Trust in Me (13 page)

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.”

“Honey, that just means you need help, not
that you aren’t good enough to handle a relationship with Rich,”
Nicole said. “He’s a good man. I don’t think he’s afraid of a
little work.”

“Roni,” Kent said, taking her hand in his.
“Rich is the exact opposite of Hank. He’s a man who believes in
family, hard work, and loyalty. He’s the kind of guy I have always
hoped you’d end up with some day.”

Roni looked at her brother with tears in her
eyes. “What if I can’t get over it? And what if I can’t ever have
children?”

“You will get over it, it just takes time,”
Kent responded. “And the doctor told you that you might not be able
to have children, not that you can’t. As long as you’re honest with
Rich, you guys can handle anything that comes your way… If that’s
what you want.”

Roni nodded and took a deep breath.

“I’m going to go grab a shower and get ready
for work,” Kent said, kissing his sister on the forehead, before
turning to Nicole and kissing her lips.

Nicole got up and motioned for Roni to scoot
over and give her room next to her on the couch. Nicole put her arm
around Roni and looked her friend in the eye.

“Do you want to have a relationship with
Rich? One that’s not just based on sex? Do you like him?”

Roni was silent for a few seconds as she
processed Nicole’s questions.

“I do like him.”

“Well… What do you like about him?” Nicole
prodded.

“He’s sweeter than I thought he’d be,” she
began. “He’s got a good heart and he’s smart. He obviously loves
his family and his friends, and would do anything for him. He’s
just a really good
person
, ya know?”

Nicole nodded as she smiled, her eyes misting
over.

“He’s one of the good ones,” she agreed.

“And, of course, he’s pretty easy on the
eyes,” Roni said with a laugh. “My goodness, that body.”

Nicole laughed along with her, the tension
receding a bit, until Roni stopped laughing and looked at her
friend seriously.

“He said that he’s falling in love with me
and that he’s not going to give up on me… I don’t want to hurt
him.”

Nicole gave her a hug and pulled back to look
at Roni’s tear stained face.

“You aren’t responsible for his feelings;
you’re only responsible for how you handle them. All you can do is
be honest and try to take his feelings into consideration, not
matter what you decide to do.”

“Can you do me a favor, Nicole?” Roni asked
as she chewed on her bottom lip.

“Anything.”

“Would you tell Rich that I need a little
time?” She asked. “I know I’ll see him at work, but I need some
time to think about what I want, and I don’t want to have a serious
conversation with him until I do.”

“Sure, sweetie, I can do that.” Nicole
replied.

“Thanks.” She smiled at her friend as Nicole
got up and went back into her bedroom to get ready for the day.

Roni had gotten enough kids signed up to
begin her first class, but she had a few days to prepare before
they would begin training. She needed to take the next two days to
think about what she wanted and how she was going to get it.

She got up and went to Kent’s computer,
logging on under her name. She searched for therapists in the local
area. She figured that was the first place she needed to start.

Epilogue

The first few weeks after the Grand Opening
were better than Rich could ever had imagined or hoped for. He
wasn’t in the black yet, but with the way things were going, he was
confident that he would be within a year.