getting Ellis put back behind bars.”
Ronnie nodded. “Surely, with two of his friends dead after attacking you guys, the judge will see reason.”
Marilyn’s eyes flew to Noah. “Dead?”
“Bree and Tanner killed Paul Wyn when he attacked them. I had a run-in with George Pearson.”
She could feel her pulse begin to skyrocket just at the mention of their names. Telling herself that they were dead and couldn’t hurt her anymore didn’t seem to help. “I… I…”
She couldn’t seem to even figure out what she wanted to say.
“Let’s get you home.” He kissed her forehead. “That bastard is never going to hurt you or anyone else ever again.”
Noah knew.
She stiffened, afraid she might actually vomit right here on the floor. George had told Noah that she’d had sex with him. What did Noah think of her? How could he even stand to touch her?
Noah’s hands slid to the outside of her shoulders and he pulled her back so they were eye to eye. “Whatever it is you’re thinking right now, you need to shut that down.”
She shook her head. “What George said…”
“The only thing George said was that he was a complete asshole.”
The laugh that escaped her was tinged with hysteria. If George knew Noah was there to help Marilyn in any way, he would have done whatever he could to stir up trouble.
In this case, all he had to do was tell the truth.
“What George told you—”
Wasn’t a lie at all.
But she couldn’t get the words out, Noah had put a finger over her lips. “We’ll talk about it later.”
She glanced over at Ronnie, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. This definitely wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have in front of him. It wasn’t one she wanted to have at all.
Noah kissed her forehead. “Take me home and patch me up, gorgeous.”
She nodded, but was afraid he wasn’t the one who really needed patching.
The kids were outside in the field running around like crazy with the dogs as Marilyn and Noah sat on the front porch steps of his house.
They’d eaten, he’d showered, then he’d brought out a whole slew of medical supplies so she could clean and bandage the cuts he’d suffered at George Pearson’s hands.
He could’ve gone by the clinic in town or probably had done it himself, but he was giving her something to do with her hands. This also forced her to stay nearby, not be able to hide.
She very much wanted to hide. But she couldn’t, not anymore. It was time to get this over with, even if it meant losing Noah. He deserved to know the truth about her.
“After Eva was born, Jared pretty much lost interest in me sexually.” She gently wiped at the long shallow cut on his arm.
“Having two kids required more of my attention, something that didn’t sit well with Jared. The cycle of violence picked up rapidly once Eva was six or seven months old. But then he realized he had to take care of them if I wasn’t able to do it, so he decided to find other…” she trailed off, not sure how she was going to get through this.
“Violence wasn’t convenient,” Noah finished for her. “So, he found another way to torture you. Brought his friends in on the action.”
“George told you.” She fisted her hand against her stomach in an attempt to ease the twisting despair.
“George is dead. You tell me.”
It took her a long minute to be able to get her voice to work. “I don’t think I was the first one. I never met George or Paul’s wives before they died, but I’m pretty sure that this was part of the sick game they played with each other.” She closed her eyes, but the darkness was even worse, so she opened them again. “They passed around their wives for the others to use.”
Noah didn’t move away from her, but his hand clenched into a fist.
“I don’t think either of their wives’ deaths were an accident. I think maybe both tried to go to the police, so Paul and George had them killed. Made it look like an accident.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” His voice was low and hard. “How many times did they rape you?”
She focused on applying the small butterfly bandages to his cut. It was the only way she would get through this.
“They didn’t rape me. Okay?” She blew out a shaky breath. “I can’t imagine what you’re going to think of me after I tell you this, but they didn’t rape me.”
He