I feel his chest heave on each breath as he tries to catch it. “I’m afraid,” he tells me, his voice low. “Afraid of what I’ll do if you get hurt again.” I breathe him in, my heart back to beating normally. “I won’t be able to stop myself, darlin’, and the worst thing is I won’t regret it… just like I don’t with my dad.”
I hold him tighter, feeling like the last wall between us was just knocked down. There’s nothing between us now, and yet I know I still have to do something before I can truly move on, before I can be the woman I always wanted to be growing up. The woman I dreamed about—the one with a carefree laugh and a smile on her face that isn’t forced.
“Is he still here?” I ask into Luke’s neck. He stiffens before I say, “Aiden.”
“I told the guys to take him to the warehouse.” He rubs his hand up and down my back. “But you don’t have to talk to him. I can tell him to leave and—”
“No.” I pull back and frame his face with my hands. “I need to do this now. I need to tell him and then move on with my life… our life.”
“Our life,” he repeats, his lips lifting into that smile he only gives me. The one that tells me he loves me, the one that screams he’ll protect me no matter what.
I move forward just before Luke does, each of us closing the distance, melting that bit of space and coming together as one.
It’s not the epic kind of kiss you see in movies or read of in books, but it’s one full of promises and love. One I’ll never forget as long as I live.
We hold each other for another few minutes until Luke’s cell goes off displaying Ty’s name on the screen. He looks at me, a question in his eyes, and when I nod, he answers the call and says, “We’re on our way over.”
Lifting, he takes me with him, my legs still wrapped around his waist and I hold onto him like a spider monkey, not wanting the one safe thing in my life to be taken from me. He doesn’t say a word as he carries me down the stairs and out the door.
I hear the gravel as he walks us to the warehouse, and I know I should get down and walk in there like the strong woman I want to be. But I can’t bring myself to move from the safety of Luke’s arms.
He turns and pushes the warehouse door open, but I keep my head buried in his neck until I feel him sitting down.
“You let her talk,” Luke begins, his voice gruff. “You let her tell you everything and then if you have questions, we’ll answer them, but when she’s had enough, you leave.” He pauses, and I know what’s coming before he says, “Got it?”
“Yeah,” Aiden answers, and the sound of his voice is what pulls me from the hold I have on Luke.
I turn in his lap where he’s seated in Ty’s chair at the meeting table, all the guys to our left. I look at each of them in turn, seeing the steel behind their eyes, but most of all the silent support they give me without saying a word.
Finally, I turn to face Aiden, Luke’s hands wrapped around my waist, his breath hot on my neck. I play with the finger his wedding ring is on, twirling it around and around before I open my mouth and the first words I say are, “He hurt me.”
Aiden’s face falls as his mouth opens, but when his gaze moves to Luke, he snaps it closed again.
“It started the day you left for college.” I swallow. “He took me into his office and used his cane on me.” I push the memories back, not willing to let them in right now. “It got worse the longer you were away and each time you’d come home, I’d know because he wouldn’t touch me for a week beforehand.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks, leaning forward, his hands clenched on top of the table.
Luke growls, but I answer him anyway. “I couldn’t… it’d only make everything worse.”
“It wouldn’t—”
“It would,” I tell him, my voice firm. “But it wasn’t until the last time you visited that he took it even further.” That lump appears in my throat again and I can’t seem to get the words past my lips—they’re stuck, not willing to come forth.
The silence surrounds us, only the sounds of everyone’s breathing in the room until Aiden bangs his fist down and pushes his chair back. The sudden movement has everyone taking a step forward, Ty moving around to the other side of the table on my other side.
“What the hell did he do to you?” he shouts, his face turning red.
“He…” Why can’t I say it? I told everyone the second day I was here, and yet now I can’t get it past my lips. I take a breath, willing the words to come forth as I open my mouth. “He raped me.”
“No,” Aiden breathes out, his face paling.
“I escaped… Luke helped me escape.” He squeezes me a little tighter. “Until he took me again.”
Aiden flops down in his chair, his gaze not moving from mine. “How did I not
know?” he asks, but I know he’s not asking me—he’s asking himself.
“The first time was nothing compared to what he and Jonah did to me.” I look down at the burns on my arms that are almost healed but will leave scars behind. At least those are the ones I can see, it’s the invisible ones that will break me if I let them.