"Dinner is ready." I call from the kitchen. I hear Bella put on some classical music before she walks into the kitchen.

"I think this is a better genre for dinner." She says as she sits down at my dark oak table. I set down a big plate of spaghetti in front of her and she waits until I'm sitting with a plate before me to start digging in. "You're a pretty good cook." She says after the first bite. "Nothing compared to my Nana though, sorry. But still delicious."

"I wouldn't even dream of being competition to someone's Nana's cooking." I say with a chuckle. "I'm not a good cook at all. Barbequeing is a different story. Almost any man can grill. However, I wanted to change it up tonight. I didn't think that hamburgers would impress you that much."

"No, but meatballs are pretty impressive. Actually, just my meatballs." She gloats. "Hey! I'm being modest. I can cook and bake, but get me near a grill and I can't even start it up. My meatballs in a slow cooker with my special sauce is to die for. I'll have you try them sometime."

I smile, "My stomach is growling already."

"Then eat up!" Bella points with her fork to my plate. "It's good. Better than the Vegas food. Most of it was either too fancy or too cheap. I missed having home cooked meals."

"No doubt. I've been to Vegas before."

"Too into the strippers to notice the food?"

My eyes widen in mock innocence. "No, of course not. It was the gambling."

Bella laughs, "Figures." We eat in silence for a while before Bella pipes up again, "So Mr. Sports Illustrated Editor, tell me a secret of yours."

"I don't have any Miss. Librarian." I lean forward on my elbows, my food nearly gone.

"That's such a lie if I ever did hear one." Bella leans forward towards me. My table is small, only two feet long. We're pretty close actually even though we're sitting across from each other. Not too close, but close. "Come on! Tell me something."

"I'm gonna quit my job and kick Mike's ass for you." I tell her. "If I get another job soon. I don't know how much more I can take. Another secret? As a guy this is weird to do, but I've always pictured my wedding day. Even since I was a teenager. I've always wanted to be married. Embarrassing."

"No. Sweet." Bella twirls some more pasta onto her fork and takes a bite. She chews slowly and swallows. After taking a sip of her wine, she talks again. "My secret? I'm still a virgin."

"No." My eyes widen. "That's impossible."

"I want it to be with the right guy. Mike smacked me around because I wouldn't, but I didn't budge." I wince at her words.

"What's up with Mike anyways? It's like he has something against you." I ask hesitantly.

"My mother got in a car accident. He paid for her medical bills. I still owe him money. I broke it off with him because I told him he can't sue me because I still had bruises from his last hit. Now... Now he can do whatever. At the time he was afraid, but now I'm all healed. I think he's waiting to get me back. He isn't over me. He bugs me all the time. He thinks I'll walk back to him because he doesn't want to take me to court. He knows I can say he's beat me and I can be convincing. So he threatens me to try to get me back in the relationship with him. I won't budge. I'm honestly just trying to earn the $50 000 to pay him back. I only have five grand right now. I paid off my student loans first, stupid me."

My heart breaks at her words. I want to crush Mike's skull. I want to hold Bella close and tell her everything will be okay. She's frowning now and I can see a stress line form on her forehead. I want to reach across and take her in my lap and use my thumb to smooth out her forehead. I want to kiss her lips and hold her close. I want to take the fear from her away.

Instead I sigh, "That sounds stressful."

"I know. I'm just waiting. I hope I can make the money before he tries to sue. He can say I stole the money because I was the one who took it out of the bank with his card. I took a little out each week. He refused to write a check. I think he knew that I'd leave him and he needed a reason for me to stay." Bella shakes her head. "He's smart."

"Don't worry about it tonight." I try to help her.

"I won't. I'm having fun. But eventually I'll have to go back to reality." She huffs and pushes her plate away. "That was good, but I'm stuffed."

It's mostly gone so I know she's being genuine. I get up and grab both our plates. I clean them off and put them in my dishwasher. I see her still sitting at the table, her head in her hands. I sit on the chair closest to her, but still pull it up so I'm beside her. I place a hand on her knee. "Hey now. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"No, it's fine. I just don't know what I'm going to do. I need $45 000. Fuck." She sighs and places a hand on top of mine. "I'm having an amazing time, but I'm just thinking if Mike found out he'd kill you and hurt me."

"I won't let that happen." I promise. "I don't want you to be scared of him."