Page 48 of Hurricane Love

“If you decide to leave him, Hannah, the first thing he’s going to do is use Kayla as leverage. He’s going to file for sole custody to convince you to take him back, or he’ll do it to punish you, and we both know that he has the resources to hire an attorney, and you don’t.”

Wylie didn’t want to make her feel any worse, but he could see it so clearly how this thing might play out. Brian would make Hannah suffer, and like most abusers, he was an excellent liar and could turn on the charm when needed. It wouldn’t take much to convince a judge that he was a good father, which was why they needed evidence proving otherwise.

Dabbing at her eyes with a paper napkin, she took a few deep breaths and nodded. “You’re right.”

Kayla, attuned to her mother’s emotional state, started whimpering. Hannah smiled at her through her tears. “It’s okay, baby girl. Mommy’s okay.”

Wylie reached out and grabbed Hannah’s hand. “I know you’re upset and feeling conflicted, but I’m going to need you to follow my lead on these next few steps. It’s going to be a long day, but I promise you in the long run, it will be worth it.”

She nodded resolutely and mustered up a brave face. “I trust you.”

He squeezed her hand. “I’m going to grab your stuff from the back. Wait here just a minute.” Wylie scanned the front of the building and the parking lot beyond. He’d bet his left nut that Brian was on his way there now, to cause a scene or blame Hannah or God forbid, take Kayla away from her. Time was of the essence.

He stalked back toward the kitchen, eyes landing briefly on Diego at the prep counter, before continuing on to the break roomto grab Kayla’s purse. She hadn’t brought anything else with her, not even an overnight bag, unless it was in her car. Had she planned on just returning home after her shift like nothing happened? Diego caught his arm on his way out.

“Can you get her shift covered?” Wylie asked.

“Already done.”

Wylie nodded. “Thanks for calling me. If Brian comes in here–”

“He’s banned from the premises. I’ll let him and everyone else know. And I won’t tell him where she went.”

“He’ll probably know.” Wylie would have to inform his neighbor Mac about the situation. He’d keep an eye out on his trailer and any other suspicious activity at the Village. One thing at a time.

“Hey.” Diego squeezed his arm, forcing him to slow down and look at him. The physical contact grounded him, and despite their recent spat, Diego was someone he could rely on. “You’ve got this. Call me later. I’m here to help.”

“Thanks, I will.”

Nancy didn’t need an explanation.She took one look at Hannah and immediately scooped Kayla into her arms with promises of ice cream and playing with her cat, Snowball.

Back at his trailer, Wylie instructed Hannah to wash the makeup off her face so they could document the abuse before going to the station, just in case they needed a record of their own. It was far worse than Wylie initially thought and included bruises along her ribs from where he’d kicked her. How could a man kick a woman while she was lying defenseless on the ground? The mother of his child? Wylie wanted to strangle him and call him every goddamned name in the book, but he kept his cool. He didn’t want Hannah to feel any shame or embarrassment overwhat had happened to her. In fact, he wanted her to be angry–furious–but it seemed she was just depressed.

“We need to get those looked at,” Wylie said, referring to her bruised ribs.

“It’s fine. I can breathe.”

“Has he done this before?”

Her hesitation was brief, but it was there. “Not like this,” she whispered.

One thing at a time, Wylie reminded himself. The police station was an ordeal, with Hannah having to go over everything in detail for the reporting officer while they took notes. They had a victim’s advocate there to encourage and validate her in ways that Wylie felt unqualified to do. Hannah broke down several times, blaming herself for making Brian angry, for not avoiding him altogether, for not leaving him sooner. She kept saying, “I don’t know what happened. He’s not normally like this.”

It took everything in Wylie’s power not to argue that he wasexactlylike that and always had been. And why couldn’t she see that? Why did she continue to cling to this idea of him that wasn’t even true? Well, Wylie may have been guilty of the same thing in his past relationships, so maybe he should cut her some slack. Regardless, he didn’t want to say anything to upset her more, not with the fragile state she was in, so he kept his big mouth shut.

After the report was documented and filed, the victim’s advocate shared their resources, including an appointment for a follow-up, which Wylie made note of to make sure Hannah followed through. They headed to urgent care afterward to have Hannah checked over. Wylie stayed in the waiting room while the physician examined her, and Hannah emerged a little while later saying that nothing was broken.

Nothing physical.

At the courthouse, it took more convincing to get her to file an injunction for a restraining order. She said it wasn’t necessary and that Brian wouldn’t hurt her, but Wylie knew the stats, and heknew Brian’s potential for violence, as evidenced by what he’d already done to her.

“Do it for Kayla then,” he said. “You don’t want her to have to witness something terrible, do you?”

“She was asleep in her room, Wy. She didn’t see anything. He wouldn’t do that in front of her.”

“Yes, he would,” Wylie said, trying to be gentle but firm with her. “He will do worse things, Hannah, trust me. You need to protect yourself and Kayla too.”

“He’s going to be so mad.” Her eyes glittered with true terror and Wylie hated that a man–any man–had put that fear in her.