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“I heard you had a visitor tonight.” Harmony sips on her drink.

“My ex-boyfriend. Ryker talked with him.” These drinks go down way too quickly.

“He didn’t kill him?” James raises his eyebrows.

“No, but there was a lot of talking about it,” I say.

“Why the fuck not?” James scowls.

“I asked him not to. He’s not worth the effort.” I go to take another drink and discover it’s empty. Harmony swoops in to refill it.

“Ryker listened to you? He didn’t wait until you were gone, sneak after him, and kill him?” James asks, puzzled.

“No,” I grin. “He let him go. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“Ryker usually does whatever the hell he wants.” He yelps when Harmony smacks him. “It's true.”

“She is his mate. He wants to make her happy,” Harmony defends Ryker.

“Yeah, I have to give him crap about it, though,” he promises.

Harmony rolls her eyes. “How did it feel to see your ex again?” she asks me.

“Scary at first. I didn’t know what to do. Ryker was upstairs in his office. I must have looked panicked enough for Tristan to get him. Once he was with me, I calmed down.” I am too occupied with my drink to notice another shared look between them.

“Why was it scary?” James asks.

“Well, he was emotionally abusive…and then physically abusive. So he wasn’t the best boyfriend.” I hold up my empty glass and tilt it. “Could I have another?”

“He hit you?” James growls.

“Sure. He didn’t like. . .well, anything I did.”

“How long were you with him?” He leans forward.

“Seven years.” I smile at Harmony when she hands me a fresh drink.

“He was like that the whole time?” Harmony asks.

“Not the whole time. We met when I was in high school. He was older, and I thought he was cute. Of course, I looked at him tonight and thought, he is so boring looking. Now, Ryker, he’s not boring.” I don’t register the words I’m saying. I’m enjoying my drink too much.

“When did he start the physical abuse?” James asks, looking all angry.

“Let’s see.” I take another drink, thinking. “Probably two years ago. The verbal stuff started long before that. You know, calling me names, things like fat, stupid, cold, mean things. I remember the first time he hit me. It hurt. He was drunk and had just come home from a night with the guys. I cleaned the house and forgot to start supper, which had happened before, and he didn’t react badly. This time he did. He punched me in the face. I went down to the floor. That was the first time anyone had hit me. He apologized the next day and promised never to do it again.” I drained the rest of my drink. “These are awesome. Can I have another?”

“Maybe you should slow down. You said you don’t drink very much.” James frowns.

“She’s just letting off some steam. Plus, Ryker will take care of her,” Harmony assures him, patting his thigh.

“Ryker did promise he would take care of me. Do you think he means it?” I ask.

“Ryker doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean,” Harmony tells me and elbows James.

“I can honestly say Ryker doesn’t lie, even if the truth is brutal,” he snorts.

“That’s good. Tom lied all the time. He cheated on me, too. Some woman called my cell to tell me that he had slept with her the night before. I didn’t care about it after a while. He left me alone most of the time if he saw other women.” My head was feeling all fuzzy and warm.

“Did he hurt you?” Harmony whispers.