As promised, here is the second part of this chapter. It is dedicated to AngieSSearcy who has been following the series and has provided me some great feedback. Thanks for all your support :)

16 - Bumps In The Road

Charlotte's POV

Since I had spent a lot of time over the summer in Virginia, Tivon had taken the rest of the week off to take Noah and me fishing out on the lake. The boat was actually more like a small yacht, complete with living room, kitchen and bedroom in the back.

It was a beautiful September morning when we took off and we were able to sit out on the deck. The wind was playing with my hair and Noah whooped when the boat picked up speed. His cheeks were flushed as he sat in his special seat with his orange life jacket, the spray twirling up a few droplets once in a while as the bow broke through the waves. Tivon stood relaxed at the wheel, navigating towards open waters. The grin on his face was so wide that it could only be described as beaming – I had rarely seen him happier.

When the trees at shore were reduced to small dots, he cut the engine, the yacht bopping slightly up and down on the calm lake. He got the fishing gear ready, explaining to Noah every detail as he was going along. The boy watched him intently with his big blue eyes, soaking up the attention though I doubted he had a clue what Tivon was doing. With his nine months, Noah was like any average child – eager to learn and explore the world, but with the limitation of age. Tivon had always refused to treat him like a baby, talking to him like he would to any adult. He said it was a matter of respect.

Once again, I couldn't help for my mind to drift, thinking back to the times when Jared and Brent had been little. Ryan had only babbled incoherent words in their presence–if he had even paid any attention to them at all. He had always insisted he had no time for babies. His interest in them hadn't started until they had been able to talk and then things had quickly escalated when they hadn't complied with his demands or had talked back to him. Once he had hit Jared so violently in his mouth that he had knocked out a baby tooth just because his son had used the word 'no' with a frown.

Noah clapped excitedly when Tivon tossed the line with the bait into the hungry lake. After securing the fishing rod in the holder, he flung his arm around my shoulders.

"Now, woman, you have to wait until your man catches dinner."

I giggled. "Isn't that a little old fashioned?"

The smile brought a sparkle to his eyes. "I suppose it is. Truthfully, I kind of suck at fishing, especially once it comes to gutting the things. Hannah is an ace, she always knocked the fish on the head and cut them open when we were growing up."

My fist nudged him playfully in the side. "I hope you're not expecting me to do this. I can't kill an animal."

He rubbed his chin. "That could be a problem. We might go hungry tonight." He turned to Noah. "What about you, little fella? Can you take care of that?"

Blown bubbles from Noah's mouth were the response.

I laughed. "What do you normally do when you catch a fish?"

He clicked his tongue. "Truthfully, I haven't been out on the lake in ages. Too much work and no one who goes with me. Since Hannah met Rachel, she flies pretty much below the radar and my best friend Matt moved to Iowa to raise cattle when the profession got to him. Since then, I pretty much work most weekends and fishing has been the last thing on my mind."

"Oh, poor thing." My hand slid under his shirt. "Maybe we should move on to Plan B with respect to dinner."

"Oh yeah." He pulled me into his arms, gazing down at me. "And what is Plan B?"

I grinned. "Frozen pizza and tons of popcorn."

"Uhmm." He puckered his lips in thought. "That actually sounds much better than having to pick through fish, trying to find tiny bones that could get stuck in your throat." His breath tickled me behind my ear when he bent down to trace small kisses along my neck. "You're a genius, Charlotte."

I snuggled closer against him. "So, that means we don't have to stare onto the water now for hours, hoping we get a bite."

"I doubt that I'm able to fish with you around anyhow." His embrace was getting tighter as his nose nuzzled into my hair. "You drive me insane." A glance at Noah. "Isn't it almost time for his nap?"

My insides melted to molten lava when his arousal pressed against me.

I cleared my throat. "Let me fix him his lunch."

"Sounds good. I have a crib down in the living room where he can rest afterwards." His lips crushed down on me, the heat turning into an agonizing, painful need as our tongues connected.

"Hurry up," he said as he caught his breath before giving me another lingering kiss.

Half an hour later, Noah was fed, diapered and sound asleep in his travel bed after I had sung him a lullaby. When I got to the bedroom, Tivon was stretched out on the double cot, his shirt already removed. Naturally tanned, his skin was smooth and I wondered how he would look if he exercised like Ryan. A six pack would make him absolutely gorgeous though he still ranked in the handsome category.

He was reading a court document and looked up when I entered, his dark brown eyes burning into mine. "All set?"

I nodded, joining him on the bed.

"Let me spoil you," he mumbled as he got busy with the buttons of my blouse.

I leaned back, indulged in the moment. For Tivon, it was foremost about me before he would satisfy himself. Though this might make me the most selfish bitch in the world, I relished every part of it. Sex was always a violent act with Ryan, designed to degrade me and fulfil his needs. Worrying about my pleasures had never been in his nature and my body was starving for the little bit of tender love and care it deserved. Shivering in Tivon's arms felt like heaven.

He allowed me to rest for the remainder of the afternoon, playing some silly game with Noah in the living room after he woke up from his lunch nap before taking us back to shore. Just as planned, we ate pizza and popcorn, watching reruns of Hart of Dixie before calling it quits for the evening.

Luckily, the tears that rolled down my cheeks half the night went unnoticed. My heart screamed to hold on to the moment, my stomach in knots that I had to leave Tivon's side again and return to my husband in just a few days. I couldn't imagine a life again without him and Noah in it–they were the two things left to live for.

xxxx

When I got home on Friday night, Ryan was already there.

"You're late," he greeted me, his eyes overflowing with anger. He was dressed in his sweats, his shirt soaked from his sweat–he had to have just finished exercising. The muscles in his arms were twitching, a sign that he was tense and ready to explode.

"How was your week?" I inquired carefully while sliding out of my jacket and hanging it up in the mudroom.

"Dreadful." He poured himself a glass of water from the fridge, glaring at me with sullen eyes. "Alex Mancini mouthed off on a case, and the worst was that she was actually right with her profile assumptions. I swear, if she wasn't the director's daughter and so good at her job, I would have kicked her out of the unit a long time ago."

I smiled to myself while rummaging through my purse for some painkillers. Alex was one of the few women that had managed to stand up to Ryan and had been called anything imaginable from his mouth. 'Stupid bitch' was probably the nicest of those phrases.

"Are you smirking at me?" Ryan's words were cold and a chill ran down my spine.

"Of course not." I swallowed hard, trying to keep the tremble from my voice. "I would never do that." Automatically, my fingers traced my lips were Tivon had just kissed me goodbye a couple of hours ago. I battled the tears that were threatening to rise.

"It looked like you did," my husband insisted. "Like you were gloating that she gave me a hard time."

"Well, I wasn't." Our eyes interlocked and I dropped my gaze when he kept glaring at me. This was it–the one excuse he needed to have a go at me.

"I better freshen up and get dinner ready." I headed for the door. If I could make it upstairs and into the shower, he would have calmed down by the time I got back downstairs.

"No." His command made me freeze in my tracks. "Come here, Charlotte."

I weighed my options but if I tried to escape, it would make matters worse. He was faster than me and would have caught up with me by the time I reached the stairs.

My shoulders slumped when I spun around, approaching him with caution. His eyes were the color of slate, his lips pressed together. He was beyond mad.

He grabbed a handful of my hair without a warning, tossing me into the stove. The metal handle collided with my spine, robbing me of my breath. I stumbled but was able to keep my balance.

I decided to make a run for it, yet he reached me before I even make it over the threshold. Ramming my body against the doorframe, his lower arm covered my thyroid.

"Don't move,"–he cautioned–"or I swear I'll crush your windpipe."

With a low whimper, I squeezed my eyes shut as he opened the button of my jeans. His fingers entangled in my hair when he slammed my face onto the cold marble of the kitchen counter, bending me over for the ultimate act of violence. Yelps escaped my throat with every thrust, my pleas ignored until he found his high. The blood in my mouth was a bitter reminder of how my life turned completely around in just a matter of minutes.

When he was done, he pushed me to the ground, unlooping his belt next. He made me count as usual, stopping when my voice failed me at forty three. Naked and shivering, he left me behind on the kitchen floor while he got himself something to eat. I was unable to stop crying, my whole body soring in agony when I tried to move.

I wanted to call Tivon, tell him what had happened and hearing words of comfort, but it was too risky. Ryan had always monitored my phone and I wasn't even sure if he hadn't asked one of his buddies to tap into it to record the actual calls. My spare cell was in the apartment in Chicago. I was all alone, just like so many nights before, with no one to talk to or rock me in my sleep. It was like the demons of my life had outrun me once again, spitting in my face: 'Welcome to hell, honey.'

With this chapter, I wanted to show the contrasting sides of Charlotte's life. Needless to say, she is about to crack, but for the moment, is still hanging in there since she really wants Noah. We are nearing the end, there will only be one more chapter with Charlotte in the past before we switch to Rena, driving it home with a four chapter finale to get to the jail in the presence. After that, we will pick up where we left off before I revamped the book.

Any feedback would be appreciated and I hope the domestic violence scene with Ryan was not too violent. Please don't forget to vote if you found this chapter deserving :) Thanks for reading and hopefully, see you again next week :)