Trust in Me

Trust in Me

Books by Bethany Lopez

Stories about Melissa - series

Ta Ta for Now

xoxoxo

Ciao

Friends & Lovers Trilogy

Make it Last

I Choose You

Trust in Me

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013

Published February 2013

ISBN:
978-1482001686

All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic
form without permission. Please don’t participate in or encourage
piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s
rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Cover Design by b design

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales
is entirely coincidental.

Visit the author’s website:
www.bethanylopez.blogspot.com

This is dedicated to the
Ladies of Titan
Drive
.

Thanks for all of your support!

Prologue

Roni tried to brace herself for the blow
before it landed, but she was still knocked backwards into the
stove. Her hands flew out, instinctively covering her face, as her
hip caught the corner of the stove and she collapsed onto the
jaundiced linoleum.

She curled into the fetal position and
brought her arms up to cover her head, but his boot still found its
way to her ribs. Roni cried out in pain as her husband kicked her
repeatedly.

Hank shouted obscenities at her as he grabbed
two fistfuls of her long blonde hair and dragged her towards their
dingy living room.

Roni tried not to struggle as she was pulled
along the floor, worried that her hair would be yanked out if she
did. She kept her eyes and mouth shut, she’d been in this
predicament before, and knew she’d end up with more cuts and
bruises if she struggled.

She saw her opportunity when Hank stopped in
the threshold and loosened his grip.

Roni rolled backwards and sprang to her
knees. In one fluid motion, she gained her footing and turned to
sprint towards the backdoor. Since her back was turned, she didn’t
see Hank raise his leg to kick her, but felt his foot make contact
with her back right before she went sprawling face first back onto
the linoleum.

She didn’t pay attention to the blood that
started oozing from her nose; instead she boosted herself up on to
all fours and began crawling towards the exit.

Hank’s dry chuckle turned her belly cold, but
Roni tried to push through the fear and stay focused on her
goal.

This wasn’t the first time her husband had
used physical violence to make a point. When she’d first met him,
she thought he was so handsome and strong. She’d thought he’d take
her away from the nightmare that she’d grown up in and protect her,
the way her twin brother always had until he went away to college.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.

The first time he’d hit her, she’d been
beyond shocked. She’d never been struck a day in her life, her
brother, Kent had made sure of that. When she’d told Hank she was
going to leave him, he’d been full of remorse and promises, and
she’d been foolish enough to believe him.

The last straw had come the night before,
when he’d punched her in the stomach after they’d returned from the
local bar. She’d been dancing to the band, by herself, but he
hadn’t been pleased. As soon as they’d walked into their small
trailer, he’d blind-sided her and called her a whore.

When she woke up this morning, she’d called
Kent and told him the truth about her marriage. He’d been angry and
appalled, but agreed to come and help her leave Hank, just like
she’d known he would.

Kent was the one man she could always count
on.

The surprise came when Hank had come home
early and found her packing her things. She’d said she was leaving
when her brother arrived and tried to walk out of the trailer
quickly, but Hank had caught up to her in the kitchen.

Her thoughts seemed muddled in her mind and
she crawled as quickly as she could. She felt like she’d been
crawling forever, but had only made it a few inches, before she
felt Hanks boot on her ass. Roni sprawled on the floor, then
quickly tried to curl back into the fetal position and protect as
much of her body from him as she could.

She felt his hot breath on her cheek as he
leaned down and whispered, “I will never allow you to leave
me.”

Roni braced herself for the next blow, then
opened her eyes when she heard scuffling and the cold, hard tone of
her brother’s voice.

“I should kill you right now,” Kent said in a
low dangerous voice as he pulled Hank from her and flung him back
towards the wall.

Roni scrambled up off of the floor and ran to
the bedroom to grab her bags. When she got back, Kent was pummeling
his fists into Hanks face.

She ran over to him and put her hand softly
on Kent’s shoulder. “Stop. He’s not worth it. Let’s just get out of
here.”

She heard Kent breath in deeply. He pulled
back and Hank slid slowly down the wall. He landed on the floor
with a thud.

“You will
never
see my sister again,”
Kent explained to his brother-in-law, then he turned, put his arm
around Roni, and led her out of the trailer.

When they walked outside, Roni winced at the
bright sunlight. Kent stopped and turned her towards him.

She was ashamed to look him in the eye, so
she kept her head down. He put his finger under her chin and
brought her face up so he could examine it, his grey eyes filled
with worry.

“It’s just my nose,” Roni said softly. “Hank
doesn’t like to mark up my face.”

Kent swore under his breath and pulled her
gently into his arms. “Why didn’t you call me sooner, Roni? I
could’ve helped.”

Roni felt her eyes fill and her throat get
hot and scratchy. “I was ashamed. You always protected me from Dad,
then I go and marry someone just like him. I was afraid you’d be
disappointed.”

“I could never be disappointed in you,” Kent
replied as he kissed her softly on the top of the head. “I’m taking
you back to Texas with me; we’ll figure everything out once we get
there, okay?”

“Okay,” Roni said with a small smile. She let
her brother walk her to the rental car and settle her into the
passenger seat. While he shut the door and walked around the car,
she settled back in to the seat and closed her eyes.

Roni felt Kent get into the car and heard him
start the engine. As they drove away from the tiny trailer she’d
called home, she finally felt safe.

Six Months Later…

Chapter One

“Where are you going?” The tiny brunette next
to him asked with a pout. Rich smiled down at her and gave her a
kiss on the forehead as he moved one hand under the covers to
search for his underwear.

“I gotta go finish packing up. I’m heading
home tonight.”

The brunette sat up quickly, not bothering to
grab the sheet that fell from her naked body. Confusion crossed her
features as she asked, “Are you going home early for break?”

Rich paused his search and took a moment to
appreciate her perky breasts, then looked into her deep brown eyes.
“No, doll, I’m going home for good. I finished my last class
yesterday, that’s why I was at the bar last night. We were having a
going away party of sorts.”

Her mouth formed a small O, then turned down
into a pretty little frown.

“So, you mean I won’t ever see you
again?”

Rich finally found his boxer briefs and swung
his legs over the side of her queen sized bed to put them on. He
stood up to pull the underwear over his slender hips, and reached
down to grab the jeans that were peeking out from under her bed. He
pulled them up, but didn’t bother with the zipper; instead he
crawled back onto the bed and kissed her full lips.

“Probably not, doll. I don’t have any plans
to come up here again anytime soon.”

She kissed him back, then watched him scoot
back off of the bed and grab his shirt from the top of her dresser
in the corner. He felt her eyes on him as he pulled the dark gray
shirt over his head. Rich brushed his hands through his shaggy
brown hair in an effort to tame it a bit. He slipped on his shoes,
then went back to the bed to give her a final kiss goodbye.

She grabbed his face in her hands to
intensify the kiss. She trailed her lips across his jaw, pausing to
pay homage to the cleft in his chin.

“Bye, doll.”

“Do you keep calling me ‘doll’ because you
don’t remember my name?” she asked.

“No, I call you doll because you are as sweet
and delicate as a doll,” Rich said with a wink. “I never forget the
name of a woman I’ve spent time with, Sam. I promise you that.”

When he left her room, she was still sitting
in the middle of her bed. Bare from the waist up, her dark hair
flowing around her shoulders, and a beautiful smile on her
face.

God, he sure did love women!

Rich walked to his car with a grin on his
lips and a hop in his step. He couldn’t wait to load up his car and
leave campus, Sam already a fond memory. He opened the door of his
rusty old Charger and paused to rub his hand along the dashboard
the way he always did when he entered his car.

He’d bought the car recently out of
necessity. She wasn’t new by any stretch of the imagination, but
she was reliable. He couldn’t afford to buy a new car right now,
since all of his hard-saved money was going towards his dream of
opening a Rec Center for the kids in his hometown. One day he’d be
able to get the car of his dreams, but for now, he wanted to make
sure his car knew that he appreciated her every time he started her
up.

He kept the windows down as he cruised toward
the house he’d shared with some buddies over the last couple years.
He was sure he’d miss hanging out with the guys, but he was excited
about going back home and seeing his family and friends
full-time.

The last time he’d been home had been for
Halloween, and he’d had a great time hanging out with everyone.
Bree and Colin had come home for the party, and he’d been thrilled
to see how happy they were. Shoot, it seemed like all of his
friends were hooking up. Kara and Pete were still going strong, and
since he talked to Kent quite often, he knew that his friends’
relationship with Nicole was moving along pretty rapidly.

His parents wanted him to move back in with
them until he got settled, but Rich was ready to be on his own.
He’d had the contractors renovate the back part of the warehouse
that would be the Rec Center so that he could live on site. He
figured it would work for a few years while he got the center up
and running, then, if things went according to plan, he would rent
it out to employees once he was ready to invest in a house of his
own.

For now, he was ready to be a “grown-up”.

And, if he was being honest with himself, he
was looking forward to seeing a certain tall blonde again. Sure,
Roni acted like he was a pain in the ass every time she saw him,
but he couldn’t help but like that about her. Most of the women he
encountered enjoyed his company, even went out of their way to get
it. It was kind of nice to meet someone who didn’t drop her panties
when he turned on the charm.

He didn’t believe that she found him as
repulsive as she pretended to, but she sure didn’t make anything
easy, he thought with a chuckle. That was one of his favorite
things about her, and there was a lot about her that he liked.

Getting Roni to give him a chance was a
challenge that he was really looking forward to accepting.

Chapter Two

Roni felt the sweat trickle down her back and
she moved with the music. Her head was clear as she let the beat
guide her. She felt freer than she had in years.

She danced for over an hour before she felt
like she needed to stop and get some water. She stood and looked
out the window as she drank. She couldn’t keep the smile from
stretching across her face.

She felt happy here. Not only happy, but
content and safe. She loved being close to her brother, and was
thrilled that he had found someone like Nicole. The two of them
were so cute together, it bordered on nauseating, but it was
wonderful to see Kent so in-tune with another person.

Roni loved the apartment she shared with
Nicole. It was basically her apartment now, since Nicole spent most
of her waking hours at work or with Kent.