She leaned her head to his chin, and he just wanted to make her feel better. His heart was jackhammering in his chest, and he was unsure of what to do. He wanted to make the pain go away. He wanted her to smile. But how? What could he do?

"You're right, but it's just... I don't want to put Angie through all this. I don't think it's fair to her. She's at the age now where she knows what's going on. She knows when I'm sad, when I fight with him. And dragging him into court is going to put the spotlight on her. I just don't want to hurt her, but I also can't fail her."

He nodded as she sat up, crossing her legs and running her hand down her face. Moving his hand into hers, he laced their fingers. "But what is best for Angie?"

Her lip trembled as she shook her head. "I don't know. I want it to be easy. I want him to be a good man and love his daughter. I pray all the time that he'll change, but he won't. And I don't know if I'm hurting her more by leaving her there with him or taking her away. But the look in her eyes, Benji, it was like having the air knocked out of me."

"Does she want to go there?"

"I don't know. Some days I think so, but then some, I don't. Tonight, she most definitely did not want to go, but that's 'cause he was so iffy about hockey tomorrow, I'm sure." Running his hands through his hair, he met her worried gaze. "Am I jumping the gun? Am I freaking out for nothing? Maybe he was just being a dick, but tomorrow will be fine?" She was hopeful, but he was pretty sure the dude was a dick twenty-four seven.

"I don't know, babe."

She made a sound of frustration as she covered her face with her hands. "I just wish I'd never met him. No, I don't regret Angie, but damn him, I regret him. More than anything."

Now is not the time to ask. It isn't. Don't ask. Do not ask.

"Can you tell me what happened between you two, baby?" he asked and he cringed. Apparently, he didn't know how to talk himself out of stuff. She looked up and his eyes held hers. "'Cause I really don't understand how someone can treat their child and their child's mother like this. I cannot imagine."

"Because you're a decent guy, Benji. Not everyone is cut from the same cloth as you."

"I understand that, but if Ava and Leary were alive, and our situation was like yours, I would do right by them. I would be a man about it."

She looked down, moving her fingers along the back of his hand. "I know that, which is why I think you're really amazing."

"Well, thanks." As he watched her, she continued to trace the back of his hand, her lips moving but no words leaving her mouth. Her neck was turning red, her face flushed from her tears as she struggled with what she wanted to say. It was painful to watch, and finally, he said, "Do you not want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

His voice was rough, unsure what to say next. He wanted to know. He wanted to know that part of her not only so he would understand Rick, if there was a way to understand him, but because that was the last part of her he didn't know. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted her to be open with him, to fully trust him.

He wanted to find a way to help.

"But I should," she whispered, leaning into his hand. "Because you deserve to know."

He looked up then as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't want you to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I do," she said softly, another tear sliding down her cheek. "I just hate talking about him. About what he did to me and Angie. I hate strolling down memory lane when it comes to Rick."

He could tell, so bringing the back of her hand to his lips, he kissed it softly before saying, "Don't worry about it, then."

He wanted to know, but he refused to put her under any more stress than needed. Being Lucy, though, headstrong and stubborn, she shook her head and swallowed hard. He watched her as she sat for a moment, breathing in and out. When she looked up, a haunted expression swirled in those deep green eyes.

And Benji knew he was in for a doozy.

She cleared her throat, and Benji watched as she struggled with the words, his heart pounding in his chest.

"I met Rick in high school," she said then, exhaling his name, but not in a good way. Almost in a disgusted way. Like his name was just the nastiest thing she could have had in her mouth. "He was the bad boy from the trailer park who wanted to do bad things. With me. I was eighteen, straight A's, captain of the softball team, and I was going to go to law school like my daddy did. Problem was, I was also going through that rebel phase since my dad told me to keep my head in the game, not to veer off course 'cause I had law school to worry about. I didn't want to keep my head in the game, though. I wanted to have fun because, for the last four years, I had done what I was told and everything that was expected of me. Enter Rick. He had a motorcycle that, looking back, I'm sure wasn't safe, but I loved riding on the back of that thing. Pissed my parents off, but I was having fun."

A small smile pulled at her lips. "I was a relationship girl, didn't have sex until I was with the guy for a while. But Rick, he had me in the back of my car by day two. He just had a way about him. We had sex every chance we got. Young, stupid, kid sex that led to Angie. I freaked because I was supposed to go to law school and I had plans, but Rick promised we'd be good. That I had changed him, that he'd marry me as soon as he turned eighteen. He'd get a job and we'd be fine. Seemed like a sound plan, so I went home and I told my parents, and they lost their shit. They both hated Rick with everything inside of them. Told me he was using me because he was the poor kid and I was the rich kid. Told me to dump him and they would help me raise the baby so I could still try to live my dreams. I was such a brat and said no, that I loved him. But, really, I didn't. I just didn't want to seem like a failure."

She exhaled, shaking her head. "We graduated and I was six months pregnant with Angie. We got married in a quick courthouse wedding that neither of my parents attended. Broke my heart. I stopped talking to them because of it. I moved in to his trailer with him and his mom. I think that's when things when south, when I lost my confidence, lost all hope. Because, Lord, she was awful to me. I know you may find this hard to believe, but I was pretty snarky and sassy all the time, and she hated it," she said with a grin and he smiled.

"You? Never."

Her smile fell off as she looked down at their hands. "She told him that no woman should talk to her husband that way, that he needed to put me in my place. Blah, blah, blah. She even smacked me once. Right across my face because I told her I wasn't cleaning up after all of them when they had a party the night before. I left when she did that. But of course, Rick talked me into coming back. Said our baby needed both of us 'cause he knew what it was like not to have a dad. But, in retrospect, I know that's when shit got really bad."

Looking up, she shook her head as she looked into his eyes. He was hanging on every word she was saying, unsure how someone as beautiful and strong could end up like that. "I was so stupid. I still can't believe I stayed as long as I did. I tried to go to school, I did. But it didn't work out 'cause Rick always had my car, going to 'work,' and I wouldn't have a way to school. It was sad, and I let him ruin my dreams.

"My dad offered to take me back in, that he'd pay for my schooling, the whole nine if I divorced Rick and came home. I was so stubborn that I wouldn't accept it, saying I loved him. At that point, I really think I might have. I'm not sure. And then when I was in labor and I had Angie, I was in the room with my family. They were all loving on us because not only was it a new baby, but because they hadn't seen me in months. A woman walked into the room-"

Her nose crinkled a bit as she shut her eyes, slowly shaking her head. "Heidi, it was Heidi who walked into the room. Rick was downstairs getting me something to eat-or really, hiding from my dad and brothers-and she walked in. She asked if I was Lucy Hart, Rick's wife. I had noticed her a few times; she lived about nine trailers down from us. She was a few years younger than us, went to school with us, but I never paid her any mind. I was living in hell, why would I?" she added with a humorless laugh. "But I said, yeah, that's me, and she goes, 'My name is Heidi Slattery, and I've been sleeping with Rick for the last eight months. We're pregnant.' She opened her coat, and sure as shit, she was pregnant. Big and pregnant."

"What the hell, Lucy? Really?" Benji said then and she rolled her eyes. "So Nina and Angie are-"

"Two months apart," she said, shaking her head. "I wasn't even shocked. I didn't cry or anything, but my dad and mom freaked the fuck out. I mean, they were cussing, screaming, and my brothers, bless them, Jace had no clue what was going on, but Jayden and Jude did. They tried to fight Rick, but he left. Left me at the hospital."

"He left you?"

"Yup, and his brand-new baby. My dad convinced me to go home with them. I was about to leave, but Rick showed up the day I got released and told me that he hadn't come back before because of my family. That he loved me, to come home, that he was sorry, Heidi meant nothing to him, blah, blah, blah. It was a dumb mistake, he loved me. And my dumb ass believed him. I think I was scared. I didn't want to be the statistic. Now, I'm proud of my life and Angie, but then, I was scared. So I went home with him." Wiping away her tears, she looked up at him and all he could do was stare at her. She was so strong. So amazing, it blew his mind that she was that girl at one time. "For the first two years of Angie's life, Rick did nothing. He claimed he worked, but I never saw a lick of money. I was constantly borrowing money from my parents to get Angie the things she needed and working side jobs, tutoring the kids in the trailer park, and cleaning houses because I could take Angie with me. He hardly ever helped me. Bless her, she had such bad colic, and he would just leave. Let me deal with it as his mother yelled at me to 'shut that baby up.'"

When she paused, Benji was fuming, his body shaking with anger as he watched her come undone. Holding her breath, she let it out quickly and closed her eyes, shaking her head as the words played in her mind. He wanted to ask her to stop, but he knew she wouldn't. But yet, he said roughly, "Lucy-"

"He never hit me before, though," she said then, looking over at him, the tears spilling onto her cheeks. "Not really. He'd push me or act like he was going to, but he never did. I knew it wasn't right, and I knew I deserved better, but I didn't want my parents to look at me as a failure. I had already failed out of college because I didn't go, and I didn't want to disappoint them further with a failed marriage. So I figured I'd stay until I could save some money. But then I found out he was still with Heidi. Like full out. When he wasn't with me, he was with her, raising her baby. All his money went to her, and he was also promising her that he would leave me. That he felt sorry for me and he stayed 'cause my family had disowned me. Not true. I stayed because I was embarrassed. I heard it from her cousin whose kid I tutored. I know, it's like some backwoods reality show," she said, shaking her head as she scoffed. "I was trailer trash, and I knew it. Talk of the trailer park, Lucy Hart. Well, that was it. He wasn't going to do that to me. It was Angie's third birthday, and this wasn't going to go on any longer. I was going to confront him and he was going to choose us, or I was gone. I should have just left but, eh, you live and you learn. But he came home, I told him what was going to happen and, Benji...he whooped my ass."

Benji's fists clenched as he watched her close her eyes, the tears spilling down her cheek. Reaching out, he wiped them away and whispered, "Jesus, Lucy."

"Oh, yeah, he made sure I felt every punch, every kick, and every slam of my head into that wall. I actually put a hole in the wall with my head. My child sitting two feet away from me in her birthday dress, watching the whole thing go down. She didn't know what was going on-and doesn't even remember, praise God-but his momma saw it and she did nothing. It took the neighbor, seeing him punching me through the kitchen window, to come over. He pulled Rick off me and dragged him outside where he kicked his ass, from what I came to find out later.

"Apparently, his momma went out to help him, and I passed out from the pain. When I woke, the trailer was empty, Angie was still sitting next to me, crying, shit coming out the side of her training pants, and even though I couldn't see out of one eye, I packed all our stuff, called my mom, and I went home. Never looked back."

Reaching for her, he pulled her into his arms and on top of him, running his hand up and down her back. "I told Rick I never wanted to see him again, and that was that. Dad drew up the divorce papers, and he married Heidi after he signed them. I was convinced I'd never see him again, but then my dad put in the request for child support, saying Rick was going to pay for his child. But Rick said he wasn't paying for some kid he didn't see, so then he got visitation. I tried to cry that he had beaten me and I worried about the safety of my child, but because I didn't make the report when it happened and I had no proof other than my word, the court awarded him visitation. I thought I was done, but I wasn't. And now I'm paying for it. Every time I have to deal with that man."

"Lucy, you were young. How could you have known?"

"My dad told me, numerous times, the day I came home to go to the cops, but I ignored him. I was so embarrassed, my brothers were freaked out, my mom cried a lot, and my dad wanted to skin him. At first, Rick would only keep her for an hour at a time since he had a toddler at home too, and I never said anything. I got my kid and I was on my way. You know? I never pushed him for child support because I knew he didn't have it. I was deathly scared of him. That if I asked, he'd beat me up again. He wouldn't meet me at my mom's, and he had a restraining order on my family 'cause he claimed they threatened him. They had, and because of that, I had to go to him alone. I was terrified of him until Angie was about four. My dad was tired of me being scared, so he took me to get a gun, and that was that. If he touched me, I was going to shoot him, simple as that. I never had problems, though. He was always rude, calling me worthless and shit, but he'd be there to pick her up, and he dropped her off. Always on time, but he never asked for more time. Angie loved playing with Nina, so I figured we were good.

"But in the last two years, it's gotten worse. With the whole ADHD thing, her having anxiety, she was telling her teacher that she didn't want to leave me because her daddy was mean to her. Rick would tell her she was stupid and all this other crap. The school called DCS, and when they went to their home, Heidi lied, called my kid a liar, and Rick said I was brainwashing her. I wasn't, and when they came into my home with my family, they knew he was lying. But they didn't have proof, and all I had was hearsay. That year was hard. Lots of counseling and lots of documenting what was said between us because they wanted proof, something I still do. When they finally got her meds right, it was awesome. From then on, she was great and she was happy, but he tells her all the time that she's insane and that's why she needs meds. Says it's all my fault, which sucks, but Angie knows it's not. Or at least, she tells me she knows," she said with a smile, running her fingers through her hair.

"I've considered taking him back to court, to just cease everything, but Angie did like going over there. Though now, I'm seeing that things are different, and I'm going to have to have a talk with her, I guess, because I can't do this anymore. I won't do this anymore. But it freaks me out that he honestly thinks he can get full custody. Or fifty-fifty. His momma hit the lottery a couple years back, and now she thinks she has money to sling around. So I'm sure this is her doing because she hates me so, but it still makes me nervous. I'm not really sure what to do. I don't want to drag my kid through a custody battle. Not only for her sanity and well-being, but I don't want things to get nasty because-" She paused, looking away, the tears running down her face faster.

"Because?" he asked, lifting her face so he could see her eyes.

"Because, for once, I'm finally happy. And I'm sure he'll drag you into it, and then you'll be gone."

His brow furrowed. "Where am I going?"

She gave him a look. "The other direction, surely. No one wants to deal with that."

Still confused, he asked, "Are you in the other direction?"

"Benji, come on. You'll hightail it away from me and Angie. Haven't you seen custody battles? They are scary."

"No, I won't," he said, louder than he meant to. Her eyes widened as he held her gaze. "I'm behind you, a hundred percent. That dude won't chase me off. I told you, I'm digging you, and I'm not going anywhere. I'll be there for you and for Angie."

"You don't know that, Benji," she said then, shaking her head. "It's easy to say now, but it could all change when it goes down."

"Um, I do know, but I'm not arguing that with you. Here's what I think," he said as she looked back at him. "Let's see how tomorrow goes. If it goes the way you think it'll go, call your dad. If it doesn't, when Angie comes home Sunday-I'm going with you to pick her up-then you can talk to her and go from there. You know what's best, Lucy. You know what needs to be done, and no matter what, I'm here for you. One hundred percent." She bit into her lip as a tear rolled down her nose, dropping onto his. Smiling, he wiped it off and said, with the hopes of making that face shine, "You're snotting on me."

She nodded, her lips curving just the slightest amount as she nuzzled her nose into his chest. "Because you're so great. Really, thank you for listening to me."

"I'm great because I have someone I want to be great for. Thank you for opening up to me."

"It wasn't easy," she said and he grinned.

"I could tell."

"I bet you're disappointed in me, huh?"

His brows touched as he shook his head in disbelief. "Why in the hell would I be disappointed in you? You trusted him, loved him, and he fucked you over. How is that your fault? If anyone should be disappointed in anyone, it should be you in me. I'm the drunk whose family got killed because I'm an idiot."

She eyed him and then nodded. "I'm not disappointed in you. I'm proud, because you aren't that man anymore."

His heart stopped in his chest. "And I'm proud of you for getting out and becoming who you are. Which is one hell of a mom and a woman. You know what's best for Angie-you don't settle for shit. Don't forget that."

She leaned her head to his and closed her eyes. "I just don't want to hurt her."

"You won't. If anything, you'll make her life better."

"You think so?"

"I know so," he said sternly. "Like I said, you know what's best and what needs to be done. Ask your mom, your brothers, they'll tell you the same, Lucy. You're a strong woman. You've got this."

Her eyes were hopeful as she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I do. I've got this," she repeated, her words full of conviction as she held his gaze.

"Good. Now, come here. Give me a kiss and let's go to sleep."

She eyed him, her nose against him. "Go to sleep?"

"Well, I mean, I'm down for some loving if you are."

Threading her fingers into his hair, she smiled against his lips, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Well, you're in luck, 'cause I want the sex."

His lips curved, and his hands came onto her ass. He knew she just wanted the distraction, and that was fine. He could give her that. "Ooh, I like the sex."

Sputtering with laughter then, she leaned on him, kissing his nose. "Dork."

Rolling her over, he pressed into her. He figured he didn't have the right answers for her when it came to Rick, but he had the power to take her to another world. To make her forget, if only for a short amount of time. Looking into her beautiful face, he saw a gorgeous woman, but also very troubled one. He saw strength too, and he knew, like everyone always said, she was going to be okay.

But this time, he was aiming for something higher.

He hoped she'd be great, because he was going to be behind her, supporting her and loving her.

God, he loved her. He loved her so much it hurt, but as he gazed into those clouded green eyes, his heart hurting from the stress she was going through, he knew that his chance to tell her would come.

Kissing her nose, he smiled and whispered, "You wouldn't have me any other way."

"I sure wouldn't," she whispered back, her lips moving against his. "Thank you, Benji."

But before he could say anything, her lips came crashing into his, and as their bodies moved together, he knew he was going to prove her wrong.

That he wasn't going anywhere.

Well.

That was hard.

She'd laid it out there.

Every single thing.

The good...er...well, there was no good, just a whole lot of bad and ugly.

But she told him, and it felt good. Really good, and of course, that surprised her. Not even her family knew what really happened to cause Rick to beat her to a bloody pulp, only that he had beat her. But now Benji knew. She was worried he would judge her, think she was stupid to stay with Rick for as long as she had. Hell, she thought she was stupid. But he didn't. His eyes held nothing but concern and tenderness in their gray depths. He didn't talk; he just listened. He was her rock and it was so refreshing, so perfect. As she lay in his arms, looking into his eyes as her body still vibrated from her orgasm, his fingers moved along her jaw. She was pretty sure she was falling in love with him.

Crap. She was.

Her heart stopped as she wondered if she should let herself fall.

Don't. It could be a trap. He'll just leave. Watch.

Maybe he won't. Maybe he really is saying the truth when he says he won't go anywhere. That he wants you. Lean on him No, no man has ever done you right. They all fail you. He will too. Don't lean. You are the only one who can take care of you and Angie.

But Benji is different. He's a good man. You deserve a good man. Let him in.

Closing her eyes, she squeezed them shut tightly, wanting the voices to leave. She didn't want this. She didn't want to go back and forth; she just wanted it to work. To be right. Thankfully, the voices left, or maybe she was done being crazy. When she opened her eyes, Benji was watching her. His eyes were half-lidded and oh so sexy as he eyed her.

"Internal struggle?"

She grinned. "Something like that."

"Tell me," he urged, his hands holding her close.

She smiled, nuzzling her nose against his chin, her eyes drifting shut. "Just thinking how great you were about the whole thing with Rick."

"How else would I be?"