“Will you be needing a taxi?” The valet asked Katherine after a brief pause.
“Yes.”
The young man spoke into a walkie-talkie and within seconds, a yellow sedan pulled into the circular driveway. Holding the back door open, the man bid Katherine a good night as she climbed into the backseat.
“Where can I—oh my God! Are you okay?” The driver was horrified, turning to face Katherine after glancing at her reflection in his rear-view mirror.
“I’m fine,” Katherine answered, overly confidently as she lifted her head a little higher.
“No, no. You don’t look fine. Let me help you,” the Latino man pleaded.
She could feel the emotion in his voice. He didn’t like having a battered woman in the back of his car, but as far as Katherine was concerned, it had nothing to do with him. She was done looking for men to rescue her. She didn’t need saving, and the taxi driver was not going to be her knight in shining armor. For so long people had told Katherine she needed a man to survive, and for so long she had proved them wrong.
“You can help me by taking me to this address.” She handed a card to the driver before sitting back in her seat, glancing out the window with an attitude that let him know the conversation was over. Taking her hint, he didn’t say another word and instead pulled away from the hotel, following Katherine’s direction.
Chapter Six
Ben
SITTING IN HIS LIVING room, Ben stretched out on the sectional sofa. He’d finished the last of his third glass of whiskey, which he had decided must be his last. It was unlike him to drink that much, but his mind had been racing since he left the charity event.
The night was passing slower than usual, his thoughts forcing him to replay one of the craziest nights of his life. It still didn’t feel real, learning that Katherine was married. Ben had so many questions, but without a way to find the truth, he tried to convince himself to let it go.
Helplessness wasn’t a feeling he was used to. Running a billion-dollar empire left Ben feeling powerful. There was rarely a time he couldn’t bring his visions to life or find a way to achieve anything he set his mind to.
In some ways he appreciated being able to feel emotions that he hadn’t felt in years. Without sharing his life with a woman for so long, Ben wasn’t used to thinking of someone else or considering their safety above his own. It was refreshing to have a problem that work couldn’t solve.
Typically, whenever something was bothering Ben, he threw himself into work full throttle to distract himself. It was an uncomplicated way to keep himself engaged in another activity, and before long he would be so focused on a solution or new design that he would have forgotten all about what was bothering him.
That was not the case tonight. Before he poured his first drink, Ben tried to look over the pet accessories for the fourth quarter. It was the busiest time of the year in retail as everyone shopped for Christmas gifts. Usually, he would have been overflowing with excitement, but he couldn’t stay on task for ten minutes, as his mind kept returning to Katherine.
Twice, he tried to start over, taking notes of every picture so the designer could make changes. No matter how hard he willed himself to fo
cus, he couldn’t shake Katherine from his mind. He was too worried about her well-being to even enjoy his own.
That was what led him to the sofa, and now he sat aimlessly staring at the TV, which was blaring Seinfeld reruns as he stared into space. He was beside himself with an emotion he couldn’t define, and quite frankly, he doubted he had ever felt it before. With no one to talk to about what he had experienced, Ben forced himself to feel everything as the liquor intensified the discomfort. He wanted to remember how deeply he cared for Katherine, even if what they had was forever destroyed.
A soft knock caught Ben’s attention as he turned towards the door, wondering if he was hearing things. No one ever visited his house unannounced, and as he stood to his feet, he wondered how whoever was there had managed to get there, past his security.
The liquor had made him quick to anger, so he opened the door ready for battle without even glancing through the peephole. At the moment, he was more focused on how they had gotten there than who it was.
“What the h—” Ben’s angry words died on his tongue as he took in the image before him.
Katherine stood an inch or two shorter than normal as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She was broken, and he could see it. The beautiful dress he had picked just for her was torn and damaged, hanging at the shoulder, all beauty stripped from it.
Ben swallowed the lump in his throat as he made his way down her body. There was a big purple bruise on Katherine’s arm, growing darker by the second. A few smaller bruises on her wrist and bicep also caught his attention, but it was her face that made his hand clench into a fist.
It was obvious that she had been beaten, as a dark circle below her eye was threatening to swell clear shut any second. On the other side of her cheek was a thin scratch just below her cheekbone. Her lip was puffy and cracked. With her hair ruffled, falling on her shoulders, Katherine stared up to Ben with a helplessness that topped his own.
Alone in the house, he had allowed himself to sit in misery, complaining about things he couldn’t resolve. Even though he had worried about her safety, nothing he felt or feared had prepared him to see her battered.
Ben was the type of man to never raise his voice at a woman, and he had despised abusive men since he was a teenager. A slumber party at his best friend’s house had put him face to face with the trauma of an abusive relationship and he swore to never let a man hit a woman in his presence.
Now, seeing the harm done to Katherine, Ben felt immense guilt about not doing more to intervene at the charity event. He had never thought it could lead to her being hurt so badly, and knowing he played any role in her abuse made the liquor swirl dangerously in his stomach.
“Did he do this to you?” Ben asked. Katherine blinked slowly and a tear rolled down her cheek,
Ben couldn’t wait any longer for her answer, so he gently wrapped her in his arms, as Katherine cried so hard she felt like she was vibrating. Her small frame curved to Ben’s and he felt a small sense of relief as she melted into him.