Page 76 of Mended Fences

The way she said it—like she was reading off a grocery list instead of describing her own assault—made me want to hunt Peter down and tear him apart with my bare hands.

Elena’s hands remained perfectly still in her lap. “I’ll need to go to Ashford Medical Center for a rape kit. Document everything properly. Michigan’s a one-party consent state for recording, so the video will be admissible. But I need the physical evidence documented, too. I’ve done these exams for other women countless times.”

The clinical distance in her voice made me want to throw up. Or put my fist through a wall. Or find the nearest dealer. All three, maybe.

“I’ll drive you,” I managed, though the words felt like glass in my throat.

“No.” Sharp. Certain. Then softer. “I need you to stay here. Make sure the footage uploads properly to the cloud server. The video is everything—it proves the assault, the threats, hisadmission of stalking me. I can’t risk losing it if he comes back.”

The thought of him coming back, of me not being here... But she was right. The evidence mattered more than my need to protect her right now.

Andy shifted his weight. “I’ll escort Dr. Stone to the hospital myself.”

“Elena,” I corrected. I hated that her name was still attached tohis. “Her name is Elena.”

“Chase.” Her voice steadied me like it always did. “I need you to focus. The camera footage. Can you do that?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Watching her gather her coat, her keys, her professional mask. Knowing exactly what she’d face at the hospital. Knowing I couldn’t do a damn thing to help except sit here and make sure her asshole soon-to-be-ex couldn’t weasel out of this on a technicality.

I watched her walk out with Andy, each step measured and controlled like she was heading into surgery instead of... I couldn’t even finish the thought. The door clicked shut behind them, leaving me alone with the untouched pizza and the spinning blue circle on her laptop where the footage was uploading.

It was taking fucking forever. I couldn’t just sit here staring at the progress bar, so I clicked back to the footage, telling myself I needed to verify it had captured everything.

Biggest fucking mistake of my life.

Elena’s voice came through clear as crystal.“I documented everything, Peter.”Strong. Defiant. Then his laugh—this hollow, cruel sound that made my stomach turn.

I should’ve stopped watching. Should’ve just let the uploadfinish. But I couldn’t look away as he backed her toward the wall. As Elena carefully, deliberately positioned herself in perfect view of the camera. Even terrified, she was thinking ahead. Planning. While I sat here useless, watching as it happened.

“Your fuck buddy at the resort?”Peter’s voice dripped contempt.“Did you really think you could just run away and play house with some jobless addict?”

My fingers curled into fists. Because he wasn’t wrong, was he? What the fuck could I offer her? I couldn’t even protect her from this.

When his hand grabbed her chin, I nearly put my fist through her laptop screen. But Elena’s face... god, her face. Complete clinical detachment, like she’d done this a thousand times before. Like she knew exactly how to survive it.

The sound of his belt buckle had me lunging for the bathroom. I barely made it before losing everything in my stomach.

When I came back, hands shaking, the footage was still playing. Elena’s voice, steady despite everything.“You can’t have me anymore.”

The crack of his hand across her face echoed in the empty cottage.

The footage kept playing, but I couldn’t move to turn it off.

I needed something stronger than booze. Something to make me forget the look on Elena’s face while her husband... while he...

A few threeor six hours later, I slipped in the front door of the cottage as quietly as I could, but it didn’t fuckin’ matter. The alarm blared.

“Shit shit shit!”

I stumbled toward the keypad on the opposite side of the living room, trying to silence it before it woke Elena. The piercing screech made the pounding in my skull worse. When I punched in the wrong code, the damn thing only got louder.

“Fuck!” It was meant to be a whisper, but it definitely came out a shout. My vision blurred, and I swayed, losing my balance entirely before falling flat on my ass. Very manly giggles burst from my chest as I let myself fall backward, going full starfish on the living room floor.

“Chase?”

I looked up to see Elena entering the code that brought a quiet stillness to the cottage.

“Hey, you!” I reached up, arms stretching for her. “Care to join me?” I asked with a seductive waggle of my brows. Hers furrowed, which couldn’t be right. My girl loved my skills in seduction.