Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to JE
A/N: Please keep the reviews coming. I read and appreciate every one of them.
Chapter 7
Since we had some time before the others got back, I decided to take a quick shower. After I dried my hair a bit, I pulled it back into a ponytail and slipped on a tank top and some lounge pants and headed back out into the living room to wait with Isabella and Hector. It was going to take a little while before the team finished cleaning up and be able to make their way back to the hotel. Isabella was resting comfortably on the sofa and Hector was busy on his laptop in the dining area. I sat down across from Isabella and asked if she wanted anything. I may not be able to cook, but I can dial room service like a pro. Since neither she nor Hector were hungry, I figured I'd wait until the rest of the team returned.
As we sat there Isabella noticed the bruise on my arm. "Forgive me for asking, but how did you get that bruise on your arm?"
Hector looked up and I swear I heard him growl. "Esta bien, Hector. Es nada." I looked back to Isabella and explained "My boyfriend was upset with me when I told him I was leaving to help your brother. He grabbed my arm as I was leaving. It's not a big deal, he was understandably upset that I was leaving in the middle of the night. I know he didn't mean to hurt me."
Isabella hesitated for only a moment and then started speaking quietly. "Stephanie, I can tell you have a kind heart. You obviously have the love and affection of my brother and the men who work for him. But be careful that you don't let that kind heart blind you to the evil that lives in some people."
"I'm sorry, Isabella, but I don't know what you mean."
"Please understand that I am not saying anything about your boyfriend or your choices, but I want to tell you how I ended up in the hospital two weeks ago. When I first met Raul, he was completely charming. We would hang out, get a pizza, watch sports or a movie, just very casual. We didn't go out on dates a lot, just met for lunch when our schedules allowed. I'd spend the night with him once in a while but long term stays always led to an argument and we'd have to take a break. Eventually, we'd have make up sex and things would be good again. The first time he left a mark on me in anger was when a friend called one night needing a ride after her boyfriend dumped her and left her stranded in a strange neighborhood. As I got up to leave, Raul grabbed my arm hard enough to leave a bruise and told me I wasn't going anywhere. He accused me of making up the story about my friend and insisted I was going out to meet another man. I had to call my friend back and tell her I couldn't help her."
"After that, Raul slowly began controlling my life. I didn't notice it at first because he always insisted he was just trying to do what was best for me. He would buy me clothes that he thought were more appropriate than the ones I picked out, even though they weren't to my taste; he pushed me towards activities that he thought were right for me, whether it was something I was interested in or not; and, he started controlling who I could see and talk to. He said my family treated me like a child and that they wouldn't understand how much he loved me. He told me they wouldn't accept our love because of his past, and that I needed to have no more contact with them so they wouldn't poison our love."
"While he was manipulating me mentally, he was also becoming more physically abusive. If I disagreed with him he would become physical and shake me or shove me. If I told him I wasn't in the mood for sex, he would pressure me until I gave him what he wanted just so I could get some sleep. I had always insisted on him using protection because I couldn't take birth control pills, but then one night he had no condoms and forced himself on me even when I told him no. That was when I decided I had had enough. I still had my own place, but we had been spending more and more time at his place. I waited until he went to work and then I packed up my things and left his apartment."
"I didn't realize how nervous I was about leaving him until I locked the door behind me when I got back to my place. The sense of relief was almost overwhelming. I was naive enough to think it would be that easy. I didn't hear from him for over a month and thought I was moving on with my life. Then my period was late and I discovered I was pregnant. I found out later that he had been having me followed the whole time. He was waiting outside the office of the OB when I went to confirm what the home pregnancy test had told me. He told me he was sorry, and that he loved me and our child and would take care of us both."
"I was young, alone and pregnant. I was scared out of my mind. I didn't believe that he had changed but I didn't know where else to turn. I was too ashamed to reach out to my family. So I ignored every instinct in my body telling me to run and I agreed to marry him. During my pregnancy, Raul was again the charmer. He catered to my every need. I began to believe that he had changed and that everything really was going to be ok. Raul was thrilled when we found out we were going to have a son. I wanted for nothing and he showered me with gifts. And then we found out our son had Down's syndrome. Raul blamed me for our son's chromosomal abnormality."
"I was afraid of what Raul would do to our baby, so I became the perfect wife that he wanted. I catered to his every desire and tried to give him no reason to be upset. It was easier for Raul to pretend Enrique did not have special needs when he was an infant, but as Enrique got older and didn't develop as other kids did, Raul had less and less patience for him. I kept Enrique away from his father as much as possible. Raul spent a lot of time working and running his empire and Enrique and I were basically kept prisoner in our home. Raul didn't want the world to know he had a less than perfect family."
"When he was home, Raul seemed to take pleasure in finding different ways to torment me. According to Raul, I was useless. I couldn't cook, I couldn't give him a 'normal' child, and I was a burden that he had to suffer with. The physical abuse started again soon after Enrique was born. Raul began to force himself on me almost as soon as I got home from the hospital. You see, he wanted a 'normal' child that he could take out in public and not be embarrassed by. What he didn't know was that I had the doctor tie my tubes when Enrique was born. There was no way I was going to risk bringing another child into this world with that man."
"He was always careful to hit me in the body instead of my face. That way no one could see the bruising. I was still expected to play the role of the perfect wife. As strange as it sounds, I had accepted that this was how my life was going to be until I could find a way to get Enrique safely away from him. His power had grown along with his wealth, and he told me many times there was nowhere I could run where he wouldn't find me. And then everything changed two weeks ago."
"I had been secretly collecting evidence of his illegal activities for a while. I thought I would use this evidence to blackmail him into finally letting us go. He was surprised to see me enter his office. He had always told me I wasn't allowed to be in there. I told him I had enough evidence to bring down his entire empire but that if he allowed me take Enrique and leave, I would never say a word to the authorities. I was literally shaking as I spoke, but we couldn't live like that any longer. When I finished, I just stood there and waited for him to say something."
"When he suddenly burst out laughing, I knew I was a dead woman. He was still laughing when he casually stood up, walked over and punched me in the face. As he continued to beat me, I realized he was not going to stop this time. He only stopped long enough to rape me, but when he was finished, he stood up and began kicking me over and over as I lay on the floor. That was the last thing I remember before I woke up in the hospital."
"When he found out I was still alive he knew he needed to keep me quiet until he could finish what he started. So he took Enrique into hiding and put me under guard to keep anyone from getting near me and bided his time. I'm sure he had something very special planned for me when I got out of the hospital."
"I'm telling you all this for a reason. I never could have imagined the first time Raul grabbed my arm that my life would become such a nightmare. When I asked you about the bruise, you told Hector that it was okay, that it was nothing. I'm telling you, it is not okay and that it is not nothing. Please know that you deserve better. I'm not saying your boyfriend is a psychopath like Raul, but he still needs to know it's not okay to hurt you."
I was stunned as I listened to her story. I had heard Ranger's version, but hearing the details from Isabella made it all the more horrifying. Still, I felt a little embarrassed that she would think Joe was anything like Raul. After all, he never hit me. He may not like what I do for work, or my friendship with Ranger and the guys, but it wasn't like he was trying to control me. He just wanted me to marry him and be a Burg wife and mother because he cared about me. As these thoughts ran through my brain I realized that maybe Isabella's statement wasn't as far off as I had originally thought.
"Isabella, I'm sorry for all you've been through. I appreciate your concern and I'll think about what you've said."
