“Still a little off-kilter.” Mars looked at him speculatively, his brows drawn. “What do you know?”
“They said that you got in a fight with Niles.”
“They?” I asked, placing my hand on Mars’ arm.
“Your mother,” he told his son. “She’s been on a tear ever since I got back. The staff’s hiding from her as much as they can.”
His eyes flicked to me as if wondering why the hell I was here and not in my uniform.
“That’s a lie,” I said. “That’s not what happened. And the police and hospital reporting will tell you the truth.”
“You!” Ardith screamed bursting into the office. “How could you! You had my brother thrown in jail. Your uncle!”
I stepped between her and Mars when she lunged toward him. “Touch him, and I’ll put you on your ass. I’m done with your bullshit and there are plenty of people who will corroborate what happened last night.” I pointed at her. “As well as what happened before last night—abuse from you and from your pervert brother.”
Mars’ hand settled on my shoulder. “Reba…”
“No,” I denied. “I’ve had it with her shit. I’ve had it since she threw that vase at me. I’ve had it even more since I’ve learned what she’s done to you—and what she let her brother do.”
“What. Did. He. Do?” Martin demanded, straightening and showing his power for the first time. Maybe he needed someone else to stand up to his wife or maybe—
“You promised!” he yelled, jabbing his finger at his wife. “You promised if I let Niles…” He sucked in a breath and he didn’t need to elaborate for anyone to get is drift. Niles had been abusing him as an outlet that was supposed to keep him away from Mars. “You promised he’d never touch Marshall.”
“He didn’t,” she scoffed.
“He did,” Mars said. “He drugged me—a drug they found the packet for on him. A drug they found in my bloodstream and in the Coke I drank. The security system in my bedroom recorded what he did, and the cops have that, too.”
I wasn’t sure they’d found those things yet, but I didn’t refute my man’s words. I was so proud of him for standing up for himself.
He was panting, enraged, his eyes wild while he continued. “He drugged me. He told me exactly what he planned to do to me—to Reba, too—then he dragged me up to my room while I was paralyzed but wide awake and tried to assault me. If Reba hadn’t come in and been the badass I always suspected she was, who knows what would have happened.”
“Hysterical lies,” she scoffed. “Niles didn’t do that.”
I saw the calculation in her eyes, though. She knew the truth.
I looked to Martin. “You can save yourself. I did.” I squeezed Mars’ hand, knowing I’d never told him all this, and it would hurt him. “I was married before, to a cop. And it was okay. I thought we were in love. We weren’t really. It was more like he was a stalker and I was the object he wanted. And once he got me…he just tried to control me more and more. Psychologically, emotionally. Eventually physically. Until I found the strength from somewhere to leave me. But that wasn’t until he’d put me in the hospital three times and broke more bones than I can count.”
“He never came after you?” Mars asked, his voice a tortured rasp. He’d known I’d been abused, but not how badly.
“He did. But he was so drunk, he drove in front of a train.”
“Fuck,” Mars and Bare breathed.
“My point is,” I said, my gaze sweeping the room, looking at every face, but Mars’ since he stood behind me. I landed on Martin. “You can save yourself. People will believe you if you tell the truth. Even if you don’t want to tell anyone, you don’t need to live with it.”
“You bitch!” Ardith screamed and lunged toward me.
I swept out my foot and she went flying onto her ass.
“I warned you. Don’t touch me. Don’t ever touch Mars. Ever.”
Martin glared down at his wife, though he didn’t look in her face. I realized in all the time I knew him, he’d never met her eyes. I’d thought he’d been being dismissive. Maybe it was something else.
“I want you out,” he gritted.
“You can’t make me,” she bellowed.
“I can,” he said.