Trusting Her Doms [Pleasure, Texas 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jane Jamison

  “Wilson, get him in your car and take him home. I’ll call the sheriff.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “He’d better damn well do something about him this time or I will.”

  “Fuck you! No one’s going to tell me how to handle my own daughter.”

  Paul held her tight, keeping her from charging her father. “Bill, get your ass out of here and don’t ever come back. If you do, I swear I won’t be responsible for what happens to you.”

  “No. It’s my turn.” She lifted the belt into the air, then cried out in frustration when Paul jerked it away from her. “Let me do it. I want to make him hurt the way he’s hurt my mother and me.”

  “No, Carly. I can’t let you do that. Don’t lower yourself to his level.”

  Wilson half dragged, half pushed her father toward his car. Shoving him into the backseat, Wilson hopped behind the wheel, turned on the ignition, and sent dust flying into the air behind the vehicle as he sped down the road.

  “Carly, what’s going on? Paul?” Ron made it out of the club first with Hank following a second later. A group of the members charged out behind them. Ron and Hank searched the parking lot as they strode toward Paul and Carly.

  Paul placed his body in front of hers, blocking her from their sight. Taking a cue from that, she started to turn away, then realized that they’d see the marks crisscrossing the backs of her legs. Instead, she ducked lower and used Paul’s bulk to shield her.

  Paul lifted his hand, stopping the men from getting any closer. “Boys, you need to let me deal with this. Everyone, y’all just go back inside and let me handle this business. Go on. There’s nothing more for you to see out here.”

  Hank and Ron stood their ground, waiting until the people shuffled back through the front door. Their fists were clenched and their faces were stern. They weren’t leaving without an explanation.

  “We heard Bill Rivers dragged her outside.” Hank tilted his head, trying to see around the determined bar owner. “Are you all right, baby? Did he hurt you?”

  Not as much as you did.

  She was used to years of physical pain and should’ve gotten used to the emotional torment men had given her, but Hank’s betrayal was worse than any amount of abuse her body had ever suffered.

  “Damn it all, Paul. He hurt her, didn’t he?”

  She could hear the anguish in Ron’s tone, but did it matter? They were a pair. If one cheated, the other would soon enough.

  “She’s okay. I’ll get Lucinda to take her into the house and fix her up.”

  “Carly, darlin’, let us take you home.” Ron ground out an agonized groan. “I swear, he’ll never hurt you again. If I have to put him in his grave, he’ll never touch you again.”

  “Get back inside.” Paul’s tone was dangerously low. “Go.”

  “You don’t tell us what to do.” Hank jerked his chin outward in defiance. “I’m going to find out what went on so you might as well spill it.”

  “I’m warning you, Hank. You’re a good friend, but that’ll only take you so far. Back off.”

  She couldn’t stand it. It was bad enough that her father had come to the club and embarrassed her in front of her customers and her new friends. But she wouldn’t stand idly by while the men she cared for ruined one of their most enduring friendships.

  “Stop it.”

  Paul tried to keep her behind him, but she wouldn’t have it. She shifted in the opposite direction and stepped in front of him. Her shout had brought both Hank and Ron to a standstill, angry expressions shifting to worried ones.

  “Are you hurt, sugar? At least tell us that much.”

  She shouldn’t have, and yet part of her wanted them to know, wanted them to understand why trusting men, even them, was too hard for her. “Yeah, he did.”

  “How?” Ron scanned her body, searching for any sign of injury.

  “Don’t worry about it. I can take whatever my dad dishes out. I’m used to it so just leave me alone.”

  “Why, baby? Let us help.” Hank hadn’t gone more than a few feet toward her before she stopped him cold.

  “No.”

  She’d spoken softly, but the anguish of a lifetime filled her tone.

  “Baby, I don’t understand.”

  “Don’t you get it? I thought you said I was the one. Or did I get that all wrong?”

  “You didn’t. You are.” Ron looked to Hank then back to her. “How does what your father did change any of that?”

  “Why don’t you ask Hank?” The pain of the cuts in her legs paled to the agony ripping into her chest. She couldn’t breathe and wondered how her heart could still beat when it had already been torn to shreds. “Or better yet, ask Belinda.”

  “What’s she talking about, Hank?”

  “It’s not what you think, Carly.”

  She laughed, but to do so just made the pain that much worse. “Damn it. If only I had a dime for every time I’d heard that shit ass line, I wouldn’t have to work any longer.”

  “Darlin’, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if you think there’s anything going on between Hank and Belinda, then you’ve got it all wrong.”

  “It’s not what I think it is. Yeah, I know.” She swallowed the knot trying to lodge in her throat. “The problem is that I saw them. I saw them.”

  “Baby, let me explain.”

  She pointed at Hank. “Yes! There it is. Line two in the Cheater’s List of Excuses.”

  “No, Carly, you have to—”

  She screamed at Hank then, unable to hold back any longer. “No! I don’t have to do a damn thing you tell me to do. Not here, not in the club, and sure as hell not during sex. Not any longer.”

  “Carly, please—”

  “It’s all about trust, right? Isn’t that what you told me?” She waved her arms, cutting off any chance of Hank responding. She’d heard enough. “You asked me if I was hurt. Do you still want to know?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “We do,” added Ron.

  She put her back to them, then twisted around to see their reactions. Their gazes dropped to the red slashes on the back of her legs.

  Hank’s gaze jumped to her face. Fury came fast and hard while Ron’s jaw dropped in disbelief. Still, it didn’t take him much longer before his anger matched his friend’s.

  She held her head high, defying the urge to feel shame. It didn’t make sense. She hadn’t deserved the whipping, but she was paying the price for it. “Are you happy now? Do you see what he did to me? But it’s me everyone will talk about. It’s me everyone will whisper and feel pity for. Just like they always did when I was in high school. I’m the one who suffers. Me and my mother. Not him.”

  “Not anymore.”

  The fury she’d seen on their faces had been easier to take than the cold, expressionless masks they wore now. They didn’t say anything. Instead, they turned as one and headed toward the back parking lot where they’d left Ron’s pickup.

  She wished like crazy that they’d shouted at her or cursed at her father. They could’ve called her names and blamed her. Anything would’ve been better than the hard looks they’d left her with.

  “Hank. Ron. Don’t go there. You boys aren’t thinking straight.” Paul let out a curse, then took her by the arms.

  She was confused, unable to focus. And yet she had no doubt that the worst of the night was still to come.

  “Listen to me, Carly. Whatever you’re feeling about Hank and Ron doesn’t matter right now. We need to stop them from getting to your father. If they do, someone’s going to end up hurt, maybe dead.”

  She hadn’t thought of that. Her father wasn’t a large man, but he owned a gun.

  Oh, God. If he shoots Hank or Ron, I’ll never forgive myself.

  “Get back inside and call your mother. Have her go somewhere, anywhere as long as she’s out of the house. I don’t want her there when Wilson gets your father home.”

  My mom?

  Terror squeezed her heart, ridding her
of all other emotions. Her father was hard enough to handle on a good day. But now? He’d be looking for someone to take his rage out on and her mother would make an easy target.

  Paul shoved her toward the club, then started running toward the back parking lot. “Go, Carly. Call her before it’s too late.”

  With her heart pounding hard enough to break through her chest, Carly dashed into the club. “Lindsey, give me the phone!”

  Chapter Ten

  Carly couldn’t make her car go any faster. As it was, the thing was shuddering as she pushed eighty on the road heading into town. She prayed that she wouldn’t have to stop quickly, but every time she took her foot off the brake, terrified that she’d either hit another car or lose control, she’d think about her mother and slam the pedal down even harder.

  Her mother hadn’t listened to her pleas to leave before her father got home. Not that it was a surprise. Why would she after years of begging for her to press charges against her father? Instead, it had always been Carly who had listened to her mother’s pleas and had given in, changing her own mind about putting her father behind bars. But no longer. One way or another, the terror her father rained down on them would stop. She’d file charges against him before the night was out.

  Her knuckles were white by the time she made the final turn that led her to her house. Hank and Ron were already there, Ron’s pickup parked haphazardly with its front wheels partially over the curb.

  Skidding her car to a stop right behind their pickup, she was out of the car and dashing toward the house when her father came running outside. His face was filled with terror, his eyes wide and spittle coming out of his mouth. A long, ugly line of blood flowed from his forehead down to his jaw.

  When he saw her, he fell to the ground, then scrambled back onto his feet. Hank, Ron, Paul, then finally her mother burst out of the house.

  “Stop them! They’re going to kill me!”

  Carly watched in horror as the men she loved rushed toward the man she hated. Her mother’s cries ripped into her, instinctively moving her to run toward her. Paul stood on the porch, confusion etched in the lines on his face.

  Hank and Ron towered over her father. They frightened her with their furious looks, their clenched fists, and the tension in their bodies. They were ready to attack, ready to exact the justice she’d never been able to claim.

  “Carly, girl, stop them!” shouted her father. Lights came on in the houses around them as the neighbors peered out their windows. They knew better than to come outside. No one wanted to get involved when Bill Rivers was causing trouble.

  Her father fell to the ground again just as Sheriff Ray pulled the police car to a stop. He reached out, like a man grasping for a lifeline. “Sheriff, they’re going to kill me.”

  Carly brought her mother into her embrace and held her tight, trying to abate her shudders. Her mother put her face against her arm and sobbed. “Please don’t let them hurt him. I can’t live without him.”

  She gaped at her mother, then at her men, trying to understand the chaos around her. What should she do? Hank and Ron had never shown any violent tendencies and she had a difficult time thinking they’d hurt her father. At least not severely. And yet, there they stood, with her father at their feet and blood trailing down his face.

  Sheriff Ray strode across the yard with his gun drawn. “Back away, boys, and no one gets hurt.”

  “Thank God you’re here, sheriff. If you didn’t come when you did, I’d be a dead man now.”

  “You deserve to be buried six feet under for what you did to Carly.”

  “Hank, shut up.” Paul hurried toward Hank and Ron. He tried to take him by the arm, but Hank yanked his arm away. “Don’t say anything else.”

  Her father pushed himself to his feet, then put the sheriff between him and the others. “I want them arrested for attempted murder. Do you see what they did to me? If I hadn’t run, they would’ve bashed my head in.”

  “That’s bullshit, sheriff.” Ron ran his hand over the back of his neck, took one glance at her, then set his attention on the sheriff. “We came here to straighten him out. To tell him to stay the hell away from Carly. But we didn’t touch him. He fell and hit his head trying to get away from us.”

  “That’s right, sheriff. We didn’t lay a hand on him,” added Hank through gritted teeth.

  The sheriff looked from one person to the next, then settled on Paul. “Did you see what happened?”

  “No. He was on the floor and already bleeding when I came in.”

  Her mother’s sobs grew louder, but something about it didn’t seem right. “Mom.” She forced her mother back, then made her look at her. “Did they hurt him? Or is he lying again?”

  She saw the truth in her mother’s eyes a moment before the woman she treasured met her gaze. And lied.

  “They hurt him, honey. They barged right into the house and hit him.”

  “Mom, please. You’ve got to tell the truth.”

  “Mrs. Rivers, come on. You know we didn’t touch him.” Ron’s fury had dissipated, worry replacing it as he took a step toward her mother.

  Her mother let out a small squeak, then hid her head against Carly’s shoulder. “Keep them away from me.”

  “See? There you have it, sheriff. My wife’s an eyewitness.”

  “Mom, please. For once, he has to take the blame. Don’t let him get away with his shit again.”

  “Honey, I can’t.”

  “Then I will, if you don’t. He whipped me tonight, and for once, I’m going to press charges.”

  Her mother’s bloodshot eyes met hers, then jerked away. She lifted her head and whispered in Carly’s ear. “No, you can’t. Who will pay the bills? Where would I go? He’s all I have. Please, please don’t send him to jail.”

  “You have me, Mom. I’ll always be here for you. Please, let me take care of you. I have enough money to do it. All you have to do is tell the sheriff what really happened.” She’d use the money she’d saved. Now was their chance, if only her mother would take it.

  Her heart broke a second time that night when her mother shook her head. “No, I can’t. I’m sorry, honey.”

  “Mrs. Rivers.” Sheriff Ray lifted his hand, warning her father to stay back. “If you’re not telling me what’s really right, then set it straight right now. Did these men hurt your husband or not?”

  Her mother’s shudders grew more pronounced. Still, she was able to face the sheriff. “They did it, sheriff. They hurt him.”

  “She’s lying, sheriff. Plus, he beat Carly tonight. You’ve got to put an end to it.”

  “Carly, is that right?”

  Like he doesn’t know that answer.

  She knew what the sheriff wanted. He was pushing, hoping she’d lie to cover for her father yet again, but at last she was ready to tell the truth. Yet how could she ignore the grip of her mother’s hands on her? It was a silent plea for her to keep quiet as she’d always done before.

  The sheriff pushed at her again, yet made no move toward her father. “Carly, did your father hurt you tonight?”

  She couldn’t meet Hank’s or Ron’s gazes. Not when she couldn’t go against her mother’s wishes. When she saw Paul’s gaze, she made her own silent plea for him to remain silent, too. “No, sheriff. He didn’t.”

  Paul let out a groan, and paced a few feet away. She couldn’t help it. She had to look at Hank and Ron. Had to face their anger. And yet, the condemnation she’d expected to see wasn’t there. Instead, their expressions remained stoic. Their eyes, however…

  Oh, God. She jerked her gaze from theirs.

  “Are you going to arrest them, sheriff, or not?” A smug sneer lifted the corner of her father’s mouth.

  Sheriff Ray pointed his gun at Hank. “Boys, I’m sorry as hell to do this, but I’m taking you in. Paul, I need backup. There’s an extra set of handcuffs in the trunk of my car. Get them and put them on them.” He motioned toward the ground. “Boys, get on your stomachs and put your hands be
hind your backs.”

  * * * *

  “Carly, we need to talk.” Paul met her at the door to the club as though he’d been waiting for her.

  She nodded, ready for what was coming. “Here you go.”

  Handing over her waitress uniform was difficult. She’d miss working at the club, but after taking her mother’s side last night against not only her men but Paul, she couldn’t expect to keep her job any longer.

  He took her uniform, then grabbed her arm as she turned to go. “Tell me why, Carly. Why didn’t you tell the sheriff what he did to you? I can understand that you didn’t want to weigh in against your father, especially since you weren’t there to see what happened, but why didn’t you press charges against him for beating you?”

  “I don’t have to explain myself to you or anyone else.”

  Last night’s ordeal hadn’t ended after Hank’s and Ron’s arrest. She’d had to go back inside that awful house to make sure her father wouldn’t do anything to her mother. Because he’d gotten what he wanted, he was in a good mood, for once not berating either her or her mother. Thankfully, Suzie had returned home, and thinking that her mother was safe for the moment, Carly had spent the night at her friend’s house. The memory of that conversation still rang in her head.

  “I don’t get it, Carly. You had your chance to have your dad locked up and you threw it away.” Suzie poured herself another glass of wine, then leaned back on the headboard of her bed. As usual, Suzie’s parents had welcomed Carly into their home with no questions asked.

  “For my mom’s sake. You know that. How many times have I told you? If I pressed charges against him, he’d be out before the night was over and taking out his anger on Mom.” She downed her drink, then held out her glass for more.

  “That’s my point. You’ve done that before and it never works. Sure, it bought your mom a night without getting hit, but he’ll do it again. He always does.”

  “I don’t know what you want from me. Until I can get her away from him, I have to keep her safe any way I can.”