Page 256 of Mr. Charming
“No, I got it. Thanks.”
By evening, I was sitting at the dining room table with my brother, in front of a meal that was way too extravagant for just the two of us. In his eagerness to give me a warm welcome, he’d had all my favorite foods catered in for dinner. I couldn’t deny that everything looked and smelled delicious, rotisserie chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, green beans, buttermilk biscuits, apple pie, and iced tea. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of an appetite.
“Tobias, honestly, you shouldn’t have,” I said.
“Don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do in my own house,” he said. “If I want to treat my little sister to a nice dinner, then I’ll do it.”
“Whatever,” I said.
“Take off those sunglasses, Jo. You look ridiculous.”
I pressed my lips together and stared down into my plate. Although I knew I couldn’t walk around wearing sunglasses indefinitely, it made my stomach squirm to let him see what Zander had done to me.
“It looks worse than it feels,” I said, and then reluctantly removed them. I remained staring down at my plate for a long time. When I finally got the nerve to look at Tobias, he wore a deep frown.
“Are you going to tell me precisely what happened or not?” he asked. “How long has he been treating you like this, Joanna?”
I didn’t want to engage the conversation, but with the way Tobias stared at me from across the table, demanding an answer, I knew it couldn’t be avoided. Besides, considering the major favor he was doing for me in allowing me to stay with him for a while, he had the right to know.
I sighed. “He didn’t start out that way, I swear. He was perfect in the beginning. But mayb
e that was the problem all along. He was too perfect. I should have known something was off… The first time he hit me, it was because I hadn’t cooked dinner for him. It was stupid, but so was every other time we argued. Our arguments never had any real substance. He was just always nitpicking, and I was always making excuses for him. I just kept telling myself not to worry about it. That he was just stressed and it was no big deal. But the arguing kept getting more and more frequent. And we kept getting more and more agitated with each other and…”
“And he started hitting you more often,” Tobias said. His eyes trailed the bruises on my face, and I could practically feel the silent fury emanating from him. “You know you should have said something sooner, right?”
I lowered my gaze, staring at the tablecloth. “I know, but I thought I loved him. And I thought he loved me.”
“Love doesn’t leave bruises.”
“I know that now.”
Tobias sighed. “Does he know you came here?”
I shook my head. “I left while he was sleeping. He was drunk. He probably won’t know I’m gone for another few days.”
“Do you think he’s going to come looking for you?”
I swallowed. “I hope not. I mean, he shouldn’t know where to find me, so…”
The frown remaining on Tobias’s face clearly indicated that he didn’t find my words reassuring. “Listen, if he ever comes near you again—”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, cutting off his threat, I already knew how he would end it. He’d hire some big fancy lawyer and take every Zander owned. But that wasn’t what I wanted. I just needed it all to be behind me. For it to be over. “But I don’t need you fighting all my battles for me. I can take care of myself. That’s why I left him.”
“It took you too long to leave. You should have left after the first time, Joanna.”
I reached for a sip of tea. “I’m tired,” I said, feeling drained all of a sudden.
Tobias nodded. “I have plenty of rooms. Just pick whichever one you want.” He rose from the table and stretched. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“You’ve done more than enough already. Anything else I need, I plan to earn it.”
“When do you want to start working?” he asked.
“Can I have a week to get settled in first?”
“Of course. You can have all the time you need.”
“I just need a few days, and then I’ll be ready to do whatever you need me to do. I really am grateful for you letting me come work at your firm at such short notice and all.”