TW: Domestic violence

I’ve recently come out of an domestic violence relationship (6 years long) and I currently have a restraining order against him because he was threatening to kill himself if I didn’t return to him and he had attempted three times already and was going for a fourth.

Anyway, I’ve been talking to this guy from OLD, and he seems like a HVM, but I’m still struggling to let go of this niggling feeling that he’s not. He is intelligent, kind, understanding that I am emotionally a mess, easy to talk to, lots of interests in common and had wanted to take me on a very nice dinner date for a while. And I would, except for this nagging feeling that it’s all an act.

He has told me that he’s been going through something similar with his ex wife, and that she’s nuts and was very controlling. He’s gone into quite a bit of detail, but there’s a part of me that just isn’t sure. He also has no social life other than work (he’s a police officer) because of ‘shift work’, and spends majority of his time alone. I don’t know why, but that bothers me because my ex was the same, and I was his entire social life. I’ve only just reinvigorated my own social life by involving myself back in my various communities and I don’t want to go backwards.

Sorry for this being so long, I am just new to this sub and lurked for a while and just need some wisdom and new perspective. This sub has changed my life, so thank you in advance