Chapter 9

Bastian

 

 

Joanna’s bottom lip trembled before she burst into hard sobs. She covered her face to shield the tears, but her shoulders trembled violently. I didn’t know what to do besides slide close to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders to calm the storm breaking in her. The past three hours seemed like a surreal blur to me. I only imagined how the entire weekend had gone for Joanna, who was obviously worn out from the situation in general. And after the stress of this morning, even the strongest person would struggle to keep it together.

I caught sight of Ethan’s eyes in the rearview mirror as he pulled out of the Apple Store parking lot. Neither one of us knew what to do. I let Joanna cry for as long as she needed. Ethan drove silently in the direction of Park City. Eventually, Joanna’s cries tapered off, and she looked up at me with an ashamed grimace. Her cheeks were blotchy from crying. The dark purple bruise around her right eye was swelling again.

“I’m sorry.” She hiccupped, swiping at her eyes in embarrassment. “I normally don’t cry like this. I swear.”

“You have every right to cry,” I said and fished through my suit jacket for my handkerchief. “Something tells me that you’ve been through hell over the past couple years.”

A thin smile spread across Joanna’s face, and she took the handkerchief from my fingers. She ran a finger over the monogram on the corner.

“Hell is an understatement,” she said quietly. “What now? What am I going to do now?”

“You’re going to stay with me for as long as you need to,” I said. “No matter how long it takes, you need to keep your distance from that asshole. It’s dangerous to go back right now, Jo. You know that, right?”

Her fingers tightened around my handkerchief. “I know. I’ve read the statistic somewhere that it’s the most dangerous to leave.”

“What about pressing charges?” I suggested, taking in those dark and ugly marks on her skin with a stab of intense rage. “On a higher level, I could connect you to someone who would hear your case before talking with Sid and his partner.”

“Maybe. I don’t know if pressing charges is going to help.”

She was retreating back into that shell of fear and denial out of habit. I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from letting my irritation show. I had known it wouldn’t be easy convincing Joanna to leave, but to stay away was an entirely different process. It was much harder to do.

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do now,” Joanna said. “You know what I mean? Everything feels so different.”

“You should feel free now,” I replied, tilting my head to look at her. “That’s the entire point. You can do whatever you want now without worrying about what he is going to do.”

“It still feels terrifying,” she muttered and turned to look out the window.

The rest of the drive to Park City was spent in silence. I had no idea what I was doing by inviting Joanna into my personal space. I had crossed the line between professionalism and being personal, but I didn’t regret it, either. She needed help, and I couldn’t have lived with myself if I hadn’t done something. Still, the little realization forced my guard to go back up against the emotions I felt when it came to having Joanna around me all the time.

Ethan pulled up the private driveway on the outskirts of my log mansion. He punched in the code at the gate. Joanna straightened up in her seat as the gate swung open to gaze out across the acres of snow and landscape. She twisted around to take in large evergreen pine trees that were scattered about the property.

“Is that a barn?” Joanna asked. She pointed to the building a few yards away from the log home itself. “Please tell me that you have horses in there.”

Her eagerness filled me with a sparkle of hope that maybe this wasn’t a bad idea. I shook my head at her with an apologetic smile. “Not at the moment. I usually have horses here during the summer, though.”

“Remind me to come back here during the summer,” Joanna said.

Ethan pulled the SUV up to the front door. He opened the door for Joanna and helped her hop out before going to the back of the SUV to get the suitcases. I pulled out my house keys as Joanna followed behind me with her eyes riveted on the wraparound porch and the frozen pond down the slope of the front lawn.

“Your house is beautiful,” Joanna said as she turned to look at me with wide eyes. “I can’t believe you live out here. It’s beautiful.”

Pride filled me when I pushed the door open for Joanna to step inside. A fire was going in the fireplace like I had asked for in my email to the housekeeper who came by every day to make sure everything was tip-top. The hardwood floors were polished as well, while the fresh scent of laundry filled my lungs.

“Come inside,” I said and motioned for her to follow me. “I’ll show you around the place if you want a tour.”

Joanna smiled. “I’d love that.”

“Great.” I grinned at her, thankful for the change of topic. “Let’s get the suitcases in here so I can show you the entire house.”

“It’s not a house,” she said, gazing up at the wooden beams. “It’s half luxury mansion and half hunting cabin. I love it.”

“Make yourself at home,” I said. “I’m going to help Ethan with the suitcases.”

I found Ethan pulling out the last suitcase from the back of the SUV when I closed the front door behind me. I pulled out a couple hundred dollars from my wallet and handed them over to Ethan.

He arched an eyebrow at them. “What’s that for?”

“A tip for helping me out today,” I said, but he pushed the money away from me. “I’m not trying to buy your loyalty in case you’re thinking that. I hope it’s working, though.”

Ethan laughed as he closed the trunk of the SUV. “I like working for you. Even if it does involve getting a gun thrown in my face by a crooked cop.” He stopped to give me a long and hard look. “I don’t know what is going on with this woman of yours, but she needs to get some counseling or something. My wife used to be in a relationship with a guy like the one from today. She went back repeatedly before he nearly killed her, so she got some help afterward. It made a huge difference.”

“Duly noted,” I said, nodding. “Still, take the money. Take out your wife and kids to a nice dinner on me.”

“You don’t need me at all this week?” Ethan asked, taking the money gingerly. “I can stay around. Not a problem at all.”

I clasped Ethan on the shoulder with a smile. “No offense, man, but I don’t want to see you at all this week. I’ve got the Jeep parked in the barn. I’ll be fine.”

“I won’t argue with you then. The wife will be happy to see me for once. It’s such a chore driving your ass around.”

I laughed at Ethan’s dramatic sigh. He helped me carry Joanna’s suitcases to the front door. He left after placing them inside the foyer. I shrugged out of my jacket to hang it next to Joanna’s coat on the peg. I hesitated for a moment as I stared at her jacket. The last person who had ever hung their jacket there was Sierra, years ago.

Shaking away those bad memories, I walked through the hallway to the kitchen, where I could hear Joanna walking around. She was looking around the spacious kitchen with a smile when I stepped inside to join her.

“Have you walked around a bit?” I asked, rubbing my hands together to warm the chill out of my fingers. “It’s a big house to walk around by yourself. There’s even a heated pool on the side if you’re interested in swimming.”

“This feels like a vacation,” Joanna said, shaking her head in awe. “Really, Bastian, this is too much. You don’t do this for anyone.”

I shrugged my shoulders indifferently even though Joanna was right. I never did things like this for anyone because of what had happened with Sierra. I made it a point to never get close enough to someone to care about their personal lives, but it had happened with Joanna effortlessly. Another reason for me to be on my guard when it came to whatever I inwardly hoped would happen.

“Let me show you the guest room,” I said and motioned for Joanna to follow me up the stairs. “There’s a private bathroom attached to it. I can set up a desk in here if you need it for work.”

“I’m not sure what I can do for you here while I’m away from my desk,” Joanna replied as she followed behind me down the hallway. “I’m not here to answer phones because that’ll arouse some suspicion back in the office.”

I didn’t think about that. No one knew, including Roger and Sabrina, that Joanna had left to stay with me. The only excuse I had provided on my way out the door was that I had given Joanna some personal time off and I was taking some time off as well. I just didn’t trust Sid to stay away from Joanna, but I also had an uneasy feeling that she would have a hard time resisting him. She was mercurial when it came to accepting that he was a monster.

“I’ll find something for you to do,” I replied. “Maybe you can help me clean out my office. Organize it. I rarely work out of my office here.”

I pushed the door to the guest room open with my foot. My maid had gone through the room to tidy everything up, and she’d also folded fresh linens on the bed. A stack of towels sat neatly at the end of the king-sized canopy bed. I set the suitcases next to the dresser while Joanna slowly circled the room with wide eyes. She looked over at me as I stood back to give her some time to take everything in.

“You’re going to work from your office here?” she asked.

I nodded as I leaned up against the doorframe. “I need a little break from the office anyway. I’m going to stick around for a while. Is that okay with you?”

“I don’t want you to miss out on anything that could cost you money,” Joanna said. “You’ve already done so much, and I’ll honestly be out of here within a few weeks, once I find an apartment to move into.”

“Stay as long as you need to,” I said firmly. “I’m serious, Joanna. I don’t want you to leave here until you are one hundred percent comfortable with being able to stay away from that piece of shit. He’s toxic, and he won’t ever change.”

Joanna smoothed a hand along one of the canopy posts as she chewed on her bottom lip in contemplation. “I think he’ll stay away from me because he has no real way of contacting me, you know?”

I sighed inwardly at the meek response. It further cemented that I needed to stick around to keep an eye on Joanna until she worked through her emotions properly. I knew deep down that it would only take one “I’m sorry” from Sid for her to go running back to the familiar. She was out of her element and completely lost when it came to what to do. Which was why I tilted my head to catch Joanna’s eyes when she looked up at me through watery eyes.

“I’m going to stay here for the week to protect you from Sid,” I said, and then added as an afterthought, “to protect you from yourself also.”