Matt and Tyler told her to stay away from other men. But they wouldn’t hurt her. They weren’t responsible for this. God, she hated feeling so confused and out of control.
“Let us see the letter,” Tyler stated, and she looked at the sheriff.
“Paula.” Tyler stated her name firmly, and she knew she should listen. She passed the letter to him as the sheriff asked her more questions. He wanted to know about her past.
Matt looked over the letter with his brother and, raising his voice, said, “We have to find out who the hell this is!”
“Paula, will you feel more comfortable if they all leave the room?”
Matt and Tyler stared at her. She couldn’t talk about her past in front of them. She couldn’t let them know what she went through and allowed Sal to do to her. But something inside her told her that the person responsible wasn’t Sal. There was no need for them to know her past. It wasn’t him.
She shook her head, and Tyler and Matt seemed relieved, but then she spoke her mind.
“They don’t have to leave. No one does, because there’s nothing for me to tell. My past is mine and it has nothing to do with this.”
“Honey, you don’t know that, and if by chance this has something to do with your past, then the information you share might help us find this guy quicker,” BJ told her. She shook her head then looked at Susanna. She knew Susanna would understand. “Please, Susanna, I can’t tell them. I can’t talk about it.”
Susanna pulled Paula into her arms and hugged her tight.
The sheriff stood up and walked out of the room with Detective Louis.
* * * *
The house was cleared by the police as well as by Monte and BJ. The women hugged Paula before heading upstairs to bed for some sleep.
“You should head up to bed, Paula. It’s already four o’clock in the morning,” Susanna stated, and Paula shook her head.
“Susanna, can I talk to you?” BJ asked, leaving Paula sitting on the couch with Matt and Tyler standing in front of her.
Paula began to stand up.
“Stay sitting,” Tyler told her, and she stared at h
im a moment, uncertain why he was so angry with her and shocked that she complied.
He moved closer and uncrossed his arms before he pulled the ottoman closer toward her legs and straddled it.
He placed his hands on her knees and she flinched.
“Look at me,” Tyler said. Matt took a seat next to her. His thigh wedged against her thigh, and she damned the short shorts she was wearing.
She looked at Tyler even though all she wanted to do was run. These two men were so damn sexy and macho it made her shake.
“We would never hurt you.” Tyler inhaled then looked at her chest and her face. Her camisole hadn’t covered her completely, but she hadn’t been thinking about that when she found the note and the flower. She closed her eyes and shivered at the thought again. Tyler caressed her legs and inched closer until her legs were between his thighs.
“I know that you’re scared, Paula. I also know that something bad must have happened in your past to make you so fearful to talk about it. But you need to. That letter and his words scared Matt and me, too.”
She looked at him and swallowed and then she looked at Matt.
They appeared so serious, and she couldn’t handle their questions, their interest in her. They had ignored her for months and only recently acted as if they might want to get to know her. She shook her head and used her hands to push Tyler’s off of her thighs. He, of course, remained holding her legs.
She grabbed onto his wrists. Even those were hard and muscular like the rest of him.
“Let go of me, Tyler.”
“No.”
“You have no right to be here and to force me to talk about my personal life.”