in the chair. “But would you understand if I said I’m not up to discussing things yet?”

He answered with a tender but brief kiss. His lips, warm against hers, almost seduced her into a blessed state of forgetfulness. Before she was ready, he pulled back, leaving her bereft.

“In case you weren’t sure, that’s a yes,” he said.

“I’m shocked, but thank you.”

“Don’t be. As long as you don’t run out on me again, I can give you all the space you need. To be honest, I could use some myself.” He rose from his kneeling position, putting both physical and emotional distance between them.

He’d admitted to nothing more than she asked for herself, yet his admission and withdrawal hurt.

“I’ve got to get back to Amanda,” she said.

“I have a favor to ask first.”

“What is it?”

“Ryan asked me to help his sister move back in with her husband next weekend. As you know, I owe him. Mrs. Baxter promised Saturday to her son and daughter-in-law. Think you could...”

“Baby-sit?” she asked with a grin. “Sure. Would you mind if I took Alix into Boston with me?”

“Either you’re brave or just plain nuts, but no, I don’t mind. Thanks.”

“Friends help each other out, Griff.” She needed to cement their status in her own mind, as much as his.

“Is that all we are?”

“I thought this discussion could wait,” she chided. The real world would not. The life she thought she’d put behind her waited outside the safety of these walls.

“Not for long.”

Ignoring his words, Chelsie slipped out the office door.

* * *

“How did you find me?” Chelsie asked the woman in the passenger seat of her car. Chelsie wanted enough details to understand what she would be dealing with.

“I searched through Jeffrey’s drawers and files for spare money or something that could help me. I came across your divorce decree.”

“He hadn’t told you he’d been married?”

“No.”

Chelsie spared a quick glance at Amanda, then refocused on the road. The woman’s dark hair fell to her shoulders. Griff was right. From a distance, they could have passed for sisters.

“But now that I’ve met you, I can see why he married me,” Amanda said.

“Whoa. There was no love lost by the time we divorced. I can assure you, Jeff would not marry someone who reminded him of me.”

“But he would marry someone he had no trouble manipulating, who did as he said without question.”

Chelsie slowed the car in the back parking lot of the women’s shelter. After shutting off the engine, she turned toward the woman beside her. “You may have done those things, but you got out. You saved yourself and your son. Be proud instead of kicking yourself for things you can’t change.” She smiled. “Counselors here will help you see that you aren’t the one with the problem. He is.”

“You’ll help me, too?”

“I’ll do everything I can within the law, but I think it’s better if Griff handles the specifics. Ethically, you don’t want anything Jeff can hold over you. Having his ex-wife represent you might pose a problem. Anyway, you did set the appointment up with Griff.”

“Only because I thought you might figure out who I was and refuse to see me. I wanted to tell you in person.”

“Did you tell Griff?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Would you mind if I handled that in my own way?” Chelsie asked.

Amanda shook her head.

Somehow, Chelsie would have to explain. Because she’d withdrawn her complaint against her husband for purely selfish reasons, she had freed him to abuse someone else. It wasn’t something she could admit lightly, but she did need to see the past rectified. Now she had her chance.

In the process, maybe she’d even ease some of the guilt that had been building inside her for years. Until faced with Amanda’s courage to walk out before any harm came to her child, Chelsie hadn’t realized what a huge burden she’d been carrying.

Time to face her past, she thought, as well as herself. To do that, she had to begin with being honest.