“I don’t keep things from my brothers,” he told her coolly. “We share everything.”
Was there a special emphasis on everything? He couldn’t mean . . . she pushed that thought from her head. Of course that wasn’t what he meant.
“You hated him?” Aleki asked.
“I . . . I . . .” She thought about lying but she knew that wasn’t going to get her far. Both Caleb and Wolfe had made it clear what they thought about her lying to them. “Yes. Sometimes I did.”
“Why did you stay with him?” Caleb pressed.
“I told you, it’s complicated.” Her gaze darted around the room, resting on Wolfe who was still calmly eating his jello.
“Did he hurt you?” Wolfe finally asked, throwing the empty tub in the trash. “Threaten you?”
Both Aleki and Caleb were watching her intently.
“Well?” Aleki cracked first. The chips in his hand were crushed into crumbs. He glanced down at his hand with a grimace. Standing, he brushed his hands off over a trash can.
“He never hit me. I wasn’t physically abused.”
“Did he emotionally abuse you?” Caleb asked.
“I guess.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Aleki snapped. “Either he did, or he didn’t.”
Her own temper stirred. “I don’t know, you tell me. Does the fact that he helped pressure me into marrying him count as emotional abuse? The fact that he cheated on me during our entire marriage. Does that count? Although, to be honest, I was pretty grateful he had a mistress on the side to keep him satisfied since I didn’t want him touching me. Does the fact that we were basically strangers living in the same house count as emotional abuse? If I didn’t do what he wanted then he’d get angry at me, call me horrible things. And yet . . . yet . . .” She could feel another panic attack looming.
“Fuck,” Caleb swore, shocking her. “Calm down, baby.”
She shook her head, tears filling her eyes.
“She’s panicking again,” Wolfe pointed out.
“I know that, man,” Caleb said. “She just had a panic attack. She’s under too much stress.”
Suddenly she felt herself moving. Caleb had picked her up and settled back on the bed with her on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her.
“Nobody is going to hurt you. You’re safe. All you have to do is breathe. Just breathe. That’s it, jelly bean. Just breathe.”
She shook in his arms and buried her face against his chest. He rocked her back and forth, holding her close. She felt him kiss the top of her head and tears leaked from her eyes at the gesture.
“This has to stop.”
She stiffened. He sounded mad. Was he sick of her? She tried to move off his lap, but he tightened his hold.
“You just sit where you are, little girl. You’re not moving until I say so.” His hand cupped the back of her neck and started to massage the tight muscles. “I’m not happy about this.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What did I say about saying sorry?” He drew her back to stare down at her sternly. “Next time you apologize for something beyond your control, you’re going over my knee.”
“Jesus, Caleb, she just had a panic attack and you’re threatening to spank her?” Aleki said.
“I don’t think the idea of being spanked scares her, does it?” Caleb gave her a look.
Somehow, he knew that she liked it when he got all bossy and dominant. And no, a threat of a spanking didn’t scare her. It kind of did the opposite. She thought she might be a bit messed up in the head.
But then with the mess her life was, that was to be expected, right?