We had some difficulty finding your personal email address to make sure that you received this, so we apologize for not writing this sooner. We only hope that we were able to help before she did any real damage. We’ve also alerted the District Attorney’s office that handled your case so that they could look into the matter as well.
If we can be of any help…
Feeling hollow, Kylie clicked on the next email and when she saw that it was from her sister, she clicked on the next email and the next, and the next, recognizing a few of the names and having absolutely no idea who most of these people were, but every last one of them claimed that they knew her and what she’d put her poor parents through.
By the time she’d finished reading the last email letting Hunter know what a horrible, sick, and vile person she was, she was trembling, her head was spinning, and she couldn’t quite seem to catch her breath.
“I-I’ve got t-to go,” she told herself with a wobbly nod as she pushed her chair back and got to her feet only to stumble the short distance to the table, knocking over her Coke and-
“I n-need t-to go,” she mumbled weakly, as she forced herself to head to the door, barely aware of Ryan when he walked into the kitchen.
“Kylie? Kylie, are you okay?” she heard Ryan ask from a distance as he reached for her only to drop his hands away when she shook her head.
“I-I have to go,” she mumbled, stumbling away from him and continued making her way to the front door as she tried to make sense out of what just happened.
“Oh…shit,” she thought she heard Ryan say as she grabbed her car keys off the side table, wondering why her hand wouldn’t stop shaking and headed out the front door.
When her keys slipped out of her hand, she licked her dry lips and reached down for them only to have them suddenly disappear.
“You and I are going to have a talk, Miss Davis,” came the coldly spoken words that had her looking up into the angry face of the District Attorney handling Hunter’s case.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded as he gestured angrily to a stack of papers in his hands. “Do you have any idea how many emails, calls, and letters that I’ve had to deal with this morning because of you? I have a half-dozen people demanding that I have you and that asshole you work for arrested. What the hell were you thinking, threatening them like that?”
“I-I d-didn’t,” she mumbled in a haze as her head spun faster at the realization that they’d dragged Hunter into this as she stood up only to stumble and fall to the ground when her legs gave out and dropped her back down on the hard-unforgiving pavement.
“Are you high? God, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he said, shaking his head in disgust as Kylie pushed to her feet, stumbled, and fell again.
“You’re in a lot of trouble, Miss Davis,” he bit out, sighing heavily as he reached down and-
“Please, don’t,” she whispered, unable to stop herself from flinching only to watch as his expression went from angry to shocked to-
“Oh, God.”
-a look of understanding seconds before a large tan fist struck him in the face and knocked him down. When that large fist suddenly opened and reached for her, she found herself looking up into Hunter’s face. After a slight hesitation, she raised her trembling hand and found herself doing the one thing that she’d never thought she’d be able to do.
Trust someone not to hurt her.
*-*-*-*
“Look at me,” Hunter said coldly to the man sprawled out on the ground, cupping his bloody nose as Kylie continued to tremble in his arms. “I don’t care who you are. If you ever come near her again I will fucking kill you, do you understand me?”
“I didn’t know, Miss Davis. I’m so sorry,” the D.A. said, looking miserable.
“Hunter, don’t-”
“Do you understand me?” Hunter bit out, cutting Ryan off as he waited for the only answer that would stop him from killing the bastard right now.
When the D.A. nodded, he turned around and-
“They’re going to arrest you, Hunter,” Ryan said, stabbing his fingers through his hair.
“Don’t fucking care,” Hunter said, as he carried Kylie inside. The only thing that he cared about was making sure that she was safe. He needed to-
“Hunter?” Ryan called after him only to yell when he ignored him. “Goddamn it, Hunter! I need to tell you something!”
“What?” he asked absently, as he carried her into the office.
“Are you okay?” he asked the small woman in his arms as he sat down on the couch so that he could hold her closer.
After a slight hesitation, she nodded.
“We need to talk,” Ryan said, taking the seat next to him as he felt something shoved in his hand.
“What are you talking about?”
“Her fucking family,” Ryan bit out as he felt Kylie go still in his arms.
Frowning, Hunter looked down at the crumpled piece of paper in his hands. Sending Ryan a questioning look, he raised the paper and felt all the air rush out of his lungs when he read the first line. Unable to believe what he’d just read, he read it a second time.
“Is this a fucking joke?” Hunter asked, glancing at Ryan to find the other man rubbing his hands roughly down his face with a, “I fucking wish.”
“They found your email address,” Ryan said, as Hunter tried to make sense out of what he just read.
“They’re accusing me of sending my men to threaten them,” he said, still trying to figure out how they’d come up with that bullshit.
“In the emails they sent you, they attacked Kylie, but in the letters and emails they sent to the D.A. they went after you as well,” Ryan said, shaking his head in disbelief. “They’re fucking idiots.”
“They’re terrified,” Grey said, as he joined them.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Hunter asked, glancing back down at the letter in his hand and noted that it had been addressed to the D.A.’s office when something occurred to him. “She saw the emails?”
“Every last one,” Ryan said, shaking his head in disgust as Kylie mumbled weakly, “Yes.”
“I want them fucking arrested,” Hunter bit out, squeezing the letter into a ball and threw it across the room.
“Can’t do that,” Ryan said after a slight hesitation.
“What the hell are you talking about? Did you see what those sick fucks wrote about her? She didn’t fucking deserve that!” he snapped as Kylie turned her face and pressed her forehead against his chest as her small hand fisted in his shirt.
“No, she didn’t. But there’s nothing that they can arrest them on. This is a civil matter,” Ryan said, shaking his head in disgust.
“How is this a fucking civil matter? Did you see what they accused her of?” he demanded as he struggled against the urge to fucking kill them for everything they’d put Kylie through.
The thing that pissed him off most was that they were going to get away with it.
Again.
“The D.A.’s not filing charges against either one of you, so without an arrest or a false police report, they can’t touch them. She can file for a restraining order and sue them, but-”
“She won’t do that,” Grey said, shaking his head as he dropped down on the chair across from them.
“No, she probably won’t,” Ryan said, sighing in frustration.
“Why not?” Hunter demanded even though he would never let those sick fucks near her again.
“That would mean facing them and being forced to relive what they did to her while she was forced to sit there and listen to them tear her apart,” Grey said, sighing heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“That and they’d probably find twenty people to say that Kylie’s full of shit,” Ryan added with a sympathetic glance at Kylie.
“Yes, they would,” Grey agreed. “They’d have everyone that they’d manipulated over the years into believing their bullshit coming forward, eager to put Kylie in her place. He
r family would drag it out, relishing in making Kylie’s life a living hell, and doing everything in their power to make sure that they looked like the victims.”
“What about a restraining order?” Hunter asked, wondering if he’d ever felt this fucking helpless before.
“She’d still have to face them,” Ryan pointed out before adding. “I could send them a cease and desist letter hoping that they stop, but it won’t be legally enforceable and it won’t stop them. The only way to stop them would be to get a restraining order, but something tells me that wouldn’t do anything.”
“Look, anything she does is going to set them off. If she responds, they’re going to double their efforts. If she tells anyone what they did, they’re going to spread more lies. If she sues, they’ll sue her for twice as much. If she tries to press charges, they’ll do whatever they can to ruin her,” Grey explained.
“Why are they doing this?”
Grey met his gaze as he said, “Because they can.”
“I don’t understand how any of these people are stupid enough to believe any of this bullshit,” Ryan said, gesturing to the balled-up letter.
“Because they want to,” Grey said, sighing as he sat back. “Part of them knows that her parents are lying, but they crave the drama almost as much as her family does. So, they overlook the fact that her family gossips about everyone they know, the seriously fucked-up accusations they make about anyone that crosses them and try to convince themselves that they’re not doing the same thing to them. If any of them start asking questions or do anything to risk her family looking less than perfect, her family will devour them.”
“What can we do?” Ryan asked.
“I spoke to Jonathan,” Grey started to say only to add, “The D.A. that you just decked,” at Hunter’s blank look. “His office already contacted her family this morning and asked if they were planning on pressing charges for the supposed threats.”
“My men didn’t threaten them. Everything was recorded and I’d be more than happy to hand the tapes over,” Hunter said, shaking his head in disgust as he gently rubbed Kylie’s back, noting that she was still trembling.
“Which is probably why they said they weren’t going to press charges. He’s advised them that unless they’re willing to press charges that it would be in their best interest to ask their friends and family to stop what they’re doing. His office is also responding to each email and letter, notifying them that there are currently no charges against either one of you with the hopes that will help.”
“Did he happen to mention when he was going to have the asshole here arrested?” Ryan asked, pinching the bridge of his nose as he slowly exhaled, no doubt trying to figure out how he was going to save his ass on this one.
“He’s not. He felt bad about yelling at Kylie and scaring her, so you lucked out, again,” Grey said only to frown when Kylie mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Hunter asked, as he pressed a kiss against the top of her head.
“I’m sorry, Hunter,” Kylie mumbled, sounding so damn miserable and making him feel absolutely fucking helpless because he had no idea how to fix this.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Hunter asked, as he gently pushed her hair back behind her ear.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen, Hunter,” she said, tilting her head back so that she was looking him in the eye as she said, “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he promised her, noting just how pale she was as he leaned down and pressed a kiss against her forehead as Grey offered her the one thing that he couldn’t give her.
An answer.
Chapter 35
“Haven’t you ever wondered why they’re doing this?”
“What are you talking about?” Kylie asked, as she tried to figure out how she was going to fix this.
Hunter didn’t deserve this and if she’d thought for one second that her family would drag him into this, she never would have-
“Haven’t you ever wondered why your parents do these horrible things?”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Kylie mumbled, but something about the way he watched her told her that he knew more than she wanted him to.
“How about this?” Grey suggested. “For the next twenty minutes, you and I will talk and if I’m able to convince you that I can help you, then you tell me about the first time that you realized that there was something wrong with your family. But if after twenty minutes, you think I’m full of shit then I’ll never bother you again.”
“I-I don’t need therapy,” Kylie said, because the last thing that she wanted was for anyone else to find out what happened.
“You need someone to talk to,” Grey said, as Hunter wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against his body, making this harder.
“I just want to drop this,” she said, because she knew what would happen if her parents ever found out that she told someone. They would make her life a living hell and they would go after Hunter, accusing him of all the sick things that they’d-
“She thinks she’s protecting you,” Grey said, earning a glare.
“I have to-Wait! No, put me down, Hunter!” she started to explain only to panic when the ungrateful man that she was protecting stood up and promptly dropped her back down on the couch as Ryan got up and headed for the door with a sighed, “I’m going to do damage control.”
“We’re going to have a talk, Miss McCann,” Hunter said with a heavy sigh as he knelt down in front of her.
“Hunter, you don’t understand what they’re capable of. They’ll ruin your life!” Kylie said, desperate to make him understand.
“A long fucking talk,” he stressed, with a sad shake of his head.
“No, Hunter, listen to me,” Kylie said only to end up glaring when Hunter placed his hand over her mouth as he leaned in and said, “You’re worrying over nothing,” before she pushed his hand aside.
“Hunter, you really don’t understand what they’re capable of,” she said, trying not to panic.
“Hunter will be fine,” Grey said, waving it off like it was no big deal.
It was a very big deal!
“You don’t understand!” Kylie said, desperate for them to listen to reason before it was too late.
“I probably understand better than you think,” Grey said with a sad smile.
“Look at me, Kylie,” Hunter said, cupping her face in his hands. “You’re safe.”
“But my family-”
“I’m your family, Kylie,” Hunter said, pressing a kiss against her forehead. “Not them.”
“Which is why I can’t let them do this to you, Hunter,” she said, placing her hands over his as she tried to make him listen to reason.
“You give them way too much credit,” he said, pressing one last kiss against her forehead before he pulled back with a sigh and sat next to her.
“There’s no need to worry, Kylie,” Grey promised her.
“What the hell do you know about it?” Kylie asked, moving to climb off the couch, done with trying to explain this. They were never going to understand why she needed to-
“They blamed you for everything, didn’t they? Every mistake they made, every time something didn’t go their way, they had a bad day, or someone pissed them off, they took it out on you. They also shifted the blame to you when other people found out what they were doing, the rumors they spread, and the things they did to them. They blamed you for everything,” Grey said, watching her as he pulled an old coin out of his pocket and began flipping it over the back of his fingers.
“Yes,” she said weakly.
Nodding absently, Grey said, “Nothing you did was ever good enough, was it? It didn’t matter if you got all A’s on your report card or did everything you were told; it was never enough.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Kylie said, releasing a shaky breath, thinking of all those times she’d tried to so hard to make them happy, hoping it would be
enough, but it never was.
They always found something wrong.
Always.
“Your sister was treated differently than you, probably got whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She was rewarded for everything and praised for every little thing she did, even things that she didn’t do. Your parents most likely embellished everything she did and kept their mouths shut whenever she did something wrong, painting her as the perfect child and when she didn’t do anything praise-worthy they made it up or-”
“Gave her credit for things I did,” Kylie found herself adding, frowning in confusion and wondering how he knew all of this.
“And whenever she did something wrong, they either pretended that it never happened or they blamed you,” Grey said, watching her as that coin continued to work its way across his fingers.
“Yes,” Kylie said, pulling her trembling hand free so that she could wrap her arms around herself as she thought of all the sick and evil things that Denise did. The people she’d hurt, the money she’d stolen, the lies she’d spread, and the way she-
“Your sister was allowed to hurt you, most likely encouraged to do it and whenever you complained about how you were treated, they belittled you, punished you, mocked you, and made you think that there was something wrong with you,” he continued, making her stomach hurt.
“Yes,” she whispered hollowly.
“They treated your sister better, probably took better care of her, always made sure that she had what she needed and more, made sure that her every need was met, and always had an excuse why she’d deserved to be treated better in every way,” he guessed correctly.
Unable to answer, she nodded as she thought of all those times that her parents had told her no one second only to give in to her sister the next. The way that her parents couldn’t seem to do enough for her sister, making sure that her every need was taken care of, giving her whatever she wanted. The way that they couldn’t seem to do enough to make sure that Denise was taken care of, making sure that she was taken to the doctor every year, the dentist twice a year, and saw every specialist there was to make sure that everything about Denise was perfect. They’d only taken Kylie to see a doctor when she’d missed too many days from school and needed a note, or the school demanded a physical, which wasn’t very often. They always made sure that one of them was in the room, making sure that she didn’t say anything, didn’t complain, or let the doctors look at her back. They’d always had an excuse, joked about her being shy or distracted the doctors to make sure that they didn’t raise the back of her shirt and see the damage they’d left behind.
Devastated (Anger Management Book 1) Page 20
