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As the monitor came to life, I watched four different scenes where Ashton Oliver had taken his anger out on Savina, beating her like he knew that he could do anything to her and get away with it. Knowing the horrors of physical abuse from my years on the streets, I could also see that Savina had already learned how to protect herself from the beatings, almost as if this had been going on for years, which it could very well be.
In a span of one month, Ashton had beaten her four times, so I could only imagine how many times he’d done this to her in the two years since they’d begun dating. It was also easy to see that this was normal for them. Ashton really was beating her with no fear of repercussions, and I wasn’t sure what was more sickening; that he was beating her or that she was enduring the beatings in exchange for a powerful last name.
When the last clip finished playing, I said, “And that’s our problem, why?”
Still eyeing me, Nero said, “Thank you, Morocco. You can leave now.”
“Thank God,” the kid muttered before grabbing his laptop, then fleeing. However, not before he removed the flash drive, leaving it on Nero’s desk.
As soon as the door shut behind him, Nero asked, “You’re really not bothered by what you just saw?”
“Would it make you feel better if I told you that I wanted to kill him with my bare hands?” I countered.
“It would if that’s the truth,” he replied.
“What do you want me to say, Nero?”
“He’s beating her, Aurelio.”
“I know that!” I roared, no longer able to contain the rage from her coming back into my life. “I know! But what the fuck do you want me to do about it?!”
As a man that abhorred violence against women, those images that I was no longer going to be able to unsee were fueling an anger inside me that only came from women being mistreated. However, seeing it happen to Savina took that abhorrence to an entirely different level. I wanted to kill Ashton Oliver with my bare hands, but for what?
“What do you want me to do about it, Nero?” I repeated, no longer yelling. “She’s obviously okay with it, or else she still wouldn’t be with the motherfucker. Hell, she’s wearing a fucking engagement ring. If she wants to sell her self-respect for a dining chair in the White House, who the fuck am I to say that she can’t.”
“C’mon, Aurelio. You know that it’s not always that black and white,” he replied carefully, knowing me well enough to know that I was going to need a good fight or fuck after I left here. “There was no sound available, so we have no idea why she’s enduring those beatings.”
“There’s only one reason that a woman puts up with shit like that, Nero,” I bit out. “Usually, the sacrifice is for the financial security of a woman’s children, but spoiler alert: Savina and Ashton don’t have any kids for her to make that kind of sacrifice.” I eyed him, hate and rage bubbling from everywhere. “So, it’s gotta be his money. Money-grubbing bitches always put up with abuse, cheating, and neglect as long as the man’s pockets are deep enough, and Ashton Oliver’s are deep enough.”
“Be that as it may, you saw the same clips that I did,” he replied. “He’s going to kill her one day, Aurelio. Can you live with that if he does?”
No.
“She’s not worth going up against a congressman’s son,” I told him, not answering, but knowing that he could read between the lines anyway. “My loyalty is to those that are loyal to me in return, Nero. Savina left me years ago to chase a dream that meant more to her than I did. I was on my way to being able to give her the world, only to find out that the world that I’d wanted to give to her hadn’t been good enough.” I let out a deep breath, anger at everything threatening to choke me. “She made her choices, Nero. She doesn’t get to use those choices to drag us into a mess that’s really none of our business.”
“I’d agree with everything that you just said if you didn’t still love her, Aurelio,” he said, his tone knowing. “That’s the problem that I have here.”
“Well, don’t let it be,” I told him. “No matter how I feel about Savina Valentine, I already let her kick me in the teeth once; I’m not about to let it happen again.”
Nero gave me a terse nod before saying, “If you change your mind, let me know. While she might not be worth going up against Stewart Oliver’s son, you are.”
Yeah, I needed to get the fuck out of here.
Chapter 14
Savina~
“I need your answer, Savina.”
I closed my eyes as I sat in my car, the contents in my stomach threatening to come up. After we’d had dinner last night, Ashton had been surprisingly even-tempered. He hadn’t pushed or gotten physical, and it hadn’t been because he’d chosen to show me some consideration. He hadn’t gotten physical because he didn’t want Cooper Donaldson seeing any bruises on my body when he came back into town. I also wasn’t foolish enough to believe that I had a choice. Ashton was only asking, so that it wouldn’t be another man raping me; he liked to save that privilege for himself.
“I already told you that I didn’t want to do it.” Though I knew that this wasn’t going to end well for me, I was counting on Ashton wanting to keep me bruise-free for a little while longer. “What if he wants it to be a regular thing?”
“I already told him that it’d be a one-time deal only,” he said, not assuring me in the least. “Look, I need to meet with Ken Spiral and Louise Braughton in a half hour. I’m not sure when I’ll be home, but Cooper is expecting an answer soon.”
Ignoring the part about Cooper Donaldson, I said, “I have a five o’clock showing today on Rattenberger. The client is interested in two properties, so that’ll have me home around eight at the latest.”
“Perfect,” he replied. “That’ll give us plenty of time to talk about Cooper some more before we head to bed.” I shook my head as I opened my eyes again. “It’s just sex, Savina. Don’t make a bigger deal out of it than it is.”
