"This have anything to do with the fresh bruises on your back?" When Evelyn simply stared at her, Teagan shrugged. "The pictures and video are already everywhere online. I looked it up while we were waiting. Did he tune you up last night or something?"
"Tune me up?" Frowning, Evelyn tilted her head and studied her sister. "I'm not a piano, Teagan."
Teagan rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean, Fancy. Did he beat you?"
"Oh." Evelyn twisted the bottom of her tunic around her fingers. "Yes."
A distressed cry escaped from Ro, earning her a glare from Teagan before she turned her attention back on Evelyn. "This isn't news. Why the secrecy?"
"It was on purpose."
The curl of Teagan's lip was all cop and sarcasm. "It was an accident before?"
"No. I just… I mean…" Closing her eyes, Evelyn took another breath. "Idid it on purpose."
It was a good thing Luca wasn't in the kitchen, or Teagan's choice of words would have gotten her mouth washed out on the spot. Forcing herself to open her eyes, Evelyn felt her courage wane at the sight of her two furious sisters.
"Have you lost your mind?" Teagan's eyes flashed and she took a step toward Evelyn, who instinctively took a step back and lifted her arms to shield her face. "Christ. I'm not going to hit you, Evie." Her sister's voice was filled with hurt and frustration.
"I know." Annoyed with her reaction, Evelyn deliberately lowered her arms and clasped her hands tightly in front of her. "I'm sorry."
"How could you?" Ro's voice was a hoarse whisper, and the tears shining in her eyes nearly shattered Evelyn's heart. "How could you put yourself at risk, with everything we were doing to get you out of there? You put your own escape in jeopardy."
Twisting her fingers together so tightly, they began to turn white, Evelyn shook her head. "You don't understand. I needed to make a statement. I wanted there to be no question what he was capable of. Things had actually been not good, but okay, for a week or so. The bruises I had were mostly faded, and I needed that visual, so people would understand. So, I got him to give me more." There was more, but she wasn't sure she could find the words to explain it, even to her sisters.
"You could have died!" The explosion of anger from Ro was so unexpected, both Evelyn and Teagan jumped. "We could have lost you forever, because of this completely stupid plan of yours. We just found you, Evelyn! Do you have any idea what it would do to me, to us, if we lost you? How could you be so selfish?"
"Ro! Hey, chill out." Obviously uncomfortable in her sudden role as peacekeeper, Teagan awkwardly patted Ro's arm.
"No. She's right. This whole thing was selfish of me. I put all of you in danger. And I can never thank you enough for what you did for me." Steeling herself for what needed to be said, Evelyn took a deep breath. "I understand if you want me to go."
Ro threw her arms up in the air, and Teagan scowled. Evelyn wanted to tell her not to, as she had no inclination to learn what their faces would be like with premature wrinkles, but it didn't seem like the time.
"Nobody wants you to go, Evelyn! That's the whole point!" Ro shouted. "And us saving you wasn't selfish. We wanted to. No, we needed to. Because we love you. What was selfish was deliberately getting him to hurt you. And for what? Because it would make good press?"
"No, that's not what I meant." Her heart began to race as she felt the conversation spinning out of her control. Why couldn't they understand?
"Then, what did you mean?" Teagan's tone was more curious than angry now. "Explain it. We won't yell," she added, elbowing Ro in the side.
"Youwon't yell," Ro mumbled, rubbing the spot where Teagan's elbow had landed.
Evelyn looked from one sister to the other. Guilt and fear sat like a rock in her gut, but she needed to tell them. "I did want people to see what he was capable of. But it wasn't just for everyone else," she said quietly.
"Then, what?" Ro demanded, her eyes narrowed in an eerie imitation of Teagan.
Blowing out a breath, she spoke the truth she'd barely admitted to herself. "I needed it."
No explosion of anger this time. But it was there, simmering under the surface in both of her sisters. She could see it in their eyes. Eyes she knew so well, because they were her own, staring accusingly back at her.
"You needed it?" Teagan's voice had taken on a low, dangerous tone, and Evelyn rushed to explain.
"Like I said, things had been okay. He hadn't hit me in a few days, and even when he had, it was more of a careless slap here and there. I-I started to wonder if leaving was a good idea. If it was even necessary."
Ro slapped her hands over her mouth but didn't quite cover the sob. But Teagan… Teagan just leaned back against the counter again and nodded. "I get it."
"You do?" Ro and Evelyn asked in unison.
Their sister's eyes went wide and she gave an exaggerated shudder. "Okay, now I get why the guys find that so creepy. Don't do that. And yeah, I get it." She held her hands out and Evelyn hesitated only a moment before taking them in her own. "You needed strength. You needed to remember why you were doing this. Because this was hard. Harder, in some ways, than staying."